So you’ve bought some goats and gathered your equipment. Let’s do some milking!
First off, you’ll need a milking stand. It is possible to milk without one. Trust me, I have done it. Five days post-partum. With a wild, first-freshener, kicky goat…
It can be done, but I sure looove my stand. This post has more photos of my stand if you are interested in building one like it for yourself. And check out my video on how to use a goat milking stand to get you started.
My husband whipped this stand out in an afternoon. He’s pretty handy like that… It was my birthday present this year. Some girls get flowers, I get a milking stand- and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
First, I put some grain in the feeder that is attached to the front of my milking stand. I also make sure that the head catch is open. The goats seem to get grumpy when they jump up on the stand and the head catch is closed. Picky goats.
Here is the back of the head catch.
By now, the girls are waiting at the gate and jockeying for position. Once I open the gate, one doe will make a beeline for the milking stand. If you use grain, it doesn’t take long for them to love milking time!
Say hello to Cinnamon. She was our main milker this year. She hopes for a career in modeling, but I think it will be short lived.
I like to keep the udders clipped- they are easier to wash and it helps prevent stray hairs from falling in your milk. I just use my horse clippers, or you could also use your husband’s hair clippers. Of course, I’ve never done that. Nope, not me.
Now give the udder a thorough wash. This is where my handy “reusable baby wipes” come in.
I generally use one square to do an initial “rough” wash to loosen any debris or dirt that might be clinging to the udder and then follow up with a second rag that focuses on the teats. If you are milking more than one goat, be sure to use fresh wipes for each one so you don’t pass any possible infections back and forth.
Now grab your strip cup and squeeze the first 3 or 4 squirts into it. This “flushes” any dirty milk from the teat and it gives you a chance to check the milk for any abnormalities such as clumps or bloody specks that might indicate mastitis.
Time to milk! Set your stainless steel container under your goat and gently grasp a teat. Now, I won’t claim to be an expert milker, but I use my thumb and forefinger to “close off” the top of the teat and then squeeze the rest of fingers to expel the milk. Don’t pull on the teat! Your goat will most likely communicate any objections to your technique by responding with a swift kick to your milking bucket…
Here is my How to Milk a Goat video with more details.
I started out using one hand at a time. That way, I could hold the bucket in my other hand and keep it out of the way of any random kicks. Since my girls were first fresheners this year, it took us some time to figure each other out. However, now I can milk two-handed and it goes much faster.
Once your goat’s udder is emptied, dip the teats in a teat dip solution to “seal” it up.
Rub on some udder balm- I love my homemade version the best.
Then take you milk into the house immediately.
In order to keep your milk tasting the very best, it needs to be chilled as rapidly as possible.
I have my jar and filter system waiting for me in the sink. I filter the milk, date the lid, and place into the back of my fridge (where it is the coolest).
Clean-up:
First, rinse all of your equipment in cool water. This helps to prevent any “milk stone” buildup.
Next, wash everything with the hottest soapy water you can stand or run everything through the dishwasher to sterilize.
Allow everything to air dry thoroughly. Bacteria likes damp environments.
What is your milking routine? How many animals do you milk per day?
Great post, thanks so much!
Do you milk all the girls then refrigerate, or milk and refrigerate each goat?
Miranda- I collect all the milk and then take it to the refrigerator. Although, if I was milking more than 2 goats and it was really hot outside, I might consider running to the house in between goats.
Neat. Good to know. Can't wait til we get goats of our own – i'm sure i'll be consulting your blog even more then.
Hi Jill,
I love your milk goat series! Excellent information. We are thinking about getting goats in the spring but have not made a final decision yet. Are yours all Nubians?
Also, have you heard that WY has a herdshare bill that is to come before the legislature in January? Here is a link to the bill if you are interested in reading it http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2011/Introduced/HB0017.pdf
Millie- yes, all of our girls are Nubians. How fun to be considering goats! You will have to keep me posted if you decide to get some!
Thanks for the heads-up on the herdshare bill- I was not aware of it.
It would sure be wonderful if herdshares were legal in WY! The more options the better!
Love your goat 101 series. We just got goats, I am so excited about it. We have 2 Snubians(yearlings hoping to kid out next spring) and a Nigerian Dwarf doe with 2 kids.. We are still working on her with milking.. But we definetly love them..
I’ve kept goats for many years. I always used to strain the milk through a disposable strainer disk, but now I use a metal mesh coffee filter that I got at Walmart and it is so much easier. When the milk is in the jars, I put on the lids and put them in the freezer for two hours and then transfer them to the fridge. I think your goat series is great!
Yes- I love those reusable metal strainers!
I do not milk any animals. This is great info. to know. What is a teat sealer, or what do you use?
A teat sealer or teat dip is usually used at the end of each milking to help close up the teat and prevent bacteria from entering it between milkings. I currently don’t use a teat dip, however, there are many commercial products available and also some homemade recipes if you google it. 🙂
To improve the rate of chill, I keep a cooler with water in it next to my frig. As soon as I come in from the barn, I set my milk tote in the water and add plastic bottles of ice that I keep in my freezer. 2 qts. of ice per gallon of warm milk is about right to get the whole tote-full down to 40 degrees in under an hour. Then the ice bottles go back in the freezer to be ready for the next milking, and the cold milk goes into the frig. The milk chills much faster in an ice water bath than just put into the frig or even freezer. See Mary Jane Toth’s book, “Goats Produce Too – the Udder Real Thing”.
I bring my milk in, strain it, then put it in the fridge in a bucket of cold water that is constantly refrigerated. Then I add 6 trays of ice-cubes.That is SUPER COLD!
How much grain do you feed your goats? I am learning new this year and have one milking. Honestly I just eyeball what the lady who owned her before did but I feel like there has to be a better way of knowing how much grain to give her. She currently give me a little over 3 lbs of milk per milking and I do it twice a day. Thanks
Genral rule is 1 lb of grain for each 2 lbs of milk. In reality each goat eats at different speeds. If a goat eats to fast and I need more time to get the milking done I add alfalfa pellets to grain and this slows them down because they have to eat the grain around the handful of pellets ( they leave the pellets ). I also take into consideration the condition of the goat. I don’t like goats that look like bags of bones with skin, they should have nice shinny coats of hair. Producing milk puts alot of demands on the system and if pregnant in addition your little goats need nutrition to stay healthy.
I love this… All of it. I so badly want to do it all! We have a homestead with plenty of acreage. I just need to find the time. I 3 12hour night shifts a week and my husband works as well. Finacially, this is a must right now. How do you find the time for it all?
Anna- it’s been little baby steps to get to where we are now. It definitely didn’t happen overnight! 🙂
My best advice is to just choose one new thing at a time, research it, plan for it, and then work on implementing it into your schedule.
You might be interested in my eBook that is coming out on the 20th of this month. http://yourcustomhomestead.com
You’ll have to keep me posted on your progress!
Thank you so much for the quick reply!! 🙂 I will check out the ebook! Sounds great. We have 20 acres in North Central FL. I am a lifetime horse person and really have an ideal situation as my husband and two girls along with my wonderful parents and twin sister and her family all live on the same property (3 homesites). So a communal type living where we all co-parent the kids and pitch in around the farm. Horses are plentiful (a little too plentiful 🙂 ) We have laying hens, a garden ( although we would like to branch out and plant more), and we just got some meat chickens for the first time. We love this life style and wouldn’t have it anyother way. I wish I could work less and spend more time on the farm, but life is expensive and work is a must right now. Florida is great because we can grow all year round. Our next adventure is dairy. My mom wants a dairy goat and I want a mini jersey… we will see where this next adventure takes us. Any advice would be great AND I will keep reading this great blog. THANK YOU. 🙂
Wow- what a neat set-up! I, too, am a lifetime horse gal, so I can totally relate. 😉
It sounds like you have a wonderful start with your chickens and gardening. I’m betting you’ll really have fun adding dariy animals. And what a blessing to have your family all there to pitch in!
Sounds like a country song but When I Sing to My Goat She Lets Her Milk Down. 🙂
Ruby is first freshened and she holds her milk. I can massage, sweeten her feed let her go first on the stand, in the middle or last and she won’t let it go. With patience and time on the stancion she would eventually let it down. A few weeks ago, I tried an experiment and sang to her as I milked. The milk flowed! Funny because I can’t carry a tune in a…well…a three handle (milk) bucket. Ha!
I love the idea of letting the kids help you with milking, especially when you have a job! How long can they “help” for? Is it like humans – you can pretty much let them drink their mothers milk for as long as they’d like?
Your website is awesome. I’m considering buying a Snubian and her doeling, just a little worried about the milking due to my job! Also I am very frugal and your ideas on milking equipment were right on!
Thanks!!!
I milk 2 Lamancha sister goats.
For now I combine their milk into one bowl because it is easiest, but ideally I would like to milk them each into seperate buckets so I could really get to know the flavors of each girls’ milk. Right now it is just easiest to get it done because it is quite a task to do milking twice every day !~
I am so jealous of how big your goats teats are. We just got 2 saanens and their teats are much smaller. The one we got first has super small teats and the 2nd one has a little larger. It was a learning curve to hand milk them considering it was my first time milking anything. Now to figure out what to do with 2 gallons of milk a day!
Yes, I definitely was spoiled in that aspect! At one point we were given a Nubian with much, much smaller teats and it just about killed me to milk her.. 😉 Yay for your 2 gallons/day, though!
Hi, Jill! I just found your blog today, and I’m enjoying it quite a bit! I wanted to let you know that the “jar and filter system” link appears to be broken. 🙂
Thanks Jenn- will look into that!
The hardest part of Goats: when you are tired- go milk, sick-go milk, want a vacation – go milk, milk in the morning, milk again in evening…..sleep milk eat care for goats sleep milk eat care for goats. If it is -10 – go milk, etc. I have a small herdshare dairy in Oregon so need to supply a consistant supply of milk to the owners. Very few realize the commitment it takes and the planning. At times it is exhausting. I have 8 milking does and milk 3-5 at a time with others pregnant, the buck and babies every few months year round. I am not even going to try to plant a garden and could use a housekeeper. It works better to trade milk for veggies from the neighbors. I don’t encourage people to own their own dairy animals because if they don’t take the commitment serious it is the animals that suffer. Each person has unique talents and they should do what they are good at and trade. As we look at the homesteading from the past it is important to realize that we have demands that our ancestor didn’t like INSURANCE…( My agent is not interested in trading for milk), so I have to generate the cash. I am not sure that it is possible to be totally self-sufficient. I do what I can but Do certianly appreciate indoor plumbing, water heaters, and cctv cameras ( for nightime baby watch ) that make life a little easier. I enjoy your blog and reading all the comments, got a real kick out of the rattlesnake discussion.
I agree Linda– it is a huge committment. We are currently just milking our one cow right now, but I imagine that having a herdshare set-up would be even more strenuous. The longer that I homestead, the more I am realizing the importance of community/bartering. It is impossible for one person to do everything completely by themself!
Hi, I am loving reading your site, thank you for so much good information. I currently have 4 pygmy goats, two does (one of which is pregnant, our first kidding, I am sooo nervous!), a buck, and a wether (he was our first and is a pet more than anything else.) So my doe that is pregnant I think was pregnant when I got her, but the previous owner didn’t know, I didn’t research enough before I bought them, my mistake and I won’t make it again. But now that I have them I love them and wouldn’t trade them for anything. So anyway, she should kid in the next few weeks and I am preparing for that, but I would also like to milk her when she is done. I have heard that milking pygmy goats can be harder, but that their milk is just as good, and since that is all I have I want to try it. We will be building a milking stand this weekend and I am off in search of the other supplies today. My question is how soon after the baby(ies) is born do I start the milking process, and then if I do it only once a day to allow the kid to have it the other time, is it better to do it in the morning or in the evening? I would prefer evening because I have small children that aren’t morning people,lol! And I am guessing you don’t pasturize your milk, but if you did, for the purposes of drinking it only. Would I chill the milk first and then pasturize it or visa vera? Any help you can give would be great. I have posted on other sites but people are always so vague. Thanks in advance!
Hi Jacque,
I like to wait about 2 weeks after the babies are born to start milking. It allows them all to bond, and lets them have all the colustrum as well. I prefer to milk in the morning (keep them locked up all night, milk, then turn them together all day.) But, you could reverse that process if you’d prefer to milk in the evening. Either way is fine.
I don’t pastuerize my milk at all– having raw milk is the main reason we have dairy animals. 🙂 As long as your goats are healthy, and you chill the milk right away, you should be fine.
Hope that helps!
Hi Jill, I am loving your site! I am down on the east coast of Australia on our small acreage with a saanen doe, nigerian dwarf doe and her 3 week old buckling. We have been milking the saaanen after she had a phantom pregnancy and will eventually wean the boy off his mum to milk her as well. All of your pages have such great info. I am wondering how long we can leave the buckling on his mum before weaning? Thanks heaps 🙂
How long does it take to milk each goat? How much does each produce? (I’m sorry if it says somewhere and I’m missing it).
It takes anywhere from about 5-15 minutes to milk each goat– depending on how much they are producings. Mine usually produced about 2 quarts per milking– although some goats product much more.
I have been milking goats for a number of years now. A handy tool I use to get the milk chilled as quickly as possible (it takes 8 hours for a gallon of milk to reach 40 degrees) requires:
Freezer
pail
water
Alchohol (prefer vodka)
Fill your pail mainly with water, then at the end put a cup of vodka in it. The vodka keeps it from freezing all the way, you want a slushie. Put in freezer for morning. In the morning we scrape the slushie into a bigger pail (the bigger ones dont fit in the freezer). This pail must accomodate a gallon jar (or whatever you store your milk in). Keep the milk in it for as long as you need (never until the slushie has warmed).
This keeps it from getting ‘goaty tasting’
Also, I get about 2/3 gallon a day from each of my goats. 🙂
Great tip Haley! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about concentrate.
Regards
Hi, we are looking at getting another milking goat and milking once a day as you do. How long will the doe allow the kid/s to keep feeding off her before she tries to wean the kid/s or will she not wean the kid/s while we are milking her also. Also if we go away for a week or so it is just the kid/s feeding as we did with our last milking goat is it possible to increase her milk supply if it drops a bit with just the kid/s feeding off her, this is what happened with our last goat. Thanks for any advice on this.
Hi Lianne,
I think it depends on the doe as far as how long they will let them stay nursing– I usually end up weaning before I have had the chance to find out. You may be able to increase the supply a bit when you get back if you really work on milking her completely out when you resume your chores. Keep in mind that it is a supply/demand type thing- and make sure that she has quality feed that helps to encourage milk production. 🙂
I recently purchased 2 milk goats and a male. Hopefully by spring we will have goat milk. I am very excited. We had goats in the past and the babies are just precious. It definitely is a commitment. God Bless You all.
Excited for you Lorie!
This might be a funny question, how do you know when your done milking? Like will the milk just stop coming out of the teat?
Yep! It just stops coming out. 🙂
Hi Jill, I love your website! It’s helped me a lot as a first time miler! I bought my two Alpines when they were three months old. I bred them last year. Only one got pregnant. She had a beautiful baby without needing any help! Whew! Was I lucky! I have a question. My kid is three weeks old and I would like to separate her from her Mama at night in order to get some milk. ( I have milked the nanny but without separation, I only get half a cup) Here’s my question. What if anything, should I put in the pen with the kid? I was thinking a small pail of water and some alfalfa and of course bedding. What do you recommend? Thanks
Christine
Yep! That’s what I do–some water, some hay to munch on, and a soft place to sleep. 🙂
Hi Jill,
My husband and I have recently traded in our sailboat cruising lifestyle for a farm. We currently have three pregnant Nigerian Dwarfs, one of which is due next week. We’re incredibly excited, yet apprehensive about it all at the same time. I just found your blog today and am very impressed with the amount and quality of goat information here. Thank you so very much!
One quick question – how long do you wait after kidding to start ‘sharing’ the milk (we’re planning to milk once a day)? We are currently planning on waiting a month but would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks so much and we’ll be following you closely!
Thanks,
Katie and Mark
I usually wait around 2 weeks, but a month is fine too. 🙂
This is truly wonderful- Thanks a ton and carry on the great work!
May be a silly question but can you milk more then one goat per stainless steal bucket or different bucket per goat? We are getting our first goats in two weeks and you have helped teach me so much! Thanks for posting (:
Yep! You can definitely combine milks in the same bucket.
I love your blog! Very helpful information, but a few of your post in you Goat 101 series is not working all the way. The pictures in this post are not there, your video on how to milk a goat page doesn’t work, and either does the link for Stacy makes sense post on Goats milk. Can these be fixed? I just bought Nigeria dwarf goats. I just love everything about how you simplify homesteading. I’m new to all of this and after finding your blog I actually believe I can do this now. Thank you!