This is training. First, let’s talk about what to avoid. https://thriftyhomesteader.com/a-beginners-guide-to-goats/. Your email address will not be published. But it’s been years since we’ve had a doe that took longer than three or four days to settle down and let us milk her. Because this milk can contain bacteria. You’re not going for volume. The milking activity will take 12 to 15 minutes per doe, plus milk preparation time. We have a goat who just had her first kids yesterday. The sooner, the better — measured in hours, not days or weeks. If you are getting quite a bit less than that in three milking, then keep milking until you are getting at least as much (or more) as what she was getting — or until you decide it’s not worth the extra effort. I’ll just leave it there until she stops kicking. As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so the real answer is to start training your goat to the milk stand months before you plan to milk her. Should I just let the doeling’s side dry up, and continue the milking as before? This is why it’s a great idea for you to get an experienced milker as your first milk goat. One thing that we often take for granted is how to actually milk a goat.It is a task that most people, including me actually had to practice before mastering it. Some goats will reach that by 7 months, but some may take 18 months. Most people think of cows when it comes to milk, but goats are easier to handle, less costly to feed and require far less space. We’ve only had three cases of mastitis in 17 years, so this works for us. Do you take the milk from each goat into the kitchen to filter and weigh one by one? Because there is one way to milk long teats — wrap all four fingers around the teats and squeeze from the top down. This is an awesome post! Be sure to squeeze with top finger first, followed by the middle finger, ring finger, and if it fits on the teat, the pinky finger. Your fingers get tired pretty fast doing that unless you’ve had enough practice that you’ve developed abnormal strength in your fingers. They never received grain anywhere else. Here we are going to describe more about how to milk a goat by hand. With a cow or goat that gives a gallon or more, you don’t get breaks, and that makes a huge difference. It means they trust me and want to be milked. Milking a goat is the most important part for you if you are raising a few goats for fresh milk supply. Your pinky finger may not be strong enough to actually do much, so if it needs to just hang out, that’s fine too. My daughter actually studied this when working on her PhD in biological chemistry. I’ve had goats on my homestead for years now. Now check your email to confirm your subscription. We do it about every week or so unless it seems that a doe gave quite a bit less than usual, then we weigh it. You want them to associate the milk stand with happy times and positive images, so that they will be beating down the door to get into the milking parlor — really. Some people would like to start a home business based on goat milk. If it doesn’t feel like you’re trying to force blood out of the bottom of your finger, you’re not squeezing tightly enough. New owners are falling in love with their goat’s affectionate demeanor, quirky personalities, and of course, their delicious milk. With my Nigerians, I have three different techniques that I use to milk them, so when a couple of fingers get tired, I can switch to a different technique without missing a beat. The main marketing issue for prospective dairy goat producers is the number of commercial processors to whom raw milk can be shipped. There are three ways to milk a goat: Catching the goat’s head in a head catch (or tying them up) and sitting on a bucket (or stool) set on the ground and milking the goat from their left or right side while they are standing on the ground. I just got my first doe kid and was wondering if they are similar to sheep where you can get them in lamb(kid) in their first year without, for a lack of a better word, stunting them provided they are well fed the entire time? Do that for a few days, and then start milking a little bit. Thrifty Homesteader is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. How do we teach the goat to remain standing while we milk? Stay tuned for the first newsletter in the morning, straight to your inbox. How exciting! If not, just squeeze the teats anyway, even if you only get drops. The concept of riding a bicycle is also very simple — just pedal the bike — but learning the coordination to become efficient at either task takes time. We're breeding our Nubians for the first time this fall, and they're more spirited than our Alpine. This is your learning experience. Milking goats is time consuming, so before purchasing dairy goats it’s good to know what you’re getting into. I leave the other side for her 5 month old baby, but I would like to sell the baby now. Disclosure. I suggest, however, that you stop using these strong-arm tactics as soon as possible because they’re time-consuming and stressful for both you and the goat. There are many good reasons for raising dairy goats, and this article is the best place to start for more information about the best goats for milk. I don't have goats at the moment, but hope to in the future. What Is the CDT Vaccine and Why Is It Important for Sheep and Goats? If you are not able to get out any milk, then once the kids are a month old, separate the kids as late in the evening as you can so that they will only be separated for about 8 hours before you milk in the morning. When I’m teaching people to milk here — whether it’s adults or an 8-year-old — I show them what I mean by doing the same motion on their pointer finger. Some people say that milking a Nigerian dwarf is harder than standard goats. Then put the doe back with her kids, and they’ll take care of getting the rest of milk. I am milking a Nigerian Dwarf in this video. Also she’s in a DHIP so she’s constantly checking production I will definitely weigh it and see where she’s at and compare thank you so much for the advice. ↓↓↓↓↓↓ CLICK “SHOW MORE” FOR RESOURCES ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓This is how you milk a dairy goat. So you would be ensuring that she’d produce as much as possible if you took whatever was left over once a day. However, since you don’t milk one side, you don’t really know how much she’s making there, so will be tough to know for sure. Goats produce so much milk that you can allow the kids to nurse and still take what's left over. They are very smart and never forget. It multiplies quickly, which is why the milk tastes worse as it gets older. If a doe has twins, it is usually safe to milk once a day without separating the kids. We won't send you spam. And in the name of DIY and being the naturally frugal people that we are (you can see how we paid off our house in 5 years , or bought our new farmhouse with cash ), we decided to build one ourselves, using these plans and utilizing many materials we already had on hand. If a doe has two or more kids, do not start separating them from mom overnight on a regular basis until they are two months old. Just keep working at it. Don’t be hard on yourself if you get more milk on yourself than in the bucket and if it takes 15 minutes to get a cup of milk the first few times. There are over more than three hundred breeds of goat and most of them are known for the quality milk and meat that they provide. Single kids also tend to be quite chunky because they can have all the milk they want. When you milk a goat, you'll find it is vey similar to hand milking a cow. The milk breed of goats produces a lot of milk, dealing a lot of pain. This is not only for the kids’ benefit but for yours! A sudden big drop in milk production can tell you that something is up, such as the doe is sick or in heat. During milking discard first few squeezes of milk. An alternative use for goat milk is as an on-farm substitute for milk replacer in lamb, veal, and pig diets. Before you head out to the barn, do your goat a favor: Please keep those fingernails short so you are less likely to pinch skin or a teat. One quart of milk is plenty for us. I completely understand the frustration of learning to milk when you have an uncooperative goat — and in 2002, I gave up on my second goat and quit milking her after only a week. Basically keep going until she at least calms down and lets you milk her. For now, feel free to continue reading. When I am milking a goat with really small teats, I may milk with just two fingers. A very full udder is much harder to milk than one that’s only moderately full. You can call your does by name and they'll come to the milk room, jump on the stand and put their head in their feed bucket, allowing you to squeeze out long streams of steaming milk. There are dozens of different ideas on how to clean the udder, but we have used nothing other than a wet washcloth, using a clean quadrant for each doe. If you give up now, it will be much harder later on. After that squeeze firmly (never hardly). This should pull the milk … A couple weeks? For those that have hand-milked goats for some time, I can see that grin as you recollect spilled milk, milk running down your wrists and arms, and perhaps a dancing goat or two. Great advice! I tend to milk with just three fingers, holding my pinky back. Sure, sometimes goat milk can taste different, especially if you just gave your goat a full head of garlic, however, if you know the secret to delicious tasting goat milk you would be pleasantly surprised at just how amazing it does taste. I will start getting them use to the stand. It’s about supply and demand, and a single kid will demand as much as it can, but it it’s still nowhere near as much as what twins would consume. Back in the day before I had 20 milkers, we would put every goat on the milk stand every single time they got grain. Otherwise, the goat will wind up with a lopsided udder, which could be permanent. Below is a short video of how to milk a goat: It sounds quite a hustle and effort-some but a milk breed goat raised as a pet does not have boosted or enhanced nourishment, making it produce less amount of milk than an average farm or livestock milk breed goat. If they aren’t consuming all of the milk, then the doe’s production will decrease to meet their demand. We at PackGoats.com know you will enjoy this course, and milk like a pro! You pay the same price when you purchase through affiliate links as you would if you went directly to Amazon, and our site earns a small commission, so by shopping through our links, you are helping to support our blog so that we can continue to provide you with free content. You need a kid to keep up the demand so that her body will keep producing while you’re learning. Hopefully you got more than one goat because they are herd animals and are rarely happy when alone. But as they say, it’s the tone of voice that’s important, so if you can talk soothingly while reciting the ABCs or the weather forecast, go for it. If a goat has only a single, you really need to either be milking twice a day without separating or separating overnight and milking every morning, or you’ll have a very wimpy milk supply because she will only produce enough for that one kid. Pasteurization doesn’t help because dead bacteria don’t taste any better than live bacteria. We’re hoping to get goats next year. If we are milking more than about five goats, we don’t actually weigh each doe’s milk every day. I know I have big dreams and I’ll have a reality check later. There was an error submitting your subscription. 07.17.2019 by thriftyhomesteader // 28 Comments. This homesteading skill is a must-have if you raise your own backyard goats. Doesn’t matter whether you pick morning or evening. Thank you! Makes perfect sense no kids currently on her they have been weaned for a long while now she’s giving around 7.1 lbs a day ! I’m milking Delilah in the mornings and getting about a quart of milk from one side. I raised Boer goats for years in 4H as a kid, but I recently decided to jump into dairy goats because I love goats milk everything!! OR wrap your pointer finger tightly around the teat. I don’t recommend bottle raising kids if you don’t know how to milk because you won’t be able to get the doe empty when you’re learning, and it’s all a matter of supply and demand. I’m taking over our milking from my adult son, who still operates like he did when we had only 2 does, and I’m trying to streamline the process. The doe needs to have goat feed to eat on the stand while you’re milking. In the future, I’d suggest milking both sides in the morning after an overnight separation. She feels that the milk is for her babies, so she is trying to stop you from taking it from them just as she would butt away another kid that tried to nurse off her. Related products. I love all the great benefits I get from them. Be sure to check out my Beginner’s Guide to Goats — https://thriftyhomesteader.com/a-beginners-guide-to-goats/. It only took a couple of unhappy customers in the early years of selling goats to realize that if someone doesn’t know how to milk, the doe’s supply will decrease every day as they’re learning. A goat is a four legged animal which is a close relative of sheep. Now that you are ready to actually milk the goat … Trap the milk in the teat by pressing your thumb against the teat, which presses the teat against your hand. If you use these links to make a product purchase, I may receive a commission. But can goat’s milk supply all of your dairy needs? Before milking into a bucket for human consumption, you need to clean the udder and put the first few squirts into a strip cup. This is why it’s good to have a general idea of how much a doe is producing — in addition to long-term goals, breeding, and culling decisions. Perhaps you have always dreamed of providing your family’s milk supply. (I say “most” because it is not impossible.) We had a LaMancha one time that was producing about a quart extra every day when her kids were newborns. If you just keep refilling her grain on the milk stand, she could wind up with an upset rumen and diarrhea. You are brilliant! If you have brought home a doe in milk that was just taken away from her kids this morning, however, you don’t have time for this type of training because you need to milk that goat tonight! If she is leaving behind kids, her production will drop more than if she was only being milked, so keep that in mind also. A goat that raises her own kids and misbehaves on the milk stand is simply expressing very strong mothering instincts. I completely understand the frustration of learning to milk when you have an uncooperative goat — and in 2002, I gave up on my second goat and quit milking her after only a week. I'll tuck this into the recesses of my brain and hope to find it again when the need arises. That fresh cup of milk is only a few steps away… I can already taste it. My ultimate goal is that all of my does will run into the milking parlor and jump on the milk stand, and I will be able to milk them without even closing the head gate on the stanchion. There is not real right or wrong way to milk as long as you are getting the milk out of the goat without injuring them. Why? Keep scrolling! She’ll probably get mad when you do that, but just stay calm and put your hand on her udder until she calms down again. Another course you may be interested in is our How to Raise a Baby Goat Course. You trap the milk in the teat, then you squeeze the teat, and the milk has nowhere to go but out the orifice on the bottom. Check out this article on how many kids a doe can feed for more information on this. It’s all just a matter of practice right now. Learn how to milk a goat, and you will have your own source of fresh, healthy milk for you, your family and a neighbor or two. All equipment and utensils should be thoroughly washed in water between 100-120 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8-48.9 degrees Celsius), using an alkaline-based or chlorinated cleaner. It is against the law in most states, including Pennsylvania, to sell raw milk unless it is inspected by state milk inspectors. Milking a goat by hand is very easy. This is to prevent the growth and spread of bacteria. I’m not sure if we’ve become that good at training them, or if we just culled all the lines that were not good at raising their kids and letting us milk them. 1. 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