Uncooperative Goat Becomes the Mother of an Invention
19 July 2010
Mike Henry milks a goat using his Henry Milker in Palmer, Alaska
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Mike Henry has a two-hectare farm in Palmer, Alaska. About a year and a half ago, his goat Millie was giving him a hard time. She did not want to be milked.
She kicked her back legs and stepped into the bucket that was supposed to catch her milk. But there was no milk to catch. All Mike Henry got was tired hands from his attempts to milk her.
But he also got an idea. He designed a goat milking machine that does not require any electricity or motors. The Henry Milker is a hand-operated vacuum pump. A person attaches a tube to the goat and, after a little pumping, the milk begins to flow. A gauge measures the pressure of the suction.
The process uses a closed system to keep hair and dirt out of the milk. The milk goes directly from the goat into a container that is then placed in the refrigerator to keep the milk cold.
Mike Henry has sold his invention to hundreds of people, mainly small farmers who also hold other jobs -- just as he does. Mr. Henry is an executive director in the Anchorage School District in Alaska.
He considered spending more than one thousand dollars for an electric milking machine. But that seemed like a lot of money to milk just one goat. So he began to develop a device of his own. He worked with parts that he bought from an auto supply store and a Wal-Mart store.
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