The Modern Dairy Goat
(Page 6 of 7)
March/April 1970
By the Mother Earth News editors
How to Milk
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"How did you learn to milk?" is one of the most frequent questions our city friends ask. We truthfully answer, "by reading how." So can you. Here's how:
Sit with your right side next to the doe's right side, your shoulder close to her shoulder. Hold the teats, thumbs outside fingers. Close your grasp, beginning at the top (thumb and index finger) and successively close the other fingers, thus forcing the milk down the teat and out. Milk firmly but gently until milk stops flowing. Then strip the teats by running the thumb and first finger from the top of each teat to the bottom until the last drop is out. Gently nudging the bag encourages the milk flow. You will be slow and awkward at first as you will have to think about each step but it won't be long until you'll be doing is so casually you'll be surprised at people asking you where you learned.
We warn you that the first few milkings may seem like desperate events in your life - we laugh and laugh now when we look back at our struggles. Don't try to learn with just one hand. Use both hands from the beginning and keep a firm hold even if the doe tries to move around. She will test you out a time or two but you can keep her right front leg in place with your right shoulder and her right rear foot in place with your left wrist. Once you show her you won't let her go she will be quite patient with your efforts.
You will want a small milk stand which you can easily build yourself. It is simply a small stand about 1 1/2' off the floor - 40" long and 22" wide. At the front end you place posts 55" high and slats 4 1/2" apart with one slat movable so that the goat's head can go through before you straighten the slat up to hold her in place. A rail on the side opposite the milker keeps the goat from moving too freely. See picture of our homemade milking stand.
When it comes to handling your milk I think you'd better do what my wife tries to do - follow dairy rules as well as you can. She insists on using a disinfectant (planned for milking equipment) on the milk pail, milk jars (we use canning jars because of their wide mouths) and in water used to wash the udder. The teats and the milker's hands must be dried thoroughly before milking, the first stream of milk from each teat thrown away. We strain the milk through filters, discarded after use, then set the jars of milk in ice water as rapid cooling creates a healthier, better-tasting milk.
Pasteurization with a tested goat is up to you. Raw milk certainly tastes better and some experts say it has more food value.
When it comes to feeding milk to your kids, by all means pan feed them. If you let them nurse, you lose control of your milk supply. Bottle feeding is a messy affair. After the kids are born place them in a box or basket so they cannot get out to their mother. After you pan feed them a few days they will not try to nurse and can run with the mother. Dip your finger in the milk, let them lick it and get them to follow your finger into the pan. After a time or two your only trouble will be keeping the milk from being spilled as the kids dash for it. Feeding the kids is fun even though commonly called a "chore."
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