Equipment For Milking Your Goats

The whole reason I wanted to get my 

goats was so I could milk them 

to use their milk in my handmade soaps.

I have always loved goats and had a few

growing up but my husband

wasn't as excited about getting the girls.

All of his memories of goats are of

them escaping and climbing up on things

they aren't supposed to be on,

things like his beloved vehicles.

He's a car guy, not a goat guy....

But I was finally able to convince him

that our lives would be blessed with a few

goats in the pasture.

And unlike when I had goats before,

at my parents home,

this time we did the fencing right, 

so there has yet to be a king of the mountain

episode with the goats on one of his cars,

which keeps him pretty happy.

So, back to the point of this blog post,

Milking your Girls!

Now, I have to admit I have very limited

experience in this as of yet.

But I have a doe due in June and I plan to get a lot

of experience in then!

But I wanted to at least post a blog

on some of the basics, 

at least in equipment 

that your going to need to start milking your does at home.

I bought all of the above supplies as a kit

from Caprine Supply.

It worked out great because they

have a mini version just for

the Nigerians.

This kit comes with the following:

Small Stainless Steel Strainer

Package of 200 Count 3-5/8" Filters

 2 Quart Stainless Steel Milk Pail

 Fight Bac Teat Spray

 Aluminum Strip Cup with Screen

Milking Pail

Your milking pail is the actual

container that you will milk into.

You want to use something that is 

made of stainless steal over 

something that is made of something like plastic

because plastic will harbor bacteria

and can also absorb weird smells and flavors

that can alter the taste of your 

milk, and not for the better.

You also want something that is going

to be very easy to get clean

and keep clean.

Because milk is the greatest

medium for growing bacteria, 

you want to keep everything nice and sanitary.

Strainer with Filter in Place

Strainer with Filter in Place

Your strainer is used to strain your milk

before it goes into it's final container.

You would pour your milk from the milking pail

through the strainer and into the final container.

I have pictures to show you what your strainer

looks like with the filter and without the filter in place.

The little metal ring is what holds the filter 

tightly in place.

You should use a new filter each time 

you strain your milk.

And you should never add warm milk to cold milk.

The reason for using the filter is to get any

small particles of dust or hair that may have

fallen off of your doe and into the milking pail.

You can shave around your does utters and 

keep her clean from dirt and debris to

help reduce what falls in your pail,

but I don't think you can honestly keep 

everything out and so that

is why you use your filter.

Strainer without Filter

Fight Bac

Fight Bac is used to clean 

your does utters and teats before and after

you milk her.

It is to help prevent any bacteria that 

may get on or in her teat from growing

and causing mastitis. 

You don't have to use this product specifically,

there are several on the market and there

are also several different recipes available

online to make your own.

This is what came in my kit so this

is what I will be using for now.

Strip Cup with Screen

Your strip cup is used at the very beginning

of each milking. 

You use this to inspect the milk that first comes

out to be sure there is no blood

or signs of mastitis.

Sometimes mastitis will cause

the milk to be stringy or clumpy.

You just want to make it a habit of checking your

girls udders and milk each day

to stay on top of any

issues.

My wonderful, handy husband

built my milking stand for me.

You will need one of these

to make milking your girls

go smoothly and easily.

Toddler not required!

Milking Stand

Your milking stand makes your job 

of milking your girls much easier

because it puts them up higher so 

it is easy to reach them and

the head gate helps control

them in case you have some that are 

not quit sure they liked to be milked.

We have a little hanging feeder on

the front of the stand so the girls

get their breakfast and dinner

while they are being milked.

It makes them much more willing participants.

So these are some of the things you would

need to get started with milking your own goats. 

This list is definitely not set in stone.

I know some people who use more

than what I have listed or

who don't use all of the things listed,

or who use things like 

stainless steel cooking pots instead of 

milking pails. 

All that is fine, you just

want to be sure that whatever you use

it works well for you,

it does the job needed

and it can be cleaned properly to 

prevent illness in you and your does.

I plan to continue with this blog post and 

have photos of me actually milking my girls,

pictures of udders,

and much more so stay tuned!

Happy Milking!