Lots of great advice given here.
If you can afford it get the right equipment to begin with... it just makes things so much easier. However, having only one milk doe certainly gives you the option to use the 'whatever is handy' approach also.
I went to my goats home four times before bringing them home and milked them there so that the owner could help me learn and so the does got used to me while in their own surroundings.
I think a milkstand is essential but that's because I have a bad back and I can't lean over to milk. Many people tie their does to a fence or whatever and milk right there. If your doe is accustomed to that it should work just great for you. (Just think - people did it that way for thousands of years!) If you get a doe who is used to being on a milk stand it may be difficult to train her to stand while just tied to something.
Walmart has reusable coffee strainers. They work great to strain everything out of the goats milk but they are so small that I wouldn't want to use one for more than one goat. I started with one and was milking two goats and was ready to go out of my mind having to put over 2 gallons of milk through it each time. But, it's doable. I, too, purchased the large strainer and would advise you to do so if you can afford it.
Whoever said you don't have to strain milk apparently doesn't have any problems drinking goat hair or has bald goats.
Or, they are just a better milker than I am. No matter how clean your goat and even if they are clipped you can get hair in the bucket. It's just life. I use four clothes pins to hold cheesecloth over the bucket and milk through that. It keeps all hair and anything else out of the milk. Then, I restrain it in the house with a goat milk stainer using the round, white filters.
The biggest things you need to know to get the best tasting goats milk:
1) Cleanliness. Your equipment needs to be as sterile as possible. Plastic is harder to keep clean as it's porous - so it can hold smells which will transfer to the milk. Stainless steel is the choice of dairy farms for buckets. Store your milk in glass containers.
2) Get your milk strained and COLD as fast as possible. Some people keep frozen pop jars or baggies with water frozen in them in their buckets so they are actually milking directly onto ice. They then strain it and put it into jars and then put those jars directly into a freezer (or frig but the freezer method works better for me) for about an hour. Remove it from the freezer and put it directly into the frig.
3) Goats milk will take on the smells/odors around it. So, make sure the area around your milk stand is clean and nothing smells around it. Don't have a buck anywhere near your does or milking area. The milk will take on a 'goaty' taste when there is a buck nearby.
4) What your goat eats will affect the taste of their milk. If you plan to pasture your milk doe her milk may taste different every day - depending on what weeds she ate. Most dairy goats are kept in a contained area and fed the same feed consistently when they are being milked. That way the milk tastes the same every time.
I've tried about everything to clean udders/teats before milking and to treat them afterwards. At this point I use baby wipes (unscented) to clean the udder/teats beforehand and I also like the FightBac spray for afterwards.
I don't think Jeffers was mentioned but they have great prices just not all the things you might want for goats. http://www.jefferslivestock.com/ssc/
Finally, you mentioned a Togg. Many people do not like the taste of the Toggenburgs milk. It is different than all other breeds so you may want to taste some before getting a Togg as a milker.
Have fun and good luck.
If you can afford it get the right equipment to begin with... it just makes things so much easier. However, having only one milk doe certainly gives you the option to use the 'whatever is handy' approach also.
I went to my goats home four times before bringing them home and milked them there so that the owner could help me learn and so the does got used to me while in their own surroundings.
I think a milkstand is essential but that's because I have a bad back and I can't lean over to milk. Many people tie their does to a fence or whatever and milk right there. If your doe is accustomed to that it should work just great for you. (Just think - people did it that way for thousands of years!) If you get a doe who is used to being on a milk stand it may be difficult to train her to stand while just tied to something.
Walmart has reusable coffee strainers. They work great to strain everything out of the goats milk but they are so small that I wouldn't want to use one for more than one goat. I started with one and was milking two goats and was ready to go out of my mind having to put over 2 gallons of milk through it each time. But, it's doable. I, too, purchased the large strainer and would advise you to do so if you can afford it.
Whoever said you don't have to strain milk apparently doesn't have any problems drinking goat hair or has bald goats.
The biggest things you need to know to get the best tasting goats milk:
1) Cleanliness. Your equipment needs to be as sterile as possible. Plastic is harder to keep clean as it's porous - so it can hold smells which will transfer to the milk. Stainless steel is the choice of dairy farms for buckets. Store your milk in glass containers.
2) Get your milk strained and COLD as fast as possible. Some people keep frozen pop jars or baggies with water frozen in them in their buckets so they are actually milking directly onto ice. They then strain it and put it into jars and then put those jars directly into a freezer (or frig but the freezer method works better for me) for about an hour. Remove it from the freezer and put it directly into the frig.
3) Goats milk will take on the smells/odors around it. So, make sure the area around your milk stand is clean and nothing smells around it. Don't have a buck anywhere near your does or milking area. The milk will take on a 'goaty' taste when there is a buck nearby.
4) What your goat eats will affect the taste of their milk. If you plan to pasture your milk doe her milk may taste different every day - depending on what weeds she ate. Most dairy goats are kept in a contained area and fed the same feed consistently when they are being milked. That way the milk tastes the same every time.
I've tried about everything to clean udders/teats before milking and to treat them afterwards. At this point I use baby wipes (unscented) to clean the udder/teats beforehand and I also like the FightBac spray for afterwards.
I don't think Jeffers was mentioned but they have great prices just not all the things you might want for goats. http://www.jefferslivestock.com/ssc/
Finally, you mentioned a Togg. Many people do not like the taste of the Toggenburgs milk. It is different than all other breeds so you may want to taste some before getting a Togg as a milker.
Have fun and good luck.
