Kickers and Stool
Anyone
who has ever milked a cow by hand will recognize this essential equipment. The stool, of course, is necessary to
support the body of the person doing the milking. The kickers are for safety and peace of mind. A young cow being broken to milk will
resent the intrusion and can deliver a painful blow akin to being hit with a
ball bat. But even the old cow, well
used to being milked twice a day, will occasionally lift a foot and kick over
the bucket or step into a pail of fresh milk.
The black kickers hanging on the post above are two U-shaped straps of
metal connected by a chain that can be adjusted to shorten the distance between
the U-shaped straps. The U-shaped
straps are gently placed on the ham-string of the cow’s leg and the chain
between them shortened. This does not
hurt the cow but if she tries to move her leg or kick, she is constrained by
her other leg. These leg irons have
saved many a milker from a surprise kick and many a bucket of milk from being
spilled or contaminated.
Provided by Dorothy
Bayes
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