I might add that Dym is challenged in the udder department. She has very pendulous teats. Her teats are only about 3 inches off the ground (one actually dragged the ground in the beginning). She's extremely hard to hand milk, it was taking me an hour and twenty minutes to milk her. It was exhausting to say the least. But I knew how uncomfortable she was so I religiously went out there twice a day. It was after a week of this I was offered the use of a milking machine. It's a Surge Bucket Milker and it works wonderfully. They first started making them in the 1920's, it's pretty neat using an antique to milk the goat. The contraption here on the left is attached to an electric motor and vacuum tank and that's it. It's fairly quiet and takes less than ten minutes twice a day and I'm done. Thank you Jessica's Mom for letting me use it! I really don't know how I'd manage without it. Now when you let the goat out of her pen she rushes over and jumps up on the milking stand. Even when it's not time to be milked. I just love that goat, she's such a sweetie. Especially because she's letting me learn all of this on her. I'm only milking the one side that had the problems, the kids are keeping the other side drained. They won't even touch the side I milk, just sniff it and turn their noses up.
So here I am with the weird dilemma of what to do with a gallon of goat milk every day. A gallon out of just one side, isn't that insane? I just can't seem to wrap my mind around actually drinking it. Maybe it's because there was blood in it, maybe it's because I see that teat being drug through all sorts of nasty, but I just can't do it. I've never been a raw milk kind of person. But I really want to be that kind of person. The self sufficient person that gathers eggs, milks the goat and eats produce out of the garden. Maybe pasteurizing it is the key. Maybe then I'll want to drink it? Or maybe I'll keep dumping it down the sink. Oh who knows.
4 comments:
You are an amazing woman Mandy! I'm exhausted just reading your blog! I love ya!! Try pasteurizing the milk. Then you know all the wee beasties are really dead. Of course this means more work but then it's one less thing to buy at the grocery store. Maybe you could sell the goat's milk on Craigslist. I do have to say the goat kids and my niece and nephew are adorable! Keep up the good work!
Stopped by because I was wondering if the milk machine worked. So glad to hear the milk machine works on Dym. Gosh that has GOT to make life easier! I always wondered if a machine would make things easier with Dym. She has always been such a good and very productive goat but gosh milking her by hand with those teats of hers could be hard!
Know anyone with pigs? I know some people that feed excess milk to their pigs. I pasteurize the milk we drink, it is not hard to do at all. Just involves heating it up to a certain temp.
If the mastitis test was clean I imagine the blood was just from her udder getting a bit too full, sometimes even their kids getting too rough on the udder can cause pink milk for a day. It does not always mean mastitis but you are being very wise to keep an eye on it and periodically test the milk anyway on a dairy animal. That way if there ever was a problem you could catch it early. I try to test the milk on goats I am milking once a week or so just as a routine. I am so happy to hear you got her milked, I bet it is a relief for both you and Dym.
PS. I don't blame you for second thinking the milk when they lay on their udders in the pen and everything. I always washed their udder really good, then wiped the teats off with antibacterial baby wipe, dried with a paper towel and discarded the first 1 or 2 squirts of milk. That kept it pretty clean.
Thanks Becca and Jennifer for the comments! I will try the pasteurizing route when the time comes. Don't know when that time is but maybe when I'm not running around like a crazy person. :)
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