The most delicious milk you will ever drink...
Why own a dairy goat? Besides being a sweet, gentle, safe, easy, and beautiful addition to any homestead, the answer is obvious...MILK! Below you will find some details of how we safely obtain and use the milk produced here at Sandhill Oaks Farm. Our processes have evolved greatly from where we started, with the goal to improve the safety of our final product, and preserve the health of our animals.
Do we sell our milk?
The answer is no... and yes. We are not a commercial dairy, which requires government inspection and a ton of overhead. That means we cannot legally sell milk for human consumption. In the state of Florida milk can be sold for pet consumption, or for crafting purposes, like making goat's milk soap. We have also donated our milk in the past for feeding of orphaned wildlife. So, if you have a need that falls under one of the above categories, and you are local to Mount Dora and can pick up milk from the farm, then feel free to reach out to me and tell me about why you would like milk. Please understand, that if anyone tells me, or even hints to me, that they are purchasing the milk with the intention of drinking it themselves or providing it for other people, I will NOT sell it to you. No exceptions. If you would like to be drinking the most delicious milk on earth, then reach out to us about buying a goat!
OK, I bought a Nubian. Now what?
A goat must be bred and have a kid before she will produce milk. Nubian goats should be between 80 and 90 pounds before being bred the first time. The gestation period is 5 months. After she has her kid, she will start producing milk and will continue to produce milk for an extended period of time. Modern milk goats with good genetics should milk for at least 10 months while producing a reasonable amount of milk. They usually peak at 3 months, and then slowly make less and less. Some goats will produce milk for far longer, up to a couple of years on one breeding. Being milked is the signal for their body to produce more, so if they stop getting milked, then their udder will stop producing until they kid again.
How often do I have to milk my goat?
With a few exceptions, the answer is every day. Any less than this, and the udder will significantly reduce the amount of milk being produced until it is not worth the effort of putting them on the milk stand. The ideal is to milk every 12 hours, but I milked my goats once a day for many years and this worked just fine for me. You get less milk than if you milked every 12 hours, but it was still more than enough for my needs.
What about going on vacation?
It can be done! We travel a lot and still raise goats. This is where the decision has to be made of how you will raise the kid of your Nubian. You have two options. You can allow your Nubian to raise her kid and also provide milk for you, or you can take the kid away at birth. Kids who are taken at birth must be bottle raised. This can be a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. Kids on a bottle can be sold very young to a new owner who will continue the bottle raising. Bottle kids can be fed with raw or pasteurized milk from their mother, whole cow's milk, or on a mix of real milk and milk replacer.
If you decide to leave the kid with it's mother, you now have a built in back-up milker. The way most people accomplish this is to leave the kid out with its mother during the day, and it will nurse and keep itself fed. At night, the kid gets separated from its mother for about 12 hours and then you milk your goat in the morning to have milk for yourself. The nice thing about this arrangement is that if you are going out of town for even a long weekend, you can just leave the kid with its mother the whole time and it will do all the milking chores while you are away. I have done this very successfully for years and it works great.
How to milk a goat
You will need a milking stand. Build or purchase one. You will need to train your goat to jump on the stand. Start when they are young and feed them on the stand. They will learn to love jumping up there. Secure them into the head catch while they are eating and touch them all over. Many goats are very ticklish about having their udder touched. You must gently de-sensitize them. Even if they are kicking and bucking, just keep gently touching them until they quit and then remove your hand and praise them. Make sure they have food in front of them the whole time. They will learn quickly to associate the stand, and your touching them with tasty treats!
Supplies:
1. Stainless steel, seamless milk bucket (Hamby Dairy Supply, Caprine Supply, or Jeffers Pet)
2. Udder wipes (we like Milk Check Teat Wipes), paper towels, or a clean cloth with udder wash
3. A pre- and post- milking teat dip (We like Effercept), and a disposable paper cut or non-return teat dip cup
4. Latex (or latex free) gloves
5. A small, clean container or strip cup
6. Highly Recommended: California Mastitis Test Kit
Get your goat on the milk stand. If your goat just gave birth, note that the first milk is colostrum and it will not be so great to drink. Save this for the kid. After 3-4 days, the colostrum will be milk. This is a great time to perform your first California Mastitis test. If normal, you are good to go! If not normal, milk the goat but discard the milk instead of drinking and give your vet a call.
Use the udder wipes or a clean cloth/paper towel with udder wash on it and clean the entire udder. Even if it looks clean, wipe it down. Do not hose the udder or get it more than lightly damp. You DO NOT want any water dripping down the teats. The udder should be completely dry before the next step. Wash in advance if it is very dirty after your goat gives birth. Clean the teats first before wiping the rest of the udder so they stay the cleanest. We usually use a second wipe on only the teats if there is any hint of dirt.
Use a teat dip in a disposable paper cup or a non-return teat dip cup and dip the entire teat in the liquid. Allow to sit for the recommended amount of time, then wipe off with a clean cloth or paper towel.
Put on your gloves, or at least wash your hands very carefully. Get your strip cup and milk out the first 3-4 squirts of milk into your container. Look at the color, noting if you see any indications of blood or any clumps or chunks of material that could indicate mastitis. Set this aside or discard. Keep your gloved hands clean!
Milk your goat into the stainless steel bucket. Grasp the teat and tighten your fingers near where it connects to the udder. Hold tightly! Now close the rest of your hand, closing the fingers sequentially towards the teat opening and stream the milk into your bucket. Repeat until the milk stops flowing and udder is empty.
Use your teat dip to coat the entire teat again, and allow to stay on the teat or sit for the recommended time before wiping off. Give your goat one more treat and send her on her way!
From milk bucket to refrigerator
Supplies:
1. A milk filter and funnel for straining
2. A glass jar or other sanitized container to put your milk in
3. Home Pasteurizer, Sous Vide, or a watched pot on the stove
Bring your milk into the house promptly. Do not leave it sitting out where insects can get in it. Is should be processed quickly for maximum flavor and safety.
Commercially made milk strainers with a paper filter and inexpensive and worth it to buy. Pour your milk through the filter and into either your glass jar or the pot you are going to pasteurize in.
Our favorite way to pasteurize is using a Sous Vide in a water bath. Set the Sous Vide to 180F, and submerge it into a water bath. Put your milk jar in the bath and let it heat to the correct temperature. 180F is higher than required, but it takes into account any variation on the thermometer, and the fact that that the milk in the jar will heat up slower than the water around it. Use a digital thermometer to check the milk the first few times to ensure that the temperature reaches a minimum of 162 degrees for 15 seconds. Setting at 180 takes that 15 seconds into account also, so you can start cooling immediately once the 180 degrees is reached.
To cool a glass jar without breaking, you must start by putting the jar in at least warm water. If you plunge it into ice water, it will shatter. Then you can add cool water or ice to start cooling it down. Once it feels lukewarm to the touch, it is likely cool enough to place in the refrigerator or freezer to cool the rest of the way, or ideally keep adding ice until it reaches 40F.