Em Nau Farm BLOG

We were asked recently about milking our goats and cows and why we drink raw milk.  I thought I would go through a typical milk and give you an insight into what happens to the milk after it comes out of the udder.

When we milk the goats we have them up on a milking stand.  It is possible to milk without having them up on the stand, in fact that’s how we did it before I built the current stand, but it is more difficult to milk a moving goat.

The stand I built was taken off plans that were in feet and inches and (after building) seem to be for a pygmy goat as it was to low and not long enough for our herd.  I made some adoptions on the fly by adding a segment to the end of the base and sticking it up on besser blocks to give it some height.

Another design fault with the stand I built was the feeder on the front of the stand was too low so I made an adaption by putting a plastic container (with the bottom adapted) up at a suitable height.  Within this container I place another food container,  This comes in handy if the goats doesn’t finish all their mix and we need to tip the excess back into another container.

So lets start milking the goats

First, I put some grain in the feed container and place this on the stand.

I then go and bring in the goats to be milked, at peak we have six or seven goats in at a time and cycle then through the milk stand.  The goats are pretty well trained and they each go to their respective bucket and/or jump up on the stand.

When we milk the goat we get them to put their head through the head-catch and we lock this into position so the goat won’t back away when we start milking (although most of our goats are more than happy to just eat whilst we milk so we don’t have to lock them in).

Once the goat is in position we give their udder a good wash with warm water so as to clean of any muck.  We then give each teat a little squirt (2 or three is usually enough) in case the muck and germs have entered the eye of the teat and it also gives you a chance to check the milk for any abnormalities such as lumps or clumps that might indicate mastitis.

We are now ready to milk.

We use a food grade plastic container to milk in to for the goats.  We set the container  up under your goat and gently grasp a teat.  I use my thumb and forefinger to “close off” the top of the teat and then going down the teat squeeze the rest of fingers in succession to expel the milk. Unlike a cow you shouldn’t pull on the teat as this may lead to you crying over spilt milk.

Each Goat is milked into a empty bucket in case one of them has an infection or puts their foot in the milk.  This way we only lose a little milk and no the whole batch.

Once each goat is empty we give their udders another wash and send them on their way to have a feed of chaff.

The milk is then taken into the house, filtered and placed in the fridge or, if we are making cheese, we prepare a may batch.

Needless to say we also do our clean-up of the milking buckets by washing and air drying outside on a purpose built rack.

So lets start milking the cows
Similarly to the goats when we milk milk the cows we put some grain/lucurene mix in the feed container and place this on the end of the head bale.

We then go and open the race and the cow to be milked will move up and place their head in the bale and start to eat.  The cows, like the goats, are pretty well trained and will move up with little or no trouble.

When we milk the cows we lock their heads in the bale and we tie off their back drivers side hoof (to stop them kicking the bucket and either spilling the contents, putting their foot in the bucket or kicking up manure).  We also tie off their tail so there is no tail flicking in our face whilst we milk.

Once the cow is in position and secured we give their udder a good wash with warm water so as to clean of any muck as we do with the goats.  We then give each teat a little squirt (2 or three is usually enough) in case the muck and germs have entered the eye of the teat and it also gives you a chance to check the milk for any abnormalities such as lumps or clumps that might indicate mastitis.

We are now ready to milk.

We use a stainless steel bucket to milk in to for the cows.  We set the container up under our cow and gently grasp a teat.  I use my thumb and forefinger to “close off” the top of the teat and then with a downwards stripping motion we milk the four quarters of the udder in turn.

Once each cow is empty we give their udders another wash and send them on their way to have a feed in the paddock.  As with the goats we use a separate bucket for each cow.

The milk is then taken into the house, filtered and placed in the fridge or, if we are making cheese, we may prepare a batch.

Needless to say we also do our clean-up of the milking buckets by washing and air drying outside on a purpose built rack.

Drinking/Using Raw Milk
Being old enough to remember the drinking of raw milk as the norm “back in the day” and having over the past few decades consumed treated milk I am quite happy to go back to drinking milk straight from either the cow or goat (and in the near future will be looking forward to sheep’s milk if it eventuates) .

I feel as though the risks of drinking unpasteurized milk are no greater than drinking treated milk with the added benefit of knowing that what i am consuming is no more that a day or two old..

To minimise the risks there are (as I outlined above) a number of things that need to be done to ensure that the fresh milk is clean and safe to drink.

1. Clean the teats- Before we start to milk, we wipe off the  udder with a wet cloth. Goats and Cows likes to lay in the mud, so sometimes it takes a bit of elbow grease to get their teats clean.

After washing her down, I spray the first 2-3 squirts of milk from each teat onto the ground (Some folks prefer to spray it into a small cup). The reason for this is to flush out any bacteria or dirt that may be in the tip of the teat.

2. Contain it- Next, I grab my stainless steel milk bucket (for the cows) or a food grade plastic bucket (for the goats).

3. Strain it- It’s never fun to take a big gulp of fresh milk and end up with a hair or chaff in your mouth, so always strain your fresh milk. Floaties will inevitably happen, no matter how hard to try to prevent it while you are milking.

How big of a floatie is too big? There are some days when it’s just better to throw in the towel and donate your milk to the chickens or pigs… I’m usually fine with a couple bits of hay or a random hair, but if you get a big clod of manure floating in your bucket, it’s best to just skip bringing it into the house that day… Bonus: your chickens or pigs will love you forever.

4. Cool it- It’s important to get your fresh milk as cold as you can as fast as possible. 

Rapid cooling of the milk prevents the bacteria count from rising, and it keeps the milk tasting better, longer. However, keep in mind that once raw milk has naturally soured, it’s still good and can be used for lots of other stuff.

5. Store it- Only store your milk in glass containers- never plastic. We use old wine bottles or glass milk bottles.

6. Sanitize it- Cleaning your home dairy equipment thoroughly is a MUST. After we pour my milk into the bottles, we immediately wash out the buckets with cold (not hot) water to wash off the milk solids which can cause build-up if allowed to dry.

We allow each piece of equipment to air-dry. Don’t dry anything off with a towel, as this can transfer any bacteria that might be hanging out on your dish towel onto your milking equipment.

That’s our routine - nothing fancy, but it has ensured that our milk has stayed great-tasting so far.