I did it! 4 Cups worth of goat milk!

[chickylou]

Hi all,

Thanks for the encouragement and just wanted to let you know I had goat milking progress today. I milked about 4 cups (one half a cup got kicked over - Buttercup is the culprit).


I laughed at this link sent by Skyesrocket. It was all true. All that kicking convinced me to get a hobble.

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/11-10-2005-81101.asp

The first session with the nice compliant doe went 10 minutes, with me praying for grace to milk her. She was exploding with milk (the poor thing). I viewed a couple of milking YouTubes yesterday and after that first 10 minutes of pure frustration, I thought, "THAT'S IT! I'm gonna just imitate what they did in the video and what I saw those little babies doing (they sure jam their snoots into their mothers) and began to push up and pull down, opening and releasing and trying to squeeze at the same time. Suddenly...WOW! I got a bit of rhythm going and AM I CRAZY??? I swear I could feel the bag filling and then I'd squirt it out and I'd feel a filling and then squirt. I hope I wasn't reading in desires to that, but it seemed to be the case. Is that really what happens?

Well, just thought I'd be thankful to you all and give an update. My whole body is aching!

 

[Broke Down Ranch]

Sounds like you finally got it! GREAT JOB!

Isn't it satisfying to milk your own and actually do it good??

 

[ametauss]

GREAT JOB!!!

I'm still trying to figure out how not to get hair and stuff in the milk as I milk..... She stands there eating her grain but will sometimes raise her hoof to shift her weight and then BAM, in falls dirt/hair....

Right now I only use the milk for soap but would like to use it for drinking....

I tried coffee filters but it took FOREVER for the milk to drain and it seemed much more work than it was worth for a pint of milk.....

 

[Broke Down Ranch]

Quote:
Get some cheesecloth or use an old t-shirt and triple strain. Unless you use a milker with a covered collection receptacle (or shave your goat bald) there will always be hair....

 

[Cara]

I found some great bottles at Walmart that we use for milk. They hold 3 quarts, and have white plastic/rubber lids. I think they were about $4.80 each in the jar section.

I use a new mesh sink strainer to strain the milk, it sits on top of the glass bottles really well and will also fit mason jars.

 

[luvzmybabz]

At wal mart in the coffee maker aisle they have metal mesh coffee filters these work awesome to strain the milk and easy to wash

 

[Chatychick]

Try brushing her before you milk...especially the underbelly...I take the headbands that girls wear that are stretchy and place the flour sack cloth over my pail. This way I catch teh hair that got missed and also it keeps out the dust that the wind is blowing. This is what I do and then strain it again when I get in the house...

Good job!!

 

[SamG347]

Congrats! Not trying to thread jack or anything but just how much better is Goats milk than Dairy Cow milk? I don't need another hobby but have often wanted a Dwarf Nigerian for some milk. LOL

 

[Skyesrocket]

Whoo Hoo!!! Good For You!

 

[PotterWatch]

Good for you! I know I felt a big sense of accomplishment when I finally had some milk I could cool and drink. Hurray!

Sam- I find that my goat milk tastes pretty much like cow milk. Not much difference as long as it is handled properly.