Milking: Some questions

[PJisaMom]

I was going to post this on the "Milking" part of the board, but they don't seem to see much action over there, so I thought I'd try here first...

Lulu had her babies 10 days ago (her 3rd freshening... my first! LOL!)... Took me three days to realize that the babies were only nursing from one side... and much to her relief, I am *sure*, she had to endure my first ever real milking attempts. I will spare you the details of how much *fun* that was... Since she's an old pro at being milked, it was my dysfunction that was making it a bit, uh, torturous. (And a fine time to realize the hand numbness I've had since pitchforking the barn out this spring is absolutely detrimental to milking abilities.)

So... I've been feeding the *play* milk to the chickens and the dog. Seemed to work out well... I have been only milking the one side, morning and night, and get about 6-8 ounces... Thinking I could get more, but I stop once she reaches the *totally* frustrated stage. Finally got my filters, sterilized my milking "stuff" and put my 'fo' real' face on. Yesterday I went at her twice, filtering, chilling, glass jars.. the whole shebang.

From the one side, in total, I got about 1.75 cups... for the whole day. She isn't getting nearly as full as those first few days, so I began to wonder if they were sneaking some from the "other" side. After separating them for a few hours this afternoon, they both attacked mom with ferocity.... one on each side... Hoping this pattern continues.

So my questions are this:

1) am I really going to be able to dare my husband to actually drink it?
2) Is milking out the one side uber-necessary at this point? (I have a 3 day trip to Texas coming up, and my 9yo can't milk for squat and the hubby is refusing to do it.)
3) Now that they've started to use both sides (though I can't really rely on it), is it likely they will continue to do so? (One of the reasons for dam raising this batch was because it's summer... and frankly, I'd like to have the freedom that comes with summer.... )
4) and the last question: I do have a pasteurizer (am aware of the raw vs. pasteurized debate - please know I am asking a process question, not whether or not to actually do it), and would like to try it for my special needs kid.... but with getting only just over a cup per milking, doesn't really seem worth the trouble... is there an issue with chilling two days worth, then pasteurizing it?

Thanks.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

1) am I really going to be able to dare my husband to actually drink it? big_smile

yes! double dog dare him! then punch him in the arm and call him a variety of cowardly names...and then .....and then... i guarantee he says "hey! it tastes like milk!"

hee hee hee actually i know a lot of folks who made chocolate milk the first time they tried it. one gal i know poured Kahlua in it!! kind of a "goat russian" hee hee hee hee

2) Is milking out the one side uber-necessary at this point? (I have a 3 day trip to Texas coming up, and my 9yo can't milk for squat and the hubby is refusing to do it.)

our babies worked it out and started evenly sippin' off both sides.

3) Now that they've started to use both sides (though I can't really rely on it), is it likely they will continue to do so? (One of the reasons for dam raising this batch was because it's summer... and frankly, I'd like to have the freedom that comes with summer.... wink )

ours did - we really didnt worry too much. remember that they are just taking a little right now but will take more milk as they grow

4) and the last question: I do have a pasteurizer (am aware of the raw vs. pasteurized debate - please know I am asking a process question, not whether or not to actually do it), and would like to try it for my special needs kid.... but with getting only just over a cup per milking, doesn't really seem worth the trouble... is there an issue with chilling two days worth, then pasteurizing it?

dunno... we didnt do this.


good luck!

 

[PJisaMom]

1) am I really going to be able to dare my husband to actually drink it? big_smile

yes! double dog dare him! then punch him in the arm and call him a variety of cowardly names...and then .....and then... i guarantee he says "hey! it tastes like milk!"

hee hee hee actually i know a lot of folks who made chocolate milk the first time they tried it. one gal i know poured Kahlua in it!! kind of a "goat russian" hee hee hee hee

Um... it was Ew! Could still be too early yet, so I took a big swig and was like ... uh, we'll wait! It tasted... um... yucky. Milk, but with a certain tang to it! Yep... we'll wait! (Not to mention we drink SKIM milk... this will take some getting used to!)

Okay... I just shuddered telling you that....

2) Is milking out the one side uber-necessary at this point? (I have a 3 day trip to Texas coming up, and my 9yo can't milk for squat and the hubby is refusing to do it.)

our babies worked it out and started evenly sippin' off both sides.

Yeah... um... now tonight the *other* side was completely overfull and the side I have been milking from was well-used. Just took off enough to soften it up a bit... ay yi yi! They have 6 days to figure this out! Get moving, babies!

They are getting disbudded tomorrow, so hauling momma and the babies to the breeder's house for some smokin' hot fun. (oy... that was baaaaad! Sorry!) I will see what she thinks of my poor girl's udder. It works, but I think we have poor attachments up top and as I was digging around today, I think she has a pocket up front of her udder. I dunno.

Give me another week and I'll be working the "goat russian"!

 

[elevan]

Give it a few more days before you try it again.

Since you are used to skim milk which is no where near as rich as goat's milk, I would suggest mixing the goat's milk 50/50 with skim milk to try it and get used to it

 

[cindy78]

So my questions are this:

1) am I really going to be able to dare my husband to actually drink it?

Thanks.

Don't throw away those empty milk bottles. Clean them out really good and poor the goat milk in there. He won't be able to tell the difference!! My 16 y/o daughter refused to try our goat milk til she found herself eating cereal with....yes....GOAT MILK! haha! I tricked her and she didn't even tell til I went to ask her what milk carton she used and she just gave me a weird face lol but then said she couldn't tell the difference. I make fresh fruit smoothies with our goat milk. Delicious!

 

[elevan]

If he's used to skim milk he'll know a difference unless you mix it...just keep increasing the amount of goat milk to cow skim milk

 

[savingdogs]

We always drank 1 percent milk so I know what you mean about the richness, but we got past that no problem by starting with drinking chocolate milk, like OFG said. Yummy! Once we got started there was no going back, but we did let the kids drink it all for the first couple months and what we first tasted was very sweet and very good. My husband and older son needed to try goat milk "cooked" first before "trusting" it, so we made pudding, cheese, etc., and when they grew more comfortable, they started with the raw milk, too. We do not pasteurize our milk and have had no problems. For us, the problem is going to be when the goats stop producing for the year! We don't want to go back.

 

[vegaburm]

Don't give up! My doe's milk tasted tangy until her kids were about 3 1/2 weeks old. I tried a lot of things, eliminated any herbs and extra stuff I was giving her, no change. Didn't let her browse, etc. Still tangy, though it started to get less. Then it was just normal one day when the kids were 3 1/2 weeks old. Don't know why. I have started to add other things back into her feed and the only thing I noticed was that if I let her browse much it would be tangy, or if I threw in a lot of branches for them, as I did one day when trimming apple trees back. I don't know if she makes colostrum extra long, I don't know. But I won't be surprised if next time it takes that long to clear up!

All this to say, give it some time. I tried to get my kids to taste it when it was still a little tangy and that was a bad idea, they all got in their heads that it tasted funny and now I am having to sneak it back in even though it tastes like normal milk. Once it works out it really does just taste like milk!

And you can tell hubby that off-tasting milk it not just a goat problem. From my understanding the diets of dairy cows are very closely regulated so as not to add any flavor to the milk. I think we are used to a very bland, not very natural milk honestly. I wish we were simply accustomed to the flavors created by them eating their natural food, instead of what we make them eat, but that is just my opinion. Anyway, it soothed my dh to hear that this was not a "goat milk" problem, but a milking in general problem.

 

[Griffin's Ark]

from one husband who was pestered for over 6 months to try goat milk, I say don't give up on him. I hate cow milk, but I love goat milk. We always wait 30 days before drinking the milk, but always milk the doe out everyday while leaving the kids on her for 10 days, then of course when they are moved to the bottle they continue to get momma's milk through weaning. We keep 6 does milking at different stages all of the time, and we always have milk.
Goat milk fat is different than cow milk fat (smaller molecules) which makes it easier to digest. Much to my wife's pleasure I might add!