Saving Colostrum

[dhansen]

I was thinking that since my doe, who kidded yesterday, has a huge udder, maybe I should milk her a little and get some of her colostrum. Seems like it would be a good thing to have on hand for future kiddings. Her babies are obviously getting plenty. My question is, do I need to pasteurize it before freezing it? How long can I keep it in the freezer?

 

[Roll farms]

Since you're letting the kids nurse it straight, I don't see why you'd bother heat treating it now....?

We heat treat it so I can say our goats are raised on heat treated colostrum for CAE prevention....so unless you intend to raise some kids that way, seems like a lot of extra work.

(You can't pastuerize colostrum, btw...it will turn into pudding...heat treating takes longer at a lower temp.)

IMHO, the best colostrum is produced w/in 12 hrs of kidding....that is all I will save for future use, BUT....what she's making now will be better than nothing in an emergency situation.

It will keep for 6 mos in the freezer if handled properly.

 

[dhansen]

Thank you! I did milk her this a.m. so that's about 15 hours. I will save the colostrum I got. It just seems like liquid gold when you really need it.
Thank you!