Yet another goat question....milk and udders

[Sebrightmom]

First, I would like to add my thoughts. If you want to milk this doe after she has weaned her kids, I will still be milking her down. You want to keep her milking production up. The reason is that as she weans the kid. She will try to get him to drink less often, which means she will produce less milk. It is hard to get the production back up once it going down. If you do not plan on milking her after, I wouldn't worry about leaving the kid on and not milking her.

As for the coffee filters, I don't have any trouble with mine until the last little bit. You can always buy dairy filters. I have some of those also. Good Luck!

 

[freemotion]

Thanks, Sea, I will milk her. Baby Liam (DON'T NAME THE GOAT! DON'T NAME THE GOAT! DON'T NAME THE GOAT!) is playing this evening, so he must be feeling better and seems to be getting plenty of food. If I have energy when chores are finally done, I will attempt my first batch of yogurt tonight, the "picnic cooler" method.

whew, i'm too pooped to capitalize....

 

[FarmerChick]

Thanks for the experienced feedback, FK!!! Much appreciated.

Here are my current thoughts.....subject to change every five minutes or so, I warn you.....I think that she will produce according to demand, and will adjust accordingly....but she is my only milk-producer, and unless you really, really think I shouldn't, I am settling into the idea of sharing with the baby and not milking her out, just taking the pressure off and creating demand that will have her producing more than for just one kid by the time he is weaned.

This way I can also learn and build my skills with less pressure to "get it completely right" and also start learning how to deal with milk, even if it is just a quart a day for now. I have two in the fridge, and just bought some plain Greek yogurt to innoculate it with, so it will be my first batch of yogurt by tomorrow!

I am watching closely, and by no means am I milking her out.

Does that sound ok? I value all opinions!

Your original post didn't mention "you wanted the milk" for yourself.
I thought you just thought her "bag was lopsided"---lol
in that case you would do nothing of course cause nature takes care of that.

but yes you can milk down the full side and use that milk. I do it all the time. I always milk does with the kids while nursing....no harm comes as long as you leave enough in the bag and you can't truly "wipe" her out with a small hand milking, so go for it!

 

[freemotion]

Thanks for the reassurance, I will take all I can get lately with all this new stuff coming at me at breakneck speed!

I figured you'd missed the "I want milk" part, since you didn't get the mental signal I was sending out. Guess I'll have to just type everything!

First batch of yogurt is in the cooler, wrapped in blankets. Almost three quarts, essentially for free! OK, I know it's not really free, but it feels like it today......

 

[Sebrightmom]

It is great to be able to make this like yogurt at home. I have heard of a lot of people making like you do. I have never made it that way. I got this recipe from one of my yahoo groups. I have made it several times. Works great!

Making yogurt in a crockpot.

1/4 c. store bought natural live active culture, full fat plain yogurt (this will be your starter.
After your first batch of yogurt, you can use 1/2 cup of some of your homemade yogurt as a starter instead.)
8 cups whole milk (pastuerized and homogenized is fine but DO NOT use ultra-pasteurized)

Pour the milk in a crockpot and turn on LOW. Let it cook on LOW for 2 1/2 hours.
Turn crockpot off, leave on cover and let it sit for 3 hours.
Take a cup or two of the warm milk after 3 hours and put it in a mixing bowl.
Mix in your starter yogurt, blend well.
Stir yogurt/milk mixture back into the crockpot.
Cover, wrap crockpot in a towel and go to bed.
In the morning, pour into a container and store in the fridge

 

[freemotion]

Yes, I've seen that method and it sound so easy! But I wanted to make it with the bare minimum of pasteurization, so I stood over the pot and stirred until it hit 185, then cooled it to 118, then....well, you get it.

People write and write about adding powdered milk to make it thicker.....mine is so amazingly thick! And smells wonderful! Haven't even had time to try it yet, runningrunningrunning..... but