Combining Milk Question

[fiset94]

If I milk my Nigerian in the a.m and get 2 cups... can I milk her in the p.m- get two more cups... and combine the two milks into the same jar.... or do I need to keep those jars separate?

We have just started milking her and she is doing good- i think? She is REALLY calm on the stand and doesn't kick. - so that is a major plus for us first timers!

We milk her in the a.m and get 2 cups- I am thinking of trying to milk in the evening and see if we can up her milk production. She has her 9 week doe with her and we started separating them at night to get the full udder in the a.m.

Any other tips would be great... THis is her first freshening.

Michele

 

[OneFineAcre]

Use 3 jars.

Don't add the warm milk to the milk that is chilled. Let it chill first.

then combine the two.

 

[fiset94]

Thank you for that suggestion- I will do that!

Michele

 

[OneFineAcre]

If you want more milk, you can certainly wean a 9 week old kid.

We have some we milk twice a day, and some we are milking once a day.

If you want the milk, by all means you should milk her twice a day. She will definitely produce more. And if your kid is 9 weeks old she should be at peak lactation.

But, do what I suggested. Let the milk chill, do not add warm milk to milk that is already chilled.

We always have 4 or 5 pint or quart jars in the fridge. Then we will combine down to a couple.

 

[fiset94]

Ya... the little doeling's brother has already been sold and is with another family. I just like to keep mom with baby for as long as possible. I have been separating at night but keep them with mom during the day. I don't ever wean during the day... kinda like Fias farm philosophy on this... last day on the farm is the last day to nurse. I'm sure that if I did wean completely my milk would increase greatly... but... I can only commit to once a day milking regardless.

One more question for ya... .If I get milk on the 7th... how many days does it stay good in the refrig.? Right now I don't have a problem with storage seeing that we get a min. amount and drink it up right away ... but when I do get a surplus what is the storage life?

Thanks!

Michele

 

[animalmom]

Regarding your storage question... how cleanly you handle the milking process, AND where you store the milk in your refrigerator will affect how long you can keep the milk. I keep my milk bottles (half gallon and quart) on the lowest shelf where it is the coldest and worked out a rotation method to use the oldest first. Keep your hands clean while you milk, do a good job washing the udder, and strain and refrigerate the milk right after milking... but you probably already do this.

Getting back to your question on how long... easily a week. I'm trying to think if I've ever pushed it to two weeks, and I think I have done that without any spoilage.

Usually when all 6 half gallon bottles are filled I make cheese, and right now I'm milking two Nigerians once a day and getting 5 cups. So, since I'm math challenged I think it would take 9 days (6 * 7.5 / 5) and since we don't stop drinking milk in the process I'm thinking it takes 14 days.

Hope that helps.

 

[OneFineAcre]

Unpateurized usually at least a week.
Like animalmom said, how you handle and store can make a difference.
We make cheese also.
Right now we are milking one doe once per day and another doe twice per day (sold her buck kid and when we did, she wouldn't let her doeling nurse any more)
We're getting about 2 quarts per day. I think my wife uses 6 quarts when she makes chevre which is easy to make and easy to sell