Sheep milking - year three begins

[norseofcourse]

The sheep milking is still very much a learning experience. The sheep and lambs don't call nearly as much in the mornings now, they munch their hay and they're pretty settled into the routine. I'm tracking production, and it's gone up and down for various reasons. I'm at over 3 gallons so far! I've used some, and frozen quite a bit.

Gracie, always first to be milked, has a good amount of milk, but small teats. I think of hers as 'two-finger' teats LOL. I use my thumb, and the two midde fingers to milk her. Sometimes it goes fairly easily, sometimes not, and I can't always tell if it's her or me. Sometimes I stop when I know she has more milk, sometimes I go longer. I don't think I've ever milked her out fully. She does behave well on the stand.

Lukka is my first freshener, and she's not giving much, but she behaves really well on the stand. Her teats are a bit larger than Gracie's, and her orifices seem larger, too. From what I've read, her teats should be larger next year? If so, she's going to be a wondeful milker. I don't fully milk her out, either, but it's not hard to come close.

Rose. Rose has such potential, and she did well last year. This year, she started off doing well, then she started getting fidgety on the stand. I made sure nothing was uncomfortable for her. Since she is milked last, I might have unintentionally started hurrying to finish, so I tried to slow down. I tried letting her eat as I milked, but it didn't help, so I switched back to just giving her a little to get on the stand, then the rest when I was done milking her.

Rose has nice large teats, but somewhat smaller orifices, although it goes pretty fast when she behaves and relaxes. I'm not milking her out, either, since she's got the twins. I looked back on last year's notes, and Rose moved and stomped and kicked for awhile at first then, too, so I'm fairly certain she'll settle down. She's done a little better the last two times, and this morning I milked with both hands, just briefly (I've been milking her with one hand at a time, holding the container with the other, so she can't kick it over).

I made tapioca pudding, and it had a grainy texture. It didn't taste bad, but it was... different. The recipe calls for bringing the mixture to a boil, and I think it precipitated out some of the curd/proteins. I used fresh milk, and a recipe I've made with milk from the store many times. Has anyone made tapioca with goats milk, and does it do the same thing?

I next made instant pudding with sheep's milk, and it set up just fine. Hoping to get some time to make my first batch of cheese this weekend

 

[bonbean01]

You'll have to make sheep milk yogurt! When my daughter was in Greece, she got addicted to the yogurt and asked why it was so different than what she'd had before....it was made from sheep milk! She has always loved yogurt, but she said the sheep milk yogurt was better than anything!

 

[norseofcourse]

You'll have to make sheep milk yogurt!

I'd wavered about yogurt - I'm not a huge big fan of it, although I did really like skyr when I went to Iceland (it was probably made with cows milk though, not sheeps milk). My cheesemaking book has a recipe for yogurt that only takes a quart of milk, so I'll give it a try and let you know how it goes!

 

[norseofcourse]

This morning, for the third morning in a row, Gracie peed on the milkstand.

My routine is bring her into the milking area (she's first, and always very ready), she hops up on the stand, I put the neckrope on her. I brush her back/hindquarters/belly first, then use a towel to clean her udder.

Friday and Saturday, she peed when I got to the towel part. This morning she peed when I brushed her. She's not acting scared or worried, and she stands very well to be milked. She never did this last year, but I didn't milk her much last year. I've been milking about a month so far this year, and this just started.

The milkstand platform is solid wood, so some runs off and some soaks in, no matter how fast I try to wipe it off with a towel. The first time it got on me, too, since I wasn't expecting it. She's not going a whole lot, but.... ewwwwwww!

Any ideas on how to deal with this? Will it stop on its own? Anybody know sheep for 'go potty before you come in'?

 

[mysunwolf]

Oh no, I'm sorry, but that's too funny I have a ewe who pees on me every time I inspect her udder, and am NOT looking forward to trying to milk her.

My friend who milks her cows puts their tails down over their behinds if they look like they're going to pee or poo in the milking stall and says "No!" but I'm not sure it actually works...

You could try messing with her udder and brushing her before you go to the stand, that way maybe she'll get all the "eek, sensitive" out of her system and pee before she gets on the stand.

 

[Baymule]

Getting peed on...... sorry, but I had to laugh. Still giggling .....

 

[bonbean01]

so sorry....but that made me crack up laughing!!! And boy, did I need that laugh today

Think of those Depend advertisements....no big deal...just a little pee ....LOLOL

 

[norseofcourse]

IT'S NOT FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I can see the humor in it. It would be funnier if it wasn't me, too!

I got Gracie up on the stand yesterday evening and trimmed off the rest of her long wool (she's shedding). She peed on the stand again.

So, this morning, I petted her hindquarters and udder before she got on the stand, but she didn't 'go'. Then I put a big handful of hay/waste wool on the stand behind her, hoping that if she did go, it would soak up most of it. I went on with our normal routine.

But - she didn't pee on the stand this morning! I still don't know why she did, and I don't know why she didn't, but I can hope she will stop for good.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Maybe she's over it... Hope so!

 

[norseofcourse]

Overdue for an update!

Gracie peed only a few more times on the milkstand, then (with one exception) she hasn't done it since. I still don't know why, but glad she's stopped. Maybe she was overanxious - she insists on being first to be milked

I'm still milking 3 sheep - Gracie, Lukka and Rose - nearly every morning. I've been milking now for 10 weeks. Right now I'm averaging about two cups of milk total per day - mosty from Gracie and Rose, since Lukka is a first freshener. Sometimes production is a bit higher, sometimes a bit lower, and it's hard to tell if it's them, me, or something else.

I am really enjoying the milking, but I'm starting to really hate getting up early enough to get the milking and other chores done before heading to work. The bumper crop of mosquitoes we've got right now isn't helping either.

I've got at least two gallons of milk frozen for cheesemaking, and at least that much or more frozen for soapmaking. I also have enough frozen for one batch of ice cream, and I'm currently freezing more in 1.5 cup batches for fudge. It amazes me that squirt by squirt, my girls have given me so much milk! I don't use a lot of milk on a daily basis, so most of it has gotten frozen, and I'm running out of room - a problem I could not have imagined last year.

I had one gallon of milk frozen from last year. A few weeks ago I used half of that to make cheese, and it turned out well (I made lemon cheese, then ricotta with the whey). Today, I used the other half gallon and made the same cheeses. With this year's milk, I've also made several batches of fudge, some ice cream, and a few other recipes that called for milk.

Letting the cream rise to separate it hasn't been working too well for me. I don't know how long it would take to let it set for most/all the cream to rise, and I'm not comfortable with letting the milk set in the fridge all that long. I may research cream separators - I've heard of tabletop models so maybe they can be used with smaller quantities, like a quart or half gallon.

My original plan had me milking for another ten weeks, but I don't know if I'll go that long. It was just based on how long I figured I'd have enough daylight in the morning. I'm not ready to stop quite yet, but maybe start skipping more weekdays. No matter how much longer I go this year, I think it's been quite a success and a really great learning experience again!