**These pages are made only for our farm usage to go and remind ourselves what we need to do.
We collected those files over the years.
We are always learning new information. We add and edit these files almost daily.
We collected those files over the years.
We are always learning new information. We add and edit these files almost daily.
Our Milking Parlor
We started our goat milking journey in our garage with minimal setup. When we started having more milking does, we had to do something differently.
Then we created a complete milking parlor. Having a good milking parlor saved our milking journey wonderfully. We did not spend a fortune to make this setup. Almost all were purchase in used conditions.
These are what we have in our milking parlor. Others might have different things for different reasons.
Heated & Air conditioned room with exhaust fan
Floor drainage
2 or 3 Milking stands with feeders & a small chair
Non-slip bathtub mat for each milking stand
Goat grains, feed
Gauzes for wiping udders & teats
Small square towels
Paper towels
Several water buckets
Stainless canisters (different sizes)
Milk strainers
Milk filters
Shot glasses
Bleach
Dawn soap
Hot water
Water
Sink and counters
Dishwasher with sanitizing cycle
Milking machine (Simple Pulse)
Electricity
Quart or 1/2 gallon Mason Jars
Refrigerator
**We also keep all medicine cabinet stuff in our milking parlor.
We started our goat milking journey in our garage with minimal setup. When we started having more milking does, we had to do something differently.
Then we created a complete milking parlor. Having a good milking parlor saved our milking journey wonderfully. We did not spend a fortune to make this setup. Almost all were purchase in used conditions.
These are what we have in our milking parlor. Others might have different things for different reasons.
Heated & Air conditioned room with exhaust fan
Floor drainage
2 or 3 Milking stands with feeders & a small chair
Non-slip bathtub mat for each milking stand
Goat grains, feed
Gauzes for wiping udders & teats
Small square towels
Paper towels
Several water buckets
Stainless canisters (different sizes)
Milk strainers
Milk filters
Shot glasses
Bleach
Dawn soap
Hot water
Water
Sink and counters
Dishwasher with sanitizing cycle
Milking machine (Simple Pulse)
Electricity
Quart or 1/2 gallon Mason Jars
Refrigerator
**We also keep all medicine cabinet stuff in our milking parlor.
How to train FF to come to the milking stand
We usually start training FFs about 2 weeks before kidding of they are not trained yet.
1) We train our goats with animal crackers. We had to find a treat that goat likes to they will try to do anything for it. (Like greedy dogs)
2) We use words to train them with animal crackers.
We use "up, up" for getting up on the milking stand. When we are teaching, we place one animal cracker on the edge of the stand. Second one in the middle and the last one on the edge of the grain feeder. We escort the goat to go up by helping her front legs and back legs while saying,"up, up" gently.
3) Make sure to give a praise and prize on the milking stand. Once they understand the word and the prize (Animal crackers & grain feed) they will hop on easily.
** Being able to hop onto the milking stand is a totally different thing from "Trained Milkers"
How do we train FF does to be milked?
1) Right before kidding, does start having happy hormones. That happy hormone will help them accept newborn babies and everything around her including us.
2) After kidding, at the first morning or evening, we let the doe to hop onto the milking stand to have grains. (After this, we make sure that being on the milking stand is the only time they get to eat grains.) She is supposed to be trained to hop up onto the milking stand by this time.
While the doe is crazy about eating the grains because she is so hungry from big kidding and making milk, she won't notice that much that you start touching her udder to milk a little.
You start massaging her side of the body and top and udder area. I usually talk softly and praise how amazing she has been. This milk is not really for drinking. It's for releasing her udder fill-up and letting her feel the release by our hand.
We do not milk completely out at this time.
3) In several days, the happy hormone will disappear and the doe might start refusing us to touch her udder and teat. Just keep talking gently and keep milking even if she kicks and jumps to spill the milk in order to avoid us. She will be thinking that we are stealing her precious milk from her babies. She might be holding her milk up and not dropping it down.
4) In 2 weeks time, her teats might be sore from babies sharp teeth and her udder might be bruised from babies banging often in order to encourage the milk to drop down. That time, she would really refuse us to touch or do anything with teats and udder.
We need to be gentle and help her heal from those sore and scars. Keep checking her teat scars and injuries but keep milking even a little to release her fill-ups. After milking in the evening, clean the teat really well and sanitize. If it looks bad, we use iodine. Then smear ointment to heal the scars overnight.
Around this time, most likely we notice that babies are not nursing so much overnight. If that happens, we separate babies from the dam overnight by placing them in a big dog crate in the same pen with the dam so they can still smell each other for comfort.
This is also helping dam to have time to heal for her possible soreness and injuries.
We check her udder morning and night. Especially night so we could give some udder balm, ointment or medications.
1) Right before kidding, does start having happy hormones. That happy hormone will help them accept newborn babies and everything around her including us.
2) After kidding, at the first morning or evening, we let the doe to hop onto the milking stand to have grains. (After this, we make sure that being on the milking stand is the only time they get to eat grains.) She is supposed to be trained to hop up onto the milking stand by this time.
While the doe is crazy about eating the grains because she is so hungry from big kidding and making milk, she won't notice that much that you start touching her udder to milk a little.
You start massaging her side of the body and top and udder area. I usually talk softly and praise how amazing she has been. This milk is not really for drinking. It's for releasing her udder fill-up and letting her feel the release by our hand.
We do not milk completely out at this time.
3) In several days, the happy hormone will disappear and the doe might start refusing us to touch her udder and teat. Just keep talking gently and keep milking even if she kicks and jumps to spill the milk in order to avoid us. She will be thinking that we are stealing her precious milk from her babies. She might be holding her milk up and not dropping it down.
4) In 2 weeks time, her teats might be sore from babies sharp teeth and her udder might be bruised from babies banging often in order to encourage the milk to drop down. That time, she would really refuse us to touch or do anything with teats and udder.
We need to be gentle and help her heal from those sore and scars. Keep checking her teat scars and injuries but keep milking even a little to release her fill-ups. After milking in the evening, clean the teat really well and sanitize. If it looks bad, we use iodine. Then smear ointment to heal the scars overnight.
Around this time, most likely we notice that babies are not nursing so much overnight. If that happens, we separate babies from the dam overnight by placing them in a big dog crate in the same pen with the dam so they can still smell each other for comfort.
This is also helping dam to have time to heal for her possible soreness and injuries.
We check her udder morning and night. Especially night so we could give some udder balm, ointment or medications.
Milking routine #1 - Hand milking
Even though, we use our milking machine, Simple Pulse all the time for our Raw Goat Milk Herd Share program, we usually start with hand milking for each goat right after kidding. We also hand milk when our goats are not well or taking medications or took some medications and waiting for time to clear.
We also hand milk at the milking out each milking time.
This is what we do at our farm. There are lots of different ways so just take this as an example.
1) Squirt a couple of dawn soap into the bucket. Add hot water and a cap amount of bleach.
2) Put some of #1 into shot glasses for each goat amount.
3) Soak each goat numbers of gauzes into #1
4) Wipe goat's teats with squeezed gauze from #3 then wipe udder all over. This time, you are also checking any odd things around her udder and massaging as well. If it is dirty, you can repeat again by using other gauze until it clears any dirt etc.
5) Use hand sanitizer to wipe all over the teats.
6) Wait until half dry then squirt (unplug) the teats.
7) Bring the right size stainless canister and start milking.
If she is not very used to us or being milked or its her immature behavior, I would use small canister and pour into large canister often so i don't have to waste all the milk with kicking and stumping.
8) After milking both teats, massage the udder again several times and squeeze out all the milk.
9) Bring #2 shot glass and dip her teats. We use words, "Dip, dip" when we dip her udder so she can anticipate the dip is coming.
Even though, we use our milking machine, Simple Pulse all the time for our Raw Goat Milk Herd Share program, we usually start with hand milking for each goat right after kidding. We also hand milk when our goats are not well or taking medications or took some medications and waiting for time to clear.
We also hand milk at the milking out each milking time.
This is what we do at our farm. There are lots of different ways so just take this as an example.
1) Squirt a couple of dawn soap into the bucket. Add hot water and a cap amount of bleach.
2) Put some of #1 into shot glasses for each goat amount.
3) Soak each goat numbers of gauzes into #1
4) Wipe goat's teats with squeezed gauze from #3 then wipe udder all over. This time, you are also checking any odd things around her udder and massaging as well. If it is dirty, you can repeat again by using other gauze until it clears any dirt etc.
5) Use hand sanitizer to wipe all over the teats.
6) Wait until half dry then squirt (unplug) the teats.
7) Bring the right size stainless canister and start milking.
If she is not very used to us or being milked or its her immature behavior, I would use small canister and pour into large canister often so i don't have to waste all the milk with kicking and stumping.
8) After milking both teats, massage the udder again several times and squeeze out all the milk.
9) Bring #2 shot glass and dip her teats. We use words, "Dip, dip" when we dip her udder so she can anticipate the dip is coming.
Milking routine #2 - Machine milking
Because we do Raw Goat Milk Herd Share, we are extremely careful with sanitizing. We believe that using a milking machine helps tremendously from getting extra hair, dirt, dust, and germs into our freshly harvested milk. Because we do the share, we test our raw milk every month by sending some milk in the vial to the lab. It tells us what is working and what is not for sanitizing. The milk in the vial will be tested for standard plate count, Coliform enumeration, Salmonella detection, E coli O157, and Listeria detection.
The first part of the routine is the same as hand milking.
1) ~6)
A) But before 1), we make another bucket full of hot water with a cap amount of bleach and put 2 tubes in. These 2 tubes are going to be connected to the bucket lids when they get warm enough to manipulate.
B) Hook up all the tubes and lids together and make sure all are still clean and not touching anywhere. Each time I touch each section to connect, I dip my hands into A).
1) ~6) @ Same as hand milking
7) Place the cleaner side of the gauze facing up right under the teats area on the milking stand.
8) Switch on the machine and put suctions onto teats. Depending on the height of the goat, the bottom of the suctions might touch the milking stand. this is why I place the clean side of the gauze so the bottom of the suction won't get dirty.
Milk Stand manner troubles
Example 1: Sitting goats and refuse to be touched
This is so miserable. She would put whole weight on you and refuse to be touched or milked.
You put hobbles but still her back legs can fold down and sit.
You would try to put bucket under but she can kick.
What do we do?
Using hobbles is a possible solution for any milking stand manner problems.
But for this kind, the result is so so because goats bone structures, she can bend her back legs no matter what.
~~~The Best Solution ~~~
Using a small size dog leash! Loop her front foot and hold it up.
She needs to balance her body so she cannot squat.
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Example 2: Rodeo & splashing milk bucket lady
This makes us so mad. She would kick and jump with hind legs and refuse to be touched or milked.
We feel so angry and helpless. Using up our energy at the each milking time. What happened with calm peaceful milking dame dream?
What do we do?
Instead of hobbles, we use dog leash. I found that it is harder to find the correct size of hobbles for our goat. So we use dog leash to hold hind legs on to the stand. With some goats, only one leg (Usually your side) is enough. I use small stainless kitchen canister to milk while keeping an eye on the loose leg. As soon as I get little milk out of her, I pour it into a bigger stainless canister and put a lid on the big canister immediately.
This way, I don't have to get frustrated for over spilled milk. Even if I get spilled by being kicked, it will be just a little portion. If the dirt or leg goes into the canister, I switch to another small canister to milk.
This way, I don't have to get frustrated for over spilled milk. Even if I get spilled by being kicked, it will be just a little portion. If the dirt or leg goes into the canister, I switch to another small canister to milk.
Cleaning & sanitizing milking equipment ideas
Cleaning &sanitizing milking equipment
http://www.thedairysite.com/articles/686/cleaning-and-sanitizing-milking-equipment/
Milking stuff cleaning pressure by Megan
Once a week, I take everything apart and soak it in the dairy wash acid rinse in the sink. (like 1/4C in a sinkfull of water). I let it soak for a couple hours, run a brush in everything, then drain the water and refill the sink with fresh water and a couple splashes of bleach. I let it soak while I sweep the floors and surfaces, then I reassemble everything without rinsing. I do this every Monday
After milking, I fill the sink with warm soapy (Dawn) water and suck it through the machine, followed by hot acid rinse water. That's it. Prior to milking, I fill the sink with warm water and a splash of bleach, soak the jars and run the bleach water through the lines.
Cleaning &sanitizing milking equipment
http://www.thedairysite.com/articles/686/cleaning-and-sanitizing-milking-equipment/
Milking stuff cleaning pressure by Megan
Once a week, I take everything apart and soak it in the dairy wash acid rinse in the sink. (like 1/4C in a sinkfull of water). I let it soak for a couple hours, run a brush in everything, then drain the water and refill the sink with fresh water and a couple splashes of bleach. I let it soak while I sweep the floors and surfaces, then I reassemble everything without rinsing. I do this every Monday
After milking, I fill the sink with warm soapy (Dawn) water and suck it through the machine, followed by hot acid rinse water. That's it. Prior to milking, I fill the sink with warm water and a splash of bleach, soak the jars and run the bleach water through the lines.