Milking and a few other random newbie questions!

[freemotion]

That is why I suggested a bit of research.....raw milk is very good for the kiddos if your milking practices are clean and your animals are healthy. Raw milk contains multiple redundant systems for dealing with pathogenic bacteria, including enzymes and beneficial bacteria. All pasteurization methods kill these.

 

[sunnyside]

Free, I am really worried about sanitation. So much reading suggests you, the goat, the pail, the barn, etc... have to be super super clean. My barn is clean, but actually how clean is it? That worries me. Especially being new. But then the whole point of our getting a dairy goat was to have fresh milk...

 

[Lorelai]

I've been obsessed with researching the benefits of raw milk lately. I've listened to a lot of YouTube interviews, read a lot of articles, and am currently deeply immersed in The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America's Emerging Battle Over Food Rights by David Gumpert, which is very interesting. Anyway, Mark McAfee did a great interview with Dr. Mercola, and Mercola himself has done some articles and endorsed the benefits of raw milk. Here is a link to the interview:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/01/mark-mcafee-interview.aspx.

It's an hour or so, but well worth it! Anyway, cleanliness is of course imperative to having good, clean, living milk. But the obsession with sterile milking environments? That actually stems from the pasteurization process. Because pasteurization kills all of the bacteria, it is much easier for a harmful pathogen to infiltrate the dead milk and turn it into a bully's playground paradise, because all of the beneficial bacteria that would normally stand up to the bullies and keep them in check has been neutralized. There are a lot of testimonials from those who either begin drinking raw milk at a young age, or those who raised their kids on it, and those are the people who have stellar immune systems today, the ones who are rarely sick as adults, because they were so healthy as children. They didn't get chronic ear infections, or all of those other things that require often excessive antibiotic use, which weakens the immune system for life. I won't get started on the myriad of vaccinations that infants and children receive these days, but certainly, I believe that plays a part in weakened immune systems as well, along with insufficient nutrition.

Of course, it is entirely up to you whether or not you pasteurize your milk for your family. That is the whole point of fighting the good fight over food rights, so we all have the opportunity to make these decisions for ourselves. I'm sure that flash pasteurization is not so bad as commercial, but I've really begun to question my own fears over food and why I have them. Are they there because there's real danger, or is that danger to the coffers of modern agriculture and a government that endorses and subsidizes it? I've recently begun drinking raw cow's milk, because that's what's available to me without bankrupting me (raw goat's milk goes for $20/gallon bought from the store around here, and cow's milk is $9/gallon, still high, but more doable). I guess that's what happens when you criminalize real food - the price skyrockets and there's never enough to meet demand. Though, for the record, raw milk is legal to sell in Washington state, if strict guidelines are met, but that hasn't been good enough for California.

Oh, and if you're worried about your raw milk not storing (and it will sour, not rot, like pasteurized milk, but I think there are many traditional recipes that actually make use of sour milk), you can always turn it into kefir, which is crazy good for you and will extend the shelf life considerably.

 

[kstaven]

Free, I am really worried about sanitation. So much reading suggests you, the goat, the pail, the barn, etc... have to be super super clean. My barn is clean, but actually how clean is it? That worries me. Especially being new. But then the whole point of our getting a dairy goat was to have fresh milk...

There is a really easy way to get a fairly good idea of how clean your procedure is.

Milk your goat.
Get the milk chilled quickly. Below 37 degrees f. May mean testing your fridge temp to ensure it is cold enough.
Taste the milk the next day.
Put back in fridge.
Taste every day there after and note when the milk starts to get a noticeable goaty taste.
Continue the taste test until the milk is getting an obvious sour taste.

If your practices are generally good you should get a minimum of 7 days before a taste shift occurs.
14 - 16 days before souring.

I know this is not very scientific in methodology. But it is about the minimum I have seen for goat milk that will pass a bulk tank test.

Your best way to be even more sure of where you are in your practice is to send a sample in for testing.

 

[freemotion]

Free, I am really worried about sanitation. So much reading suggests you, the goat, the pail, the barn, etc... have to be super super clean. My barn is clean, but actually how clean is it? That worries me. Especially being new. But then the whole point of our getting a dairy goat was to have fresh milk...

I've made a lot of cheese with ten day old milk (not anymore, I have four does in milk now, yay!) and last year found a stray quart of milk in the back of the fridge that was SIX weeks old and not sour! I took a sip and it was ever so slightly goaty.....I finally knew what people were talking about. The next day, it was very goaty, and the day after, it was sour. This was because the cream had formed a seal on the top and since the milk was undisturbed and very clean, it kept until it was disturbed. Don't ya love those accidental science experiments that take place in a crazy-busy kitchen?

OK, just sit back and close your eyes (peek so you can read this) and imagine yourself milking your doe in your barn. First you pick up a mucky chicken then start milking....wait....nope. First you wash your hands, gather your supplies....jars or pail right from the dishwasher, which sanitizes with heat. You have a container with udder wash and rags. You go straight to the barn and get the doe and lead her to the stand. Goats are very clean by nature, and won't have the mucky teats and udders you see on cows in typical dairy situations. (Notice I didn't say ALL cows in ALL situations, so settle back down, cow owners!) If your stalls are properly bedded, your doe will be very clean.

But first, after locking her in the stanchion with her grain, you will take your rag, wring it out, wipe her teats down, wipe her udder down, taking your time to stimulate milk let-down like a the mouth of a hungry kid will. Take your rag and clean your own hands again, and wipe her belly, brushing the hair forward and getting any loose hairs, hay, shavings, etc off of her belly that might fall into your pail or jar. Your stanchion is in an area where no animals have access to it, so it is as clean as you left it about 12 hours before. Mine is in my hay storage area in the cold weather. When the mosquitoes are out, it moves up into a corner of the garage.

Then milk. It goes pretty quickly. If for some reason she kicks or swats a fly with her foot and something dark and mysterious lands in the milk.....the hens or the dogs get that batch. It will be very rare. Extremely rare. Almost never. When you finish milking successfully, you will put a cover on your container and set it aside....I have a set of shelves next to my stand with the things I need and space for the milk containers. I wipe these shelves down whenever they start looking dirty.

You will finish caring for the doe, then you'll go filter your milk into another jar or jars from the dishwasher and will put it right into the fridge. I have never bothered to do anything else to cool the milk more quickly and I have no problems with milk souring. Your clean filter will be waiting to be used, since you prepared it before going out to milk.

If you are like me, you will nuke a little water in a mug and dissolve some cocoa and sweetener, then add some of the warm-from-the-goat milk to the mug and drink it fresh squeezed. 24 oz every morning, baby, starts my day off right! I taught myself to like it lukewarm so I wouldn't risk killing any of the beneficial enzymes. I love it now and my mouth waters while I'm milking in anticipation.

OK, you can open your eyes now. I hope you can see that nothing need contaminate the milk, and you do not have to boil or bleach anything.

If it makes you feel any better, I researched for two years before my first goat, and the day I was to take my first sip, I made sure I had two days off since I was convinced that I would get very sick. I was fine. In fact, that first sip sent me into an intense craving for more, and really, I don't like plain milk and never drink it, interestingly enough, since I am such a raw milk advocate now. I always flavor it or make stuff with it or use it in things.

I make sure my elderly parents get plenty of milk and dairy products, even my fragile mother. It is very good for them. If I had children, even a tiny infant of mine would get this milk with absolutely no reservations on my part. I've come a long way since I first heard of the benefits of raw milk from my doctor, and I don't expect you or anyone else to make a 180 degree turn based on what I have to say.....but I hope you do some research and experimenting of your own. Raw milk has been VERY healing for my digestive issues, and this was really brought home to me after my first season of milking when I had to dry my doe off later in her second pregnancy and I was without milk. Lots of my symptoms came back. The following year, I froze a LOT of milk to get me through the dry time.

 

[kstaven]

With all that cheese you make. Keep the whey and drink chilled or with a little fruit juice. It is a great pick-me-up drink on days when you are dragging.

 

[freemotion]

I have never tried this, but I really should. I know all the best bacteria are in that whey and I have a jar of it in my fridge right now for boosting veggie ferments like salsa and sauerkraut and pickles. My mother used to sneak whey into EVERYTHING....that woman would not through anything away! (Guess the apple didn't fall that far from the tree! ) But I have a lifelong aversion to whey. Guess it is time to get over it, huh?

 

[kstaven]

You lacto ferment I take it.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Some random tips about chilling milk- I had to turn my fridge WAY down because it wasn't keeping the milk cold enough. It has to be just above freezing (and sometimes some random veggies will freeze) to keep it freshest. Also, don't shake the milk! I had been shaking it every time I got milk out of the jar and that damages the milk and makes it taste off. Also, sometimes I've found keeping the jars of milk in a cooler of ice water chills it down so much quicker than just putting it in the fridge alone. If I have ice in my cooler (DH gets ice for free at work) I'll do that. If not, it has to just go in the fridge to chill.

 

[freemotion]

You lacto ferment I take it.

Yes, I do. The salsa is the best! Also the mustard. Yum. Oh, and salad dressing herb mix, my own invention. Big jar of diced garlic. Horseradish. There is a great (LONG!) fermenting thread over on sufficientself with lots of ideas, recipes, instructions for anyone reading this and thinking