Roll farms
Spot Master
When folks come here to "learn" to milk, what I tell them is "Squeeze it like you mean it." You don't want to be rough of course, but you'd have to be pretty darn ruthless to be as bad as a 2 mo. old hungry kid.
Milking and a few other random newbie questions!
- Thread starter sunnyside
- Start date
freemotion
Self Sufficient Queen
Maybe the advice for newbies should be to practice on a glove while dodging kicks from a helpful friend......and trying not to spill a jar of milk!
nmred
Chillin' with the herd
freemotion said:
- Thread starter
- #15
That would have been EXTREMELY helpful!! LOL! Had absolutely no idea she would kick!!!!
Ok, one more quick question....If you milk in the morning and the evening, and you want to pasturize the milk, do you have to do it twice in one day? Or can you hold the milk from the morning until the evening milking and do it all then?
Ok, one more quick question....If you milk in the morning and the evening, and you want to pasturize the milk, do you have to do it twice in one day? Or can you hold the milk from the morning until the evening milking and do it all then?
Livinwright Farm
Goat Fancier
My doe currently in milk, Momma, started off quite kicky... and occassionally she will still try a quick udder "itching" kick. Try getting her used to you and your handling by just rubbing down her sides(as if you are giving her a massage) and slowly work towards her underbelly. Momma LOVES underbelly massages and long scritches. Also, think of her as you would yourself. When a nursing woman needs milk to release, the area needs some gentle massage(much gentler than a kid would knock her udder) and also try offering her some chamomile tea prior to milking. A relaxed doe is a happy doe, and a happy doe is a great milking doe!sunnyside said:
This can vary from doe to doe, depending on her udder size.... If when massaging her udder(not knocking it like a kid), you feel a fairly large firm area, then you still have some milking to do.sunnyside said:
Sometimes even the slightest sound outside the barn/milking area can make a doe nervous(she is immobilized after-all). For my doe Momma, even a chicken hopping up beside her unexpectedly can cause her to become unsettled. When this happens: I stop milking, pull the collection container away from her feet, and start slowly rubbing her side & back while softly telling her that she is okay, and not to worry(like you would a frightened child). She eventually calms down, and the milking process gets back underway.sunnyside said:
sunnyside said:
GOOD LUCK!! If you figure out how to stop the nibbleys, let ME know!
Livinwright Farm
Goat Fancier
As long as the milk is put in the fridge between milkings, you can actually hold up to 4 days worth of milkings before pasteurizing the lot on the morning of the 5th day. RAW milk keeps up to 5 days in the fridge before starting to soursunnyside said:
freemotion
Self Sufficient Queen
Research the benefits of raw milk before making the decision to kill your milk! www.realmilk.com and www.westonapricefoundation.org
Livinwright Farm
Goat Fancier
Remember there is a difference between flash pasteurization and commercial pasteurization.... flash pasteurization only kills a tiny fragment of the good bacteria but kills all the bad.freemotion said:
I prefer raw milk, and so do a lot of my friends, but none of us want to take the chance with very young kids or pregnancies, when immune systems are building or lowered. When it comes to goat milk, in particular, unless you know for a fact that the doe tested negative for Johnes, CAE, CL, better to flash pasteurize than to end up sick.
- Thread starter
- #20
I would prefer raw myself as well, but with the kids and the fact that I am new to this, I am going to flash pasturize. I was trying to think of a way to pasturize half and leave half raw but worry that I would mix them up. Once the kiddoes are a little older, I would like for us all to drink raw.
