Hand milking dairy cows which was generally the task of women & children

A lady milking a cow outside while another lady holds a child standing by the gate, 1894

This boy is milking a cow by hand inside a shed (1903). Cow's leg is tied & the boy is sitting on a wooden stool.

Milkmaid carrying a pail & resting hand on a cow, c. 1919-1935

Milking machines were first introduced in mid-1890s

(Photo: Milking machine on an Auckland farm, c. 1900-1909)

Herringbone shed design with cows machine-milked on either side of a pit was invented in 1952

(Photo: Herringbone Milk Shed at Matamata, Nov 1971)

Rotary machine milking introduced in 1962 and by the early 2000s over 100 cows could be milked at once

(Photo: Cows hooked up to a rotary milking machine, Kaponga, Taranaki, 1982)

On 22 Dec 1814, dairy cows arrived with Rev Samuel Marsden for Oihi Mission in Bay of Islands

Animals on board included one bull & two Durham dairy cows (Shorthorns), which were thought to be the first cattle in NZ

By the early 1840s, shorthorn herds were established & settler families had 1 or 2 cows to provide for their dairy needs

Settler farmers grazed the cows on pastures cleared of native bush

Photo: A group of dairy cows fenced inside an enclosure which has been clear felled of trees, c.1890s

Photo: Cow being milked at Pukearuhe Armed Constabulary Station, c.1869-1870

Photo: Clover the dairy cow with a milking stool and a pail nearby, c.1890

Photo: Hand milking at a maternity home in Greytown, 1897

The milk was strained through fine mesh, then allowed to settle so the cream rose to the top

The cream was skimmed off with a ladle

The cream was made into butter in a small churn

(Photo: A butter churn with a circle of dovetailed wooden slats, bound by two metal hoops, c.1880-1900)

A large, square, tabletop butter churn with an internal beater

There is also a small hole under the handle which would have allowed for buttermilk to be drained from the churn

A hand operated butter churn used for farmhouse manufacture of butter in the 1800s - early 1900s

The churn would hold around 40 pounds of butter. (Photo: 1899)

A pair of wooden butter pats were used to press water out of churned and washed butter and to shape it

Butter moulds or stamps were used to shape freshly-churned butter into dainty shapes for the table

Electroplated dome shaped lid which sits on a bowl of silver-plate used to keep butter cool

Photo: 1866-1899

A silver butter knife, 1860-1865

During 1880s, a cream separator began to be used by farmers to separate cream from their milk

The centrifugal separator had been invented by the Swedish engineer Gustaf de Laval which he patented in 1878

Dunlop cheese was made from Ayrshire milk. It was initially sold in Dunedin & then exported to Australia.

A wooden vat (100 gallons milk) was in the barn & 3 enamelled cast-iron tubs (each held 50 pounds curd) in the kitchen

In 1875, the factory shifted to a brick building at Highcliffe, & became known as the Peninsula Cheese Making Company

Further name changes occurred: Peninsula Pioneer Cheese Making Company (1879), & Pioneer Cheese Making Company (1883)

On 15 Aug 1884, the Company became the Taieri and Peninsula Milk Supply Company of Dunedin Ltd

It switched from cheese-making to supplying milk to Dunedin

In April 1881, English colonist William Bowron delivered a lecture on the advantages of cheese & butter factories

The lecture was organised by the Agricultural and Pastoral Association

Bowron's lecture led to the opening of the 2nd dairy factory in NZ - the Flemington Dairy Company at Ashburton in 1882

Factory was managed by William Harding, whose father Joseph is credited with making modern Cheddar in Somerset in 1850s

In 1882, Bowron was appointed Government Inspector of Dairy Produce Factories

He published pamphlets & facilitated the setting up of dairy factories across NZ until his death in 1890

On 3 Nov 1886, Anchor butter was launched at Pukekura, Waikato by Henry Reynolds

Reynolds allegedly named his brand of butter 'Anchor' after seeing a tattoo on the arm of one of his employees

The butter recipe used was developed by American, David Gemmell, who was farming in the Waikato

Reynolds arranged for Gemmell to help establish his factory before Gemmell returned home to US. (Photo: 1910-1920)

Often farmers would collect & transport their milk to small packing stations for blending for local sale as butter

(Photo: Ambury, English & Company's creamery and butter factory opened in Greenwood Road, Māngere, c.1895)

By 1890, there were 150 dairy factories throughout New Zealand of which 40% were cooperatives owned & managed by farmers

(Photo: Waitara Taranaki Co-operative Dairy Company, Limited's factory building, 1884)

Milk being delivered to the Norsewood Co-operative Dairy Company in a horse-drawn scandi wagon

Milk deliveries at Reynolds & Company Factory, one of the creameries operated by Moa Farmers’ Cooperative Dairy Co.

Five horse-drawn delivery carts carrying milk churns in front of the Hukanui Creamery

Horse and cart with containers at butter & cheese factory at Temuka

Babcock milk testers were imported in 1892 to measure fat content to prevent watering down milk to increase volume

It was used at the Pukekohe Dairy Factory. Tests showed the fat content of milk was 3–4%.

During 1880s & early 1890s, milking machines were patented overseas & increasingly used in US & Europe

NZ newspapers began reporting on overseas trials, including Scottish inventions in 1892, which led to trials in NZ

In Sept 1892, a milking machine was trialled at Robert Wallace's farm in Māngere, South Auckland

Milking machine: Cups were attached to the cow’s udder, and the milk was collected into buckets

Milking machine

In 1897, the first 4 milking machines were installed from the Cunnington Pulsator Milking Machine Co., Christchurch

The machines were in the Rongotea area: One was driven by man power, two by treadmills & one by a steam engine

Vacuum and pulsation was applied through four teat cups (called a cluster) attached to the cow’s udder

The pulsator started & stopped, allowing teat to fill up again, instead of a continuous vacuum to squeeze out the milk

The farmers could take milk each morning to the skimming stations which would separate the cream to make butter

Photo: Skimming station owned by J Nathan & Co. Ltd. who supplied cream to their butter factory at Makino, near Feilding

The milk was weighed & then poured into separators to extract the cream & then the cream taken to dairy factory

Photo: Douglas Road Creamery which was a skimming station for Crown Dairy Factory Company

A creamery with separators at work, 1893

A portion of the skim milk was returned to the farmer to feed pigs & calves

Oil was poured into the separator's frame before using; topped up weekly & replaced after 6 months

The cream from a number of farms was then transported to the central dairy factory

Photo: Bunnythorpe Skimming Station which sent cream to "Black Swan" butter factory in Palmerston North, 1893

Alternatively, farmers used their own centrifugal separator & the cream was then sold to cream factories to make butter

Remaining portion of milk went to dairy factory (Photo: Crown Dairy Factory Co. Ratanui Cheese Factory, c.1896 to 1898)

Crown Dairy Factory Company. Moutoti Creamery, c.1898-1906

Ayrshire cow which won the first prize in milk at the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Show, 1894

In 1894, the Dairy Industry Act was introduced

Goods were graded for export & payment for milk was based on factory inspection

A lady holding a small stool and a bucket ready for hand milking, 1903

Woman hand milking a cow (no date)

Scene, including milking cows, at a Paeroa farm, 1900-1909

A woman hand milking Jersey cows at Tamahere near Hamilton, 1907

Hutchinson non-suction milking machine showing milk jets coming from four teats & running from tray into bucket, c.1900s

A row of men hand milking cows in milking shed (no date)

Children operating the bush churn, 1900-1909

Cow being milked by a Rudd machine

The Kiora creamery, Makauri, Gisborne, c.1900s

With a yoke and milk cans, c.1900-1919

A barrow built by a farmer to cart milk cans from milking shed to a vehicle for transport to the Oware Dairy Factory

Horses delivering milk to the Reikiorangi Skimming Station near Waikanae, 1902

Paeroa creamery built by New Zealand Dairy Association in 1899 was purchased by Thames Valley Co-operative in Aug 1901

Boiler is housed in a separate building in front of the Makuri Creamery, c.1900-1902

In 1904, J C Nathan started a small milk powder plant at Bunnythorpe, trading under the name Defiance

Interior of dried milk factory at Bunnythorpe

1905: Vehicle with 8 horsepower double cylinder petrol engine owned by Avonbank Dairy, Burwood, near Christchurch

1907: Pakuranga farmer/carrier transferring milk from his farm for delivery to the town milk supply at Ellerslie

c.1907: After skim milk & cream separated at a creamery, the cream was transported to Rukuhia factory for making butter

Packing butter at the Paeroa Dairy Factory, 1900-1909

Taking milk sample at the cheese factory

c.1900-1947: Entering milk weights on test report sheets

Bulk milk before being made into cheese

Vats at Waitoa Dehydrated Milk Factory

1907: Washing milk cans at the Glaxo factory

In 1908, Nathan's firm, using the trade name of Glaxo, introduced new baby food into the NZ & British markets

Cows were tied by a leg-rope & hand milked by men sitting on box-stools in this shed which had about 15 stalls, 1910

Children hold their milk pails on a dairy farm in 1910. Children often had chores before going to school.

A new Glaxo milk powder factory opened at Matamata in 1917

Milk transferred to carts from a launch on the Tamaki River, Auckland for delivery to dairy factory, c.1910s

Pakuranga farmer transporting cream cans with horses and cart, c.1910

Bullock-drawn wagon taking milk to Timaru Skimming Station at Tataraimaka, part of Oakura Co-operative Dairy Co., c.1910

Patua Co-operative Dairy Company, Limited. Timaru Creamery at Tataraimaka, c.1910

NZ newspaper article shows milk out of a vending machine invented in Portsmouth for when dairy is closed, 1913

Mattson's milk delivery lorry at Pakuranga for Auckland Farmers Co-operative Milk Supply Company Ltd, c.1915

Five delivery carts by the Hukanui Creamery, c. 1896-1915

Otaki Dairy Company. Te Horo Branch interior, c.1916

Hand milking still continued on some farms. (Photo: Stockman is hand milking, c.1917)

Onehunga Dairy, 223 Queen Street, Onehunga, with signs advertising milk, c.1920

Milk cooler on Aplin's farm, Silverstream, c.1921

A large hand operated cream separator which would have been used to separate cream from fresh milk, c.1920-1950

A Sharples machine which separated cream from whole milk at the Bunnythorpe factory, 1920

By 1922 the 1st cooperative herd-testing scheme was underway in Waikato & expanded to 30 schemes in NZ four years later

Cast iron kit which tested the milk of each cow in a dairy herd for genetics & production details, c. 1920s-40s

Herd testers were often women & they travelled from one dairy farm to the next

The tester arrived in time for the afternoon milking & stayed overnight for the morning milking at 5.30am-6am

City milk supply laboratory, probably Wellington, 1925

Truck driver checks weight of milk cans

Trucks lined up to collect steam cleaned milk cans after the milk was emptied and weighed at Mataura Dairy Factory, 1927

The separator room in the milking shed of the Massey Agricultural College Dairy Building in 1928

The main Glaxo laboratory based in Hamilton which was dismantled & moved from Palmerston North in 1920 (Photo: c.1928)

Milking by hand still continued on some farms (Photo: c.1920-1929)

Walk-through shed. A chain behind the cow prevented it backing out & one leg tied to prevent kicking milking cups.

Photo: Farmer attaching milking cups to a dairy cow in a milking shed with electric milking capacity, c.1939

Photo: Adjusting cups to milk a cow In a shed

A metal plate for skimming cream from milk by trapping cream when milk ran through small holes in the plate, c.1930

A hand-cranked butter churn, c. 1930-40

Pamphlet promoting milk for children, 1930

During 1930s & 40s, a cream truck would collect cans every one to two days & return empty ones to each farm

A pasteurising and cooling unit made of stainless steel, 1935

SInce 1934, records of offspring of a cow & the bull parent have been kept

The aim was to breed the best stock & to research methods of artificial insemination

In 1937, the Sharemilking Agreements Act was passed

There were increasing occurrences of farm owners working with a 'sharemilker' who owned all or part of the herd

Milk reception stage and milk and cream treatment plant, 1938

Machine at Wellington Municipal Milk Depot cleans & fills the bottles in one operation, 1939

On 10 Oct 1935, Wellington's first milk bar opened - the Tip Top Milk Bar - & sold ice cream & milkshakes

Interior view of the Tip Top Milk Bar on the corner of Manners and Cuba Streets, Wellington, c.1930s

The popularity of the milk bar led to five others soon opening in Wellington and one in Dunedin

Kiwi Milk Bar on the corner of Manners and Herbert (now Victoria) Streets, c.1930s

The Golden Gate Milk Bar in Courtenay Place, Wellington, 1940

Milk drying machines used by Joseph Nathan and Sons, and the later Glaxo Manufacturing Company (N.Z.), Ltd

Glaxo Laboratories was formed in 1937

The factory continued operating until 1973, when Glaxo shifted to Palmerston Nth

1939: New plant for cleaning, filling, & bottling milk at the Municipal Milk Depot

Milk was heated, killing bacteria that can cause food poisoning & make milk deteriorate or "go off"

c.1940s: Bottling machine for pasteurised milk at Wanganui

Pasteurised milk poster, 1940s

The four men have been posed to show different stages in the butter making process, 1940s

The pharmaceuticals packing room at the Glaxo Laboratories at Bunnythorpe factory, 1941

Wartime milk delivery, corner Alpha Avenue and Normans Road, Bryndwr, Christchurch, 1942

H. Svendsen & Sons milk delivery vans at Pukekohe, 1942

Milk being tested for butterfat content, c.1944

Sunshine Glaxo baby milk powder tin packed in October 1947

Wooden blocks were cut to size for the polygon ends of cheese crates at Egmont Box Company, Tokoroa, c.1947

Sharp called the design 'herringbone' as it looked like a fish skeleton when viewed from above

The pit alongside allowed the farmer to put on & remove the milk cups without bending down

The cows walk in and out by themselves, & more cows could be milked at once by fewer people

In 1951 the use of cream cans ceased when factories required whole milk for processing

To replace use of milk cans, milk tankers were introduced to collect milk from farmers

Glass bottles were used to deliver milk to households

The tin was manufactured by tin maker and tin printer Alex Harvey & Sons Ltd Auckland, c. 1950

Sunshine Glaxo milk food tined milk powder made by Glaxo Laboratories (NZ) Ltd., 1958

New 1800 gallon tanker that kept milk chilled at 40 degrees

Photo: The milk tanker being delivered to for the Palmerston North milk processing station, 1963

Wharfies stacking boxes of New Zealand butter, 1960

Leaflet about the new Anchor full cream milk powder, 1960s

Anchor full cream milk powder. made by the New Zealand Dairy Co-operative NZ Ltd, Hamilton, c.1964

An automatic decrater lifts bottles out of crates onto a conveyor to a bottle washing machine, at Taita, Sept 1965

Dirty milk bottles are automatically fed into the huge bottle washing machine at Taita, Sept 1965

A filling & capping machine (capacity 400 bottles per minute) at Taita, Sept 1965

An automatic recrater which fills two crates at a time (a total of 46 pints of milk) at Taita, Sept 1965

Increasingly, milk was bought from a local store rather than home delivered (Photo: 1972)

Option of home deliveries continued (Photo: Wellington region, 1975)

At the Rainbow Valley Community, Golden Bay, which was formed in 1974, the house cows were hand milked

Operator on the milk bottling machine at the Hutt Valley Milk Treatment Station, Lower Hutt, July 1974

Cream bottling machine at the Hutt Valley Milk Treatment Station. Lower Hutt, July 1974

Stirring a vat of curds and whey, Kaponga Cheese Factory, 1976

This Danish made machine tests milk samples for % of fat & protein at Rangitaiki Plains Dairy Co., 1976

Waxing Edam Cheeses at the Kiwi Dairy Factory, Hawera, Dec 1978

Forklift moving gouda cheese at Greytown Co-operative Dairy Company factory, c.1980

Tui Co-operative Dairy Company, Limited. Cheese Department vats, c.1983

The cheese packing room at the Tui Co-operative Dairy Company cheese factory at Mangatainoka, c. 1983

Delivering milk in snowy conditions in Darfield-Springfield area, 28 Oct 1985

Cheddar cheese production, Kiwi Co-op Dairy Factory, Hawera, Oct 1986

Cheddar cheese production, Kiwi Co-op Dairy Factory, Hawera, Oct 1986

Cheese production at the NZ Co-op Rennet Co. factory at Eltham, Oct 1986

The 600-ml glass bottles have aluminium-foil covers pressed into grooves near the top; no adhesive used (Photo: 1986)

In 1988, an LIC corporation is formed as a wholly owned subsidiary of the NZ Dairy Board

The six LIC associations were wound up

From August 1989, glass milk bottles were phased out & replaced with cardboard cartons

Image taken to capture the end of glass bottle deliveries, 8 July 1989

Milk crates, 1991

Milk delivery person with a tetra pack milk carton & milk sachet, 1993

Advertisement for BayMayd Milk products, 1993

Anchor milk delivery truck, Browns Bay, East Coast Bays

Glaxo Laboratories closed its operations in Palmerston North in 1995

Plaque commemorates opening of Milk Powder Complex at the Southland Dairy Cooperative's Edendale Factory, 1995

On 16 Oct 2001, NZ Dairy Board, Kiwi Co-operative Dairies Ltd & NZ Dairy Group merged as GlobalCo (later named Fonterra)

The merger was enabled under the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 2001. LIC also became an user-owned co-operative.

Westland Milk Products chose not to join the merger and remained as an independent dairy company

Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company also chose to remain as an independent company

Other manufacturers include Dairy Trust, Synlait, & Open Country Dairy

From 2001-2009, DairyNZ Greenfleld Project developed 1st automatic/robotic milking which was held near Hamilton

Cows on nearby pasture voluntarily walked to the milking shed once or twice in 24 hours & waited for their turn

During 2005/6 season about 2.8 million (70%) cows were tested by LIC & Ambreed

Testers visit a farm an average of 4x a year & sample milk from each cow which is sent to a laboratory for analysis

In 2011, a new milk powder dryer was commissioned at the existing Synlait Dairy, Dunsandel

By 2014 the dairy industry contributed 4% to the NZ’s GDP, & earned more than $10 billion in export earnings

Brands include Fernleaf, Anchor, Kapiti, Anlene, Anmum and Fresh ‘n Fruity

2019: Fonterra's Longburn Dairy Products Plant produces milk & mineral acid casein

3 Dec 2021: Fonterra raised its forecast milk payout to farmers to a record level $8.40 & $9 per kilogram of milk solids

Goats were raised for their meat and milk which is nutritious to drink & also used to make cheese

(Photo: Milking goats are penned in a paddock on a property in Swanson, 1958)

Goats milk was also using for making soap

(Photo: Soap by Smith-Biolab Ltd, Auckland)

During economic downturn during early 2000s, some farmers diversified to keep goats

(Photo: Twenty goats on a small farm near Albany were milked to make speciality cheese)

Nowadays, goats are milked by hand or by machine

(RNS video (2016): Goats in a milking shed in Hamilton (0:55 min)

RNZ video (21 Dec 2016): Goats milked in Kaikoura to produce cheese (2:41 min)

A popular breed for milk is Saanen which originated in Switzerland

Other breeds include: Anglo-Nubian, Sable, Toggenburg, British Alpine & Nigerian Dwarf

The first sheep in NZ were amongst the animals that arrived with Captain Cook in 1773 & 1777

Later, flocks of sheep arrived with missionaries & settlers

By the 1850s, sheep had become an important export earner in wool and, later, in frozen meat from 1882 onwards

(Photo: Painting titled 'Birchwood station on Mr Watts Russell's sheep run' by James Edward Fitzgerald, 28 Nov 1852)

in 1989, Massey Univ research conducted on sheep milk for human consumption

(Photo: Sheep being milked for Massey research on type of milk yield & milk composition for human consumption, 1989)

Other sheep breeds used for milking include Lacaune, Awassi, Coopwourth, Poll Dorset & crosses of the breeds

(Photo: Poll Dorset sheep, 1987)

RNZ (19 Feb 2015): Ewe Milk Products and Sheep Dairying conference held at Palmerston Nth to promote sheep milk

Over past 10-15 years, sheep's milk products, including feta, halloumi & pecorino, became increasingly known

Sheep being milked for Maui Milk in Kuratau, 2016

RNZ article (29 July 2016): Spring Sheep Milk at Wairakei Estate launched two sheep milk powder products in Taiwan

The powders were the first of their kind on the market

RNZ (18 May 2018): Neudorf Valley operation supplies sheep milk to Thorvald which produces cheese & yoghurt (11:58 min)

RNZ interview (8 June 2018): Sheep Milk setting up two sheep milking pilot farms in Waikato (10:05 min)

One farm was a greenfield development & the other a cow farm conversion

RNZ (14 June 2019): Waikato Milking Systems have built machinery specifically for milking sheep and goats

Rotary machines had already sold to farms in Canada and China

RNZ (9 Oct 2020): farmers look at converting from cow to sheep milking (5:51min)

RNZ interview (8 Oct 2021): Canterbury couple launched Sabelle sheep milk skin & body care products during 2021 (21:49m)

They milk c.600 sheep to also produce pasteurised milk & Havarti & Gouda cheese in their factory at Kirwee