Experts discuss methods to milk a mare, from hand milking to using a new trigger-operated device

by Heather Smith Thomas

FOALING TIME means milking mares is a necessity. Even when the mare and foal are healthy and normal, most foaling attendants milk colostrum from the mare shortly after foaling to test its antibody level and to freeze it for the farm's colostrum bank.

A mare might need to be milked for other reasons:

•A foal that is slow to get up and nurse or one that is unable to do so because of illness or a physical problem will need to be bottle-fed his dam's colostrum and milk until he is able to stand and suckle naturally;

•A foal with neonatal isoerythrolysis must not ingest his dam's colostrum, so a mare must be milked repeatedly until all her colostrum is drained out and her regular milk begins to flow. This condition occurs when the foal inherits an incompatible blood type from the sire and the mare produces antibodies against the foal's red blood cells. If the foal ingests these antibodies in the dam's colostrum, severe anemia, organ failure, and death can occur; and

•Mares with mastitis must be milked frequently until the infection clears up.

In all these situations, mares can be milked by hand or with devices such as a human breast pump, a modified 60-cubic-centimeter syringe, or a milker designed specifically for use in mares.

Hand milking

Hand milking a mare can be a challenge, especially if she is a maiden mare with short teats that are difficult to get hold of or if she has swelling in her udder. Each teat draws milk from two chambers called cisterns, so it produces two streams of milk.

"Envision each teat as having a back half and a front half," said Charles Briggs, D.V.M., of Beckwith Veterinary Clinic in Edmonton, Alberta. "I put my fingers behind the teat and use my thumb to pull down the milk out of each of the cisterns. If you stroke your thumb against the rest of your fingers, you get more milk.

"Mares' udders are tender at this time; if you try to milk them as you would a cow--stripping the teat downward--this makes the teat sore, and they get cranky," he said. "It's better to put your hand firmly against the udder, so she gets used to it being there, then gently start moving milk out of the gland. This also moves some of the edema out, and you can feel where that cistern is."

Joe Yocum, D.V.M., farm manager for Overbrook Farm in Lexington, said milking by hand could be uncomfortable for the person, too.

"You have your head in the mare's flank and are bent down under there to do it, and it may take a while to milk out 16 ounces," Yocum said.

For those individuals who have never milked a mare, Yocum advised, "You must keep your fingers lubricated so they won't create friction on the teat and make it sore. If the teat is dry, there's more friction and rubbing, and a mare's teats are very tender."

Handling the udder before foaling helps a mare become more at ease with having it touched, and she will not be as apt to resent being milked when she foals--and maiden mares will not be as alarmed when the foal suckles or bunts the udder.

Bonnie Barr, V.M.D., a practitioner at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, suggested not milking a mare more often than every two hours.

"Even then, she will get sore if you are very aggressive," Barr said. "We tell our technicians they need to be very gentle and make sure their hands are warm and well-lubricated. If we have to milk more often, we'll milk every hour but put a hot pack on the udder first; the moist heat can help. We only strip her out every hour until the bag is soft again, and then we go back to every two hours."

Some people use a commercial lubricant to reduce friction on the teats, but Barr recommended using milk instead. Putting a little milk on your fingers as a lubricant when you first begin milking will keep the teat wet and slippery and reduce friction, and the taste and smell of the milk on the teat will encourage the foal to suckle if you are trying to get him to the udder to nurse after you bottle-feed him, she said.

Most people use a cup with a handle or a small, wide-mouth pitcher to catch the milk because the two streams of milk from each teat may squirt in any direction. An ideal container is one that is easy to clean, easy to hang onto if the mare kicks or bumps your hand with her leg, and deep enough that it will not spill if your hand gets bumped.

Using a syringe

Scott Kintz, broodmare manager at Taylor Made Farm in Nicholasville, Kentucky, often uses a 60 cc syringe to milk a mare.

"You cut the tip end off and turn it around backward, with the plunger going the other way," Kintz said. "This puts the smooth base--the flat part--up against the udder. When you pull the plunger, it creates suction and draws milk from the teat. It can still make the teat or udder sore, so you have to be careful how you use it."

When done carefully, using a syringe will not create as much friction as hand milking. Sometimes it works well--when the mare is relaxed and lets her milk down--and sometimes it does not.

Other methods for milking

Yocum said that in the past, he has used a human breast pump and an udder pump designed for mares.

"At one time, there was a company here in Central Kentucky that made a modified breast pump for mares," Yocum said. "It worked all right, but it was uncomfortable to the mares because you could put a lot of pressure and suction on the udder. You had to be careful who was using it in the mare barns because if they were overzealous, it was very painful to the mare."

Another drawback to this type of milker was that the user had to be careful not to get the pump part wet during milking or while cleaning the milker. Mark Partridge, manager of Ramsey Farm in Nicholasville, Kentucky, said this type of pump never was reliable and did not last long because milk would get into the pump and ruin it.

Peter Sheerin, D.V.M., another practitioner at Rood & Riddle, said the problem with a human breast pump is the shape of the flange; the opening for the nipple is not really big enough for the mare's teat.

"It might fit on a maiden mare with small teats, but it could pinch a mare with larger teats," Sheerin said.

New mare milker

A new type of mare milker, the Udderly EZ Milker, solves the problem of fit by coming in two sizes: one for small teats and one for large ones. This device is a handheld, trigger-operated pump with a flanged top that fits snugly over the teat. A few pulls of the trigger create a vacuum in the plastic bottle snapped underneath, and a few more pulls will fill an eight-ounce or a pint bottle within a minute or two, which is much faster than milking by hand.

Norman Umphenour, D.V.M., resident veterinarian at Ashford Stud in Versailles, Kentucky, said he likes the new milker because it does not make a mare's teats sore, and the milker enables one person to milk a mare easily and safely without assistance.

While using the Udderly EZ, the person doing the milking does not have to bend down under the mare. He or she can stand alongside the mare and reach back to the udder with one hand holding the pump and the other hand holding the mare's shank. And because the new device does not cause the mare discomfort, she is less inclined to kick.

Partridge said there is no friction with this pump, just suction.

"It really works well for mastitis mares because you have to keep them milked out until the infection clears," he said. "Those mares are very, very sore anyway, and you are taking your life in your hands trying to milk them."

Jim Plemmons, owner of Old Frankfort Stud in Lexington, said the new milker is the best innovation he has seen.

"In Kentucky, older mares stay in production a long time, thanks to access to excellent veterinary care," Plemmons said. "If a foal drags them down and they lose body condition, we may put those foals on nurse mares or use a nurse mare if the mare doesn't have milk or dies. But until you find a nurse mare, you need something to feed the foal.

"We have access to a large number of lactating mares, and this new pump enables us to sneak a little milk from various mares and keep [the foal] going," Plemmons continued. "And if you get a foal with incompatible blood type, you must milk out the dam at frequent intervals for 48 to 72 hours until all the colostrum is gone and her regular milk comes in. With this mare milker, their teats don't get sore, and you can do it quickly."

Udderly EZ is simple to clean by dismantling the parts--the milk bottle slides off and the pump unsnaps from the suction flange--and rinsing them in hot water.

John Bengfort, D.V.M., of Town and Country Veterinary Reproductive Center in Winona, Minnesota, said the new milker is an improvement on what practitioners used in the past.

"We all used a 60 cc syringe and adapted it, but it required both hands and was more difficult." Bengfort said. "[Inventor] Buck Wheeler used the same principle for his Udderly EZ Milker, but he made it so you can use it with one hand. It also draws milk out much more quickly than the syringe, and with a nervous mare, speed and comfort are essential.

"The part that seats onto the teat has the proper curvature to fit, so the vacuum effect works better [without breaking the seal] than a syringe," Bengfort said.

Heather Smith Thomas is a freelance writer based in Salmon, Idaho, specializing in veterinary and breeding topics.