The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: Buffy the eggs layer on December 29, 2010, 06:49:46 pm
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Hi All,
can anyone tell me if they keep a goat for milk and work full time? I'm wondering how practical it would be and how long it would take. I used to work on a rare breeds farm many years ago and used to milk the goats there which didnt seem to take too long. Can it be done at the end of each day?
And how long do they lactate for before they would need to be put in kid?
Buffy :goat:
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in my limited experience...
yes, depending on your goat!
I work full time, but my husband is around in the day. He often doesnt milk until I'm home, the goat just isnt ready early on, and has a good belly full of hay then eats her concentrates or chews the cud during milking (she is too awkward otherwise)
Neither our current milker or her predecesor have been huge volume milkers - if you have a super milker then she would need more regular milking to be comfortable.
when the weather is bad (too wet, too hot, too cold) Geraldine has refused to stand to be milked, and will go "full" overnight to give far more the following day (we tell by the size of her udders - sometimes it just isnt there!)
you really need to consider whether your goats will be safe to be left all day without getting into mischief, or escaping, or running out of water etc. ours have the benefit of if they shout loud enough, somebody comes out to check them!
if you are organised, with eg buckets, clean equipment, storage etc ready the night before, it doesnt actually take that long to milk so you may be able to milk before you go to work, then do the pasteurising later on.
again, my experience is very short... but as for your question on lenght of lactaction -
Margo came to us in May, she stayed in milk til about Christmas, but then she was ill and died not long after.
Geraldine kidded at the end of July and has really ceased now, we get a little every couple of days. She should be back in kid soon if not already as she runs with the billy.
As I said she is soon affected by the weather, so after snow, minus 18 temps and now all day fog, she is quite fed up!
She peeps out the doorway, deciding whether what's in it for her before she comes outside!
hope that helps, somebody much more knowledgeable will be along soon (I've got too much time in my hands while I'm in holiday ;) )
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Thats great thanks,
it sounds as though the mischeif is more of an issue than the milking. Perhaps the goat keeping needs to wait until I'm retired!
Buffy
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I work full-time.
I have two milk tanker goats 5 to 6 kg a day (now they are dryied up as in kid) I add a extra 20 mins to morning (6.30-7.00am) and evening routine (6.30-7pm) for milking. Goats can go on milking for 2 - 3 years without drying up. Some even more. I dry them up early as gives them more time to build up for kidding but some goats will not dry up in time for kidding and just continue to milk :(
This year plan to have four milk tanker goats, takes a bit to get your hands working efficently.
Diane
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Sorry to highjack post,
[ then do the pasteurising later on.]
Do you have to pasteurise goats milk if so how do you do it.
Sorry for being so stupid ::)
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heat it up, then cool it down - simple!
in reality, there's a need to filter it thoroughly, heat to 75 / 80 degrees centigrade for at least 30 seconds then cool it quickly eg put into a water bath of cold water.
(we cheat by pouring it hot into glass ex-cider bottles with screw lids, and putting straight into the fridge door. this alledgedly weakens the glass... we've shattered one bottle in 18 months & whos to say it wasn't flawed to start with?!)
Pasteurisation destroys the "bad" bacteria & means the milk can keep longer. not every body does it for goats milk, but better safe than sorry imho...
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top question and one of the many i was planning to ask! so thanks everyone.
BTW - what is a 'milk tanker' goat?
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BTW - what is a 'milk tanker' goat?
High quantity milkers :goat: over a gallion a day milker :)
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thanks. what breeds would they be please?
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Most goats are milked at 12 hour intervals.
I have a friend who works full time so milks her goats (8) at 6 am and then at 7pm., works well for her and the goats because it means they are then tucked up for the night. No goat in full milk should go longer than 14 hours otherwise mastitis can become a problem.
I will have 22 in milk this year, and although I don't work full time I do voluntary work so have to work to a time frame.
I also milk by machine except milk recording days when the chosen 6 are done by hand.
Ther are small milking machines on the market secondhand which obviously get the job done more quickly but need a full wash out afterwards. Pros & cons but there is always a right way for each person. My advice is don't wait - go for it.
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Although I don't work outside the holding, I still have to get childreen to school, so milk at around 6.30am until just after 7 (mine are dried up now they are in kid), then again in the evening at around 6pm. I actually try and vary the time a bit every so often, to make sure that the goats do not become too dependent on being milked at exactly the same time every day, just to allow some flexibility if needed. Took a lot longer than half an hour when I learned to milk - both of mine had not been milked before, plus one had tiny teats. Needs to be factored into your time plans.
I am planning to milk record one or two of mine this year.
You can do it beside a f/t job, but it will take time away from other jobs that you do now, like gardening, watering etc after work. I found that my garden suffered a bit last summer, mainly due to lambing/kidding/learning to milk time coinciding with a late start to the gardening season...
But I would go for it now, who knows if you will be able to have goats when you retire....
Re: pasteurisation - I live in Scotland, so no bTB (yet). If you are in a TB area, I would speak to the vet re pasteuration and/or getting your goats tested, depending where they come from. I currently do not pasteurise, and my girls love the milk as is. Also made cheese, yoghurt etc etc.
Before you get a goat think about how much milk you need actually, I have found that on some days using up four to five ltrs of milk a bit of a challenge, but the pigs loved it... we also used milk in breadmaking, lots of panckes etc etc
wytsend: Do your goats not mind the change from machine to hand milking? I thought that once you machine milk going back to hand is difficult?
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No I have no problem switching. I hand strip every goat anyway each day - some of them hang onto as much as half a pint after the clusters come off !!! Which is a lot of milk to lose and the goat gradually produces less and less if this is not removed.
Call me if you would like to chat about it --- 01647 231456 (evenings)
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we had a 4 yr old gg once that must hav kidded before we had her, and she was dry when we bought her, but everytime the summer grass was here, shed come into milk and give us 1 or 2 pints or so everyday, and would keep going til we dried her up in winter. it meant she had to stay up by house to be milked whereas we'd planned for her and her friend to graze a bottom paddock in the summer. is this normal for all milk goats?
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Thanks every one,
the milking sounds managable as long as I allow the time. I think I should get the garden sorted first so that my other jobs only require maintainance. I wouldnt want masses of milk so a Milk tanker would be a bit too much. I think I will buy some goats milk and chees to make sure that I have an audience for it at home first. What do you do with the kids that you produce each year?
It sounds like its the goats getting into trouble while I am out all day that is the problem. Are all your goats naughty when home alone? :goat:
Buffy
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Trouble is, goat's milk from a shop can tate pretty disgusting and make everyone think they don't like it. Better if you could get some from another smallholder to try. :)
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totally agree with Katie - I think it tastes like a billy goat smells and it makes me Barf!! my poor kids have to drink it (human kids that is!!) as they are cows milk intolerant. when we had our lovely toggenburg milker, her milk didn't taste at all yuk (it was obviously not skimmed so I did get a bit wider round the hips mind you!)
we always had people wanting goats milk for puppies, kittens etc and obviously I use it in soap - find a local soap maker near you and you'll be their best friend forever!!
as for naughty goats, mine were really naughty when we first got them. they were like human children in that they pushed the boundaries, much better noe - no escaping!!
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Trouble is, goat's milk from a shop can tate pretty disgusting and make everyone think they don't like it. Better if you could get some from another smallholder to try. :)
totally agreed, goats milk from tescos etc is crap :(
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Parturisation doesn't only destroy tthe "bad" bacteria!
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If you plan out the housing / penning etc well in advance, you should reduce the opportunity for "Naughty" escapes.
our pen is metre high wooden pallets topped by another metre of stock wire. we cant risk them geting out, they'd be on the road (we are in a town) and touch wood they have only ever got out a couple of times, by sneaking through the gate when I've had my hands full.
Its worth being nosey at oher people's set-ups & deciding what would suit you best.
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We don't like the shop bought stuff either.... and the cheeses I made last summer never once tasted goaty, only when I left them too long and they became abit coloured...as in mouldy.
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Hello Buffy,
Apologies for not replying sooner though I have been reading the thread. It is possible to work full time and keep milking goats. You just need to plan well!
It takes time morning and evening to deal with the goats, so you need to set that aside. You also need to consider things like your feeding/hay/straw. Where will you get it from- and when are they open? If they are only open Mon-Fri 9-5 will you be able to get there when they are open? Or maybe it is open a saturday morning- great, but then you need to make sure you have free time on a saturday morning to go along. Your weekends will be taken up with the things you don't have time to do during the week- feet trimming, mucking out, worming, routine repairs etc.
You also need to plan what to do with kids. When your goat kids, while you leave any kids she has on her to suckle? If you decide to hand rear them so they are tamer, and so that you can get all the milk and dole it out, then you have to decide how you are going feed the kids. You might not be there in order to give them a bottle in the middle of the day. There are things you do to get round that, automatic drinkers etc, but you need to consider that.
For leaving them all day, I would, in the late spring, summer and early autumn want to have them outside if possible- but with access to a shed big enough for however many you have. And you would be best to keep a hay rack in there with hay in it, in case it rains during the day then they can just stay in the shed. You need to make sure feed and hay etc is stored SECURELY where they can't get to it while you are out.
It is more than possible to keep them and work full time, but it is a commitment. I will need to do it myself in the future- I am fortunate just now in that I live with my mum, who is retired, so she does things like gives them hay in the middle of the day, bottle feeds kids etc. But one day she won't be able to do that any more. There is no way I would be able to keep as many as we do now. I do know people who don't just keep goats, but keep a biggish herd of goats, which they show, virtually every weekend. I think as they are both couples, and both partners have an equal interest in the animals, it does work.
If you do decide to go ahead, let us know how you get on- and provide pictures!
Beth