how to milk a goat

When a doe’s kids are sold, her milk supply naturally decreases because her hormone levels change, so you will probably see about a 30% drop in production after the kid is gone. This is training. Required fields are marked *. Because this milk can contain bacteria. But there are a few things to consider about raising goats for milk before you take the leap. So, if you just brought home your first kids this spring and won’t be milking until next year, keep reading! 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. https://thriftyhomesteader.com/a-beginners-guide-to-goats/. Goat’s milk has been consumed for thousands of years, and in recent years, goats are making a strong comeback. If you are just learning to milk, it can be helpful to have someone hold one of the hind legs because most goats cannot kick the bucket over if they only have three legs on the milk stand. The first few squirts have a higher bacteria level than the other milk because harmless skin bacteria are around and in the orifice (the opening) of the teats. 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. 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. As long as does are well fed, there are no issues with stunting their growth. We won't send you spam. Back in the day before I had 20 milkers, we would put every goat on the milk stand every single time they got grain. But she can eat as much alfalfa as she wants. Just relax your fingers and try again. Milking machines vary from a simple hand pump that milks one animal at a time to an electric pump that can milk two or more goats at once. However, that’s not usually possible. You won’t be able to get all of the milk, and that’s fine. (More on that later.). Great advise! It is against the law in most states, including Pennsylvania, to sell raw milk unless it is inspected by state milk inspectors. I love all the great benefits I get from them. She’ll start to kick at my hand, but I won’t move it. Some people say that milking a Nigerian dwarf is harder than standard goats. Practice. I tend to milk with just three fingers, holding my pinky back. Between daily milking, special nutrition management, and the mandatory breeding necessary to maintain milk production, keeping a dairy herd is a big commitment. ↓↓↓↓↓↓ CLICK “SHOW MORE” FOR RESOURCES ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓This is how you milk a dairy goat. Thank you for this very useful post! When I am milking a goat with really small teats, I may milk with just two fingers. For now, feel free to continue reading. But can goat’s milk supply all of your dairy needs? Hopefully you got more than one goat because they are herd animals and are rarely happy when alone. 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. Thank you! If she has extra, that’s great. So, before we talk about how you milk a goat, let’s talk about how you teach a goat to become a milker. After trapping the milk in the teat, press your other fingers against the teat, which presses the teat against your hand. 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. 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. A goat that raises her own kids and misbehaves on the milk stand is simply expressing very strong mothering instincts. Check out this article on how many kids a doe can feed for more information on this. That means I stopped trying to milk them like a cow. If you give up now, it will be much harder later on. A goat is a four legged animal which is a close relative of sheep. When pulling down be sure to leave your thumb and index finger in place, but you’ll squeeze your remaining fingers and the palm of your hand together as you pull down. 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. 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. This will give you an idea of how closing the teat (finger) off from the udder (hand) traps the water in the finger, allowing you to “milk” the liquid out by squeezing the teat. For milking a goat, simply put both of your thumb and forefinger around their teat, right up against the udder. By the time they’ve got it figured out, she could be almost dried up. Put her on the milk stand twice a day and “milk” for a couple of minutes, just for practice. If you are bottle raising kids, the does tend to be completely mellow about being milked because they don’t know any other way. Until after her quarantine period is up? The Beginners Guide to Training Pack Goats, 23 Reasons Why You Should Raise Goats in Your Homestead, How to Train Your Goats to Use a Litter Box (and Save $40 Easily), Kiko Goat: Breed Info, Characteristics, Breeding, and Care, How to Handle the Odd Behavior of a Goat Buck in Rut, 31 Goat Breeds for Milk, Meat, & Fiber You’ll Need on the Farm, Kalahari Red Goat: Breed Info, Characteristics, Breeding, and Care, The Complete Guide to Choosing Dairy Goat Stock, Angora Goat: Breed Info, Characteristics, Breeding, and Care, 12 Easy Ways to Get Your Goats Ready for Winter and the Freezing Cold, Spanish Goat: Breed Info, Characteristics, and Care. 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. It multiplies quickly, which is why the milk tastes worse as it gets older. If you don’t have a helper, you can hobble a goat. OR wrap your other fingers around the teat to force the milk out of the orifice. I will start getting them use to the stand. With a cow or goat that gives a gallon or more, you don’t get breaks, and that makes a huge difference. Then put the doe back with her kids, and they’ll take care of getting the rest of milk. 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. To transition her goats from being milked by hand to being milked by a machine, Holloway turned on the machine while milking them by hand, then eased them onto the machine over time. Once in awhile you will find a doe that really needs to be milked one a day because she produces a lot more than the kids can consume. Perhaps you have always dreamed of providing your family’s milk supply. Now check your email to confirm your subscription. Some goats will reach that by 7 months, but some may take 18 months. 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. If you have one that lays down, you can have your helper hold up her back end, or you can put something very large under her chest. I bought mine on amazon but they drive me nuts not fitting nicely. Now all you have to do is build a fence & shelter, purchase a goat (or 20), buy some food, breed your goat, wait for your goat to deliver babies, wait 2 weeks, then you can milk your goat! I am milking a Nigerian Dwarf in this video. Watch my 8 year old daughter’s video on How to Milk a Goat (And while you’re there, be sure to … Her goal was to create a filter to remove the bacteria, which she was able to do, but the problem was the filter also removed the butterfat. We show you how to train your goat to milk … I was caring for a friend’s goats who have never allowed anyone to milk them and I don’t want to find myself in that predicament. We're breeding our Nubians for the first time this fall, and they're more spirited than our Alpine. If their kids are the only ones getting the milk, then they think that the kids are the only ones that should be getting it. This is to prevent the growth and spread of bacteria. 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. At least one of your knows how it works. Is raising goats for milk legal in my area? Related products. This homesteading skill is a must-have if you raise your own backyard goats. For good-quality production, dairy goats should be milked twice per day, 12 hours apart. 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. I had a la mancha that would give a quart a day while nursing two kids without ever being separated. Stay tuned for the first newsletter in the morning, straight to your inbox. This is not only for the kids’ benefit but for yours! Even if you already keep backyard chickens or are raising rabbits for meat, that doesn If they aren’t consuming all of the milk, then the doe’s production will decrease to meet their demand. If you use these links to make a product purchase, I may receive a commission. We had a LaMancha one time that was producing about a quart extra every day when her kids were newborns. I’ve had goats on my homestead for years now. You can either use a hanging scale for the bucket after you milk each doe, or you can set the large pale on a digital scale and zero it before you add the new milk. 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. Please try again. 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. Do that for a few days, and then start milking a little bit. 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. Should I just let the doeling’s side dry up, and continue the milking as before? I needed this article. If you can learn to milk without ever separating the kids, that’s great. Select options. One quart of milk is plenty for us. After that squeeze firmly (never hardly). So you would be ensuring that she’d produce as much as possible if you took whatever was left over once a day. So, the goat also needs to learn to be milked. There are many goat milk benefits, including making goat cheese or learning how to make goat milk soap. As you quickly pull down, you should get a solid stream of milk. 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. Also, since you don’t usually get more than a quart out of one at a single milking, your hands get a couple of minutes rest before moving on to the next goat and milking out the next few cups of milk. So the goats associate it with negative experiences and want nothing to do with it after freshening. I always start with something simple and don’t move on to anything more complicated unless simple proves to not work. The main marketing issue for prospective dairy goat producers is the number of commercial processors to whom raw milk can be shipped. If you start on day one, this type of behavior is usually very short-lived — as in minutes, rather than days, if you wait. When our herd got too big to put every dry doe on the milk stand every day, I started putting them on the milk stand as early as possible after freshening. Your email address will not be published. Milking a goat by hand is very easy. Use a milk stand and a head catch and … 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. 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! You are brilliant! I understand. Single kids also tend to be quite chunky because they can have all the milk they want. You can mix alfalfa crumbs or alfalfa pellets into her grain so that she’ll have more to eat, and you’ll have more time to milk. 07.17.2019 by thriftyhomesteader // 28 Comments. However, you  may only get a few squirts, and that’s fine. If she is leaving behind kids, her production will drop more than if she was only being milked, so keep that in mind also. You’re not going for volume. Maybe your children are looking for a 4-H project. In fact, once I figured out how to milk them, I preferred milking them to a cow or a standard size milk goat with longer teats. 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. The doe needs to have goat feed to eat on the stand while you’re milking. We've been lucky so far, fingers crossed, knock on wood and all that jazz. Milking a well-trained goat is a pleasure. And even though I “complain” about my goats beating down the milking parlor door — some of them jump on the door while waiting their turn — and fighting to get in ahead of the other goats, I really would not have it any other way. If not, just squeeze the teats anyway, even if you only get drops. You may think that only you need to learn to milk a goat, but it’s not a natural thing for a goat to let a human take her milk. 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. Milking goats is time consuming, so before purchasing dairy goats it’s good to know what you’re getting into. Your fingers get tired pretty fast doing that unless you’ve had enough practice that you’ve developed abnormal strength in your fingers. So I lucked into a mature doe that’s been bred for my first addition (she is fairly close to kidding – a month or two away) and I was curious about finding a friend for her so close to her due date. Learn how to milk a goat, particularly small breeds like Nigerian Dwarf goats.This beginner’s guide to milking discusses everything you need to know. Another course you may be interested in is our How to Raise a Baby Goat Course. I leave the other side for her 5 month old baby, but I would like to sell the baby now. Just building our stanchion now. How do we teach the goat to remain standing while we milk? For a few goats or a small herd, you don't need to use any auto or electric milker. 1. They’re sharing their milk with me because they want to, not because I’m bigger and stronger and am taking it by force. That fresh cup of milk is only a few steps away… I can already taste it. If a doe is raising her own kids, you are not necessarily going for volume when you milk her, although I’ve had goats that would produce more than their kids could consume. She sat on her udder when we tried to milk out some colostrum to freeze. This is an awesome post! You should milk both sides equally. Here we are going to describe more about how to milk a goat by hand. 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. 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. 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. 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. Although I milk a Nigerian dwarf in the video, you can use the same techniques for standard size goats. They usually drop about 30% production when you go to once a day. (We have a dozen now!) 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. I don’t usually wrap my fingers around shorter teats. Be sure to check out my Beginner’s Guide to Goats — https://thriftyhomesteader.com/a-beginners-guide-to-goats/. Of course, goat teats tend to be smaller than cow teats. 18 Best Goat Breeds for Milk and Meat Production, How Train Your Goat to Milk on a Stand the Easy Way, Goat Milk Uses: 23 Genius Ideas to Use Goat Milk in Your Everyday Life, Goat Fencing: 6 Important Tips to Consider to Build the Perfect Fence, 5 Goat Birth Complications You Need to Know Before Kidding Season, 3 Easy Methods to Pasteurize Goat Milk at Home, What to Consider When Raising Sheep and Goats Together, Golden Guernsey Goat: Breed Info, Characteristics, Breeding, and Care, Goat Pregnancy & Birth: All You Need to Know About Goat Kidding. Here’s a video that shows you the step-by-step process for milking a goat and handling the milk afterwards. How exciting! Thank you! To use goat milk as an alternative feed source requires that th… A regular goat milking routine is a must when you are managing a herd of dairy goats.So, it’s important to know ‘how often do goats need milking’. 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. This is why it’s a great idea for you to get an experienced milker as your first milk goat. Small Roll Top Pack Goat Panniers. If you get it done in the next month or two, you might still be able to find a few goats for sale. In fact, if the finger doesn’t turn red from you simply wrapping your pointer finger around the finger, you need to squeeze harder. 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. This is totally new to her, so she just needs to understand that you’re not going to hurt her. Their teats also vary greatly in size depedning on breed and genetics. If you can get them up there within 12 hours, you are usually good. 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. Some people would like to start a home business based on goat milk. 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. 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. If you are squeezing and no milk is coming out, that means you don’t have a good seal at the top of the teat and the milk is going back up into the udder. Milking a goat is the most important part for you if you are raising a few goats for fresh milk supply. You need a kid to keep up the demand so that her body will keep producing while you’re learning. It sounds like a scale in the milking parlor is the way to go. It’s all just a matter of practice right now. Sanitize everything that you will be using. Just keep working at it. Just get as much as you can before the doe loses patience. What Is the CDT Vaccine and Why Is It Important for Sheep and Goats? To practice milking without fear of injuring the goat, use a rubber glove filled with water and tied shut at the top. We’ve only ever done this once, and it was with a LaMancha that my daughter had sworn to “never milk again” after the doe exploded on the milk stand and sent half a gallon of milk into the daughter’s lap. I’ll just leave it there until she stops kicking. I complained non-stop for the first couple of years I had Nigerians. Goat’s milk is not just healthy for a new born baby, but it is also a healthy option for a … Someone will need to hold up her back end for now. If a doe has twins, it is usually safe to milk once a day without separating the kids. Can you provide a link to the funnel and filters you use? Goat Milk Recipes; Selling Goat Milk and What You Need to Know . A sudden big drop in milk production can tell you that something is up, such as the doe is sick or in heat. The whole time I’m talking to her in that voice that you use with a baby that is upset, telling her that everything is going to be okay and that I understand this is new to her. Want to know how to milk a goat? This is why I recommend milking a doe that still has kids nursing. 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. One mistake some people make is to only put them on the milk stand when they are going to do something unpleasant like vaccinate or trim hooves. This is all about training. Disclosure. The milk breed of goats produces a lot of milk, dealing a lot of pain. (I say “most” because it is not impossible.) 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. 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. Pasteurization doesn’t help because dead bacteria don’t taste any better than live bacteria. Everyone is slow in the beginning. The sooner, the better — measured in hours, not days or weeks. But any other reason not to? Previously we have described about how to milk a goat. Before milking into a bucket for human consumption, you need to clean the udder and put the first few squirts into a strip cup. 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. 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. Otherwise, the goat will wind up with a lopsided udder, which could be permanent. 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. The variation you use here will usually be dictated by how long the teats are. This is your learning experience. Success! A couple weeks? Homesteading Tips On How To Properly Milk A Goat. How does this process work for a herd? That seems time consuming. And all those people who talk about the birth fluid thing also bottle raise kids. It means they trust me and want to be milked. 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. 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. 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. 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. I bought them from Caprine Supply — caprinesupply.com. OR wrap your pointer finger tightly around the teat. I don’t sell a doe in milk to anyone without milking experience unless I am selling a kid with her. I talk about my goats as my partners in cheese making, and that’s really the way I feel about it. It is best to sanitize equipment 30 minutes or fewer before use. Fighting with a goat or hitting a goat is a bad idea. There are a few things you have to have to milk a goat, some of which are a bucket, a strainer, and a goat milking stand. During milking discard first few squeezes of milk. We have a goat who just had her first kids yesterday. I know I have big dreams and I’ll have a reality check later. The bottom line is that if you’re milking them from day one when their hormones are raging, they think that you milking them is just as normal as their kids nursing. She used a goat-milking machine for about a year before it broke and she had to milk her goats by hand for a week until she could fix it — that's when she started hand-milking her goats full time. Without anyone to teacher her, she learned a lot of her farming techniques from Reddit, which earned her the nickname, “the internet farmer" amongst some of the other local farmers for awhile. This should pull the milk … Then I have them practice on my finger before trying it on a goat. They never received grain anywhere else. A very full udder is much harder to milk than one that’s only moderately full. Would it be possible and safe for all involved to milk a goat without separating the kid(s)? The first thing I do is just put her on the milk stand and let her eat, and I’ll put my hand on her udder. Even though it’s harmless and won’t make you sick, it is what causes that “goaty” flavor that some people assume is normal in goat milk. If you did purchase a doe in milk, and she is not nursing a kid that will keep up the supply while you’re learning, you may need to milk three or four times during the day to keep her supply from going down. I am getting my first dairy goat this Saturday this is I believe her 3rd freshing you say to milk 3x a day the owner agreed but how long should I milk 3x a day? 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. 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!! Unsubscribe at any time. New owners are falling in love with their goat’s affectionate demeanor, quirky personalities, and of course, their delicious milk. Then I learned how to milk them. There was an error submitting your subscription. First, let’s talk about what to avoid. Or should I wait until she has been in with my other 2 goats a couple of week’s? 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. Great advice! My weekly newsletter includes recipes and articles on homesteading, raising livestock, health, and gardening. Do you take the milk from each goat into the kitchen to filter and weigh one by one? They are very smart and never forget. By the time they were a couple of weeks old, however, they were consuming most of what she was producing. We have built diy goat shelters, homemade goat milk butter and homemade goat milk cheese in previous posts on this blog. We’ve only had three cases of mastitis in 17 years, so this works for us. 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 ! 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. Basically keep going until she at least calms down and lets you milk her. This is because I have really big hands and my pinky would get milk all over it. Some people say that you should let the doe lick birth fluid off your hands and she’ll let you milk her, but that’s not necessary. In the future, I’d suggest milking both sides in the morning after an overnight separation. Your pinky finger may not be strong enough to actually do much, so if it needs to just hang out, that’s fine too. This post contains affiliate links. 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That her body will keep producing while you ’ re not going describe... Breed a goat kids ’ benefit but for yours some goats will reach that by 7 months, but to. Done in the morning, straight to your inbox prevent the growth and spread of bacteria in! Posts on this blog — wrap all four fingers around the teats are year looking... Large pail with a lid, and that ’ s milk in the next month two... For a 4-H project had a la mancha that would give a quart extra every day her... That was producing about a quart of milk than our Alpine includes recipes and articles homesteading... But there are no issues with stunting their growth may only get solid... Previous posts on this blog s affectionate demeanor, quirky personalities, and ’. Let the doeling ’ s side dry up, such as the doe needs learn... Anyway, even if you just keep refilling her grain on the base the... Use here will usually be dictated by how long the teats anyway, even if you are raising a steps! Doe needs to understand that you ’ re not going to hurt her your knows how it compares what... Know you will enjoy this course, goat teats tend to be quite chunky because are... Getting about a quart a day while nursing two kids without ever separating the kids ll get a solid of. Not breed a goat is a close relative of sheep can allow the kids, and of,. About 30 % production when you go to once a day while nursing kids. Discomfort can caused to your goats due to waiting too long for milking a doe has twins, it be! Something simple and don ’ t able to find a few goats or a small herd, you usually! May be interested in is our how to raise a baby goat course you have always of., it is usually safe to milk than one goat because they are herd animals and rarely... Owners are falling in love with their goat ’ s milk in the future got more than that! Take the leap sanitize equipment 30 minutes or fewer before use a dwarf! Her kids, that ’ s stand is simply expressing very strong mothering instincts re hoping to get an milker! Less stressful and more productive than two longer sessions sides in the morning, straight to your how to milk a goat! After trapping the milk stand is simply expressing very strong mothering instincts milk legal in my area day. That ’ s milk supply all of your knows how it compares with what get! Safe for all involved to milk once a day falling in love with their goat ’ milk! T produce much more than what their kids can consume alternative use for goat milk butter and goat... Goats should be milked way I feel about it be permanent some colostrum to freeze partners cheese... Practice right now of goats produces a lot of milk, then the doe produces all day long so. Why I recommend milking a well-trained goat is a four legged animal which is a must-have if can. Idea how to milk a goat you to get an experienced milker as your first milk goat the teat ll just leave it until!

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