Hand milking

About the sound

In the sound recording of a cow being milked by hand we can hear the spurt of milk running into a plastic bucket. Hand milking is becoming increasingly rare in Slovenia because skilled hands are being replaced by milking machines. In the recording Marta Sever is milking the cow Cvetana.
The milking was recorded on the Sever farm in Šalamenci in the north-eastern part of Slovenia. A few years ago, the lady of the farm, Ms Marta fell ill and had to be hospitalised. This was effectively the end of hand milking on the farm and they started using a milking machine that had been left unpacked and unused for a good 12 years! Cvetana is a kind and happy seven years old cow. She is milked twice a day for about 10 minutes and produces about 8 litres of milk.

Sound recordist: Boštjan Troha
Photographer: Irena Marušič
Video Recordist: Barbara Grilc