Alternatives to expensive milking supplies

[kristenm1975]

My new goat and her one week old doeling are arriving Saturday (yay!!) and I'm gearing up for milking. It looks like it costs over $150 to buy new stainless steel milk strainer and half moon pail, as well as disposable milk filters. People must have come up with cheaper alternatives. I'd love to hear what is done instead and still produces clean, safe milk for drinking.

Thank you!

 

[babsbag]

I did use the half moon pail for a few years and then just started using a stainless steel pot. You can put a piece of cheesecloth over the pot and milk right through it and if you have the lid just put it on when you are done for carrying it back to the house. I had a hard time getting the milk into the opening of the half moon lid when I first started milking.

I do use the disposable milk filters but I don't have the fancy strainer, I had a little one and it was too slow to strain so now I fold the 6" filter into a cone and put it in the funnel that I use to fill canning jars and pour through that. I will be milking 4 goats this year so I really think it is time to invest in the big fancy strainer though the other one worked for only one goat. I do like my fast flow milk filters however, and won't be without them.

 

[ksalvagno]

Either glass or stainless steel is the way to go. So whatever containers that you can fit under your goat that is either glass or stainless steel. Some people use the gold coffee filters that they can wash in the dishwasher. I haven't used one so I don't know how well it filters.

 

[flylo]

I may get criticized on this, but though I did have the SS milk pail, and other equipment, I did some adjustments to do without when I found I was in the milkroom and my supplies were elsewhere. (Such as when my partner hauled everything to the shows.)

First of all, right now while your doe is still feeding her baby, handle her udder. When you feed her is a great time to introduce her to the milk stand and milking routine even if you're not actually ready to start milking her yet.
Clip any long hair from her udder, fore, rear and especially in between the 2 sides, best to do it when she's fairly full of milk. I also like to clip the hair from around her vulva and tail if she's just kidded or just about to kid. "Yucky goat butt" doesn't usually end up in the milk pail, but you don't want to have to stare at it the entire time you're milking, either. (The feeling of being milked sometimes stimulates other secretions as well and it's best if none of this remain on your doe if you can help it.)

When you begin milking, wash and dry her udder and she'll understand this is the signal to let her milk down for you.
I saved 2 liter soda bottles and milked directly into them rather than into an open pail or even the half moon cover. These plastic bottles are really a one time use container because it's difficult to clean milk from them. But, for baby goats drinking the milk, it's easy to cool the bottle in cold water, pop in the fridge, and remove and warm in a bucket of warm water when you need to feed the kids. Pop a nipple onto the bottle and one will feed several babies.

If the idea of milking directly into the container you're going to use to feed the babies isn't for you, check out WalMart or some other discount store in the housewares and kitchen/cleaning sections. Plastic buckets work ok but not easily sanitized and can collect odors over time.

I also bought unbleached rags from a tool supply catalog. These work great for filtering milk for your own use, can be scalded, bleached, whatever needed to sterilize and clean them again and again. Northern Hydraulics maybe? These cloths also were great for making cheeses, letting the whey drip out when the cheese was bagged and hung in them.
Be sure to rinse them under cool running water to remove any goat hair and grit or dust particles they collected before you sterilize them.

A regular plastic funnel, lined with one of these cloths, works great to strain milk. You can use quart canning jars to store in the fridge. Again, plastic is ok, but be prepared to toss them after just a few uses.

You might check out a sewing or 'notions' store like Jo-Ann's or Hancock's also. Muslin or cotton curtain material might work as well, something with a looser weave than you might think.

flylo

 

[kristenm1975]

Thanks so much for the great tips! Keep them coming! I know whatever system I go with, it's going to need to be intuitive because I'm not a morning person and all this is going to be going on at 5am, so I'll need all the help I can get.

 

[Mamaboid]

I place a stainless bowl into a bigger stainless bowl with ice in the big one. I Milk into a stainless bowl, with a coffee filter (the plastic kind you can get at the grocery store and throw into the dishwasher) inside the bowl. When I am done, I pour the milk from the milking bowl through the filter again into the bowl sitting in the ice. I repeat this for all the goats and when I am done I take it to the house where it is poured through a clean filter, (same kind) into glass quart jars. I use baby wipes to clean the udder before I start, and after I am done. That is the extent of my milking equipment and everything I use I already had in my kitchen.

 

[julieq]

For hand milking our little nigerian dwarf does, we use stainless steel dog bowls. Real cheap at the local grocery store.

 

[animalcrackeracres]

I only have one small goat to milk so I use the glass canning jars with a stainless steel flour sifter screen over it, the one with the really fine mesh. I like the jars because when I am finished milking I can screw the lid on right away.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

I use a glass measuring cup to milk into and pour into a pitcher until I am done milking everyone. We are still working on milking manners and so I empty my cup frequently to prevent a total loss if someone does manage to step in it. If they do, I just go wash out the cup and start over, but I don't lose the majority of the milk that is safe in the pitcher. I use a nylon coffee filter, the free one that came with the maker. I use disposable paper ones for coffee so never needed the real one. I strain once and then pour into glass milk bottles that were originally for milk. Mom saved them for me so I don't have to buy them. That's it. I didn't buy any of my equipment, just used what I have on hand. I milk an average of 2 Nigerians a day because that is a nice number for me with out becoming a real chore. I enjoy milking and the time with each girl.

 

[babsbag]

For those of you that milk into a glass jar aren't you worried about the goat stepping in it and breaking it? I do use glass jars for storage, but milking into them scares me as my goat likes to "dance" on occasion.

As far as cleaning the udder, I use white shop towels and warm water, with a little bleach and Dawn mixed in it. I use the same solution for a teat dip when I am done. The towels get washed and bleached and hung in the sun during the summer.

I also don't have an official strip cup. I just use a little plastic cup and swirl it around and look for clumps.