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Hand-Pumped "Milking Machine"
An inventor known for a unique training device he developed for horses has done it again. This time he's created a hand-pumped milker for mares that makes it easy to milk out colostrum for newborn foals.
  What's more, the innovative little "milk machine", which has been in development for over 5 years, can also be used on sheep and goats.
  Inventor Buck Wheeler also invented "The Stableizer", a unique rope-type training device for horses that has caught on all over the world (featured in Best of FARM SHOW 2005). Through his work with horsemen, Wheeler became aware of the need for a better way to get nutrition to newborn foals.
  His mare milker is a trigger-operated pump that fits onto a flanged plastic cylinder that's lined with soft plastic where it fits over the teat. The pump screws onto a clear plastic bottle. The pump is "primed" with a few pulls of the trigger to create a vacuum, then the milk flows into the bottle. If the flow slows down, you just give it another pump or two. When the bottle's full, it easily detaches from the pump.
  Kentucky veterinarian Mike Cavey has been using the new mare milker and likes the way it works. "I've used it on about 20 mares so far. I hand-feed the initial colostrum. When a mare foals, we milk her and feed the foal with a bottle to make sure it gets adequate colostrum before he gets up. This prevents a lot of sickness and other problems down the road. Also, if we have a mare that has a lot of extra colostrum, we milk about 8 to 12 oz. Extra and freeze it for our colostrum bank. It gets used with mares that don't have enough.
  "The milker also comes in handy if we have a weak or sick foal that has difficulty standing to nurse."
  There are two sizes of flanges, for larger or small animals, and two sizes of bottles û 8 and 16 oz.
  Sells for $129.95.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Buck Wheeler, Wheeler Enterprises, 33032 795th Ave., Ellendale, Minn. 56026 (ph 866 507-7773, 800 287-4791 or 507 256-7738; email: buck@thestabelizer.com; website: www.the stableizer.com).


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2005 - Volume #29, Issue #3