[colliewoman]

Hi guys!
It is rapidly approaching that time when I should hopefully be up to my ears in fresh goats milk, so perhaps I should start gathering the needed equipment.

What do you guys all use?
My milk will be for home use only if that makes a difference? Do in need a stainless steel pail or will a new plastic food grade bucket be ok?
I have, thanks to my fabulous husband now got a milking stand.
I have udder cream for afterwards, but what do you guys use to wipe the udder down with?
Where do you store your milk?
How do you chill it for storage?
Assume I am a complete newbie to the pleasures of milking goats, I can extract the stuff but then what? (I have milked them, just never been envolved with what happens to it afterwards!
All advice greatfully accepted
Thankies!

[tizaala]

I use an old ( 70 years approx ) alfa laval system with a stainless bucket , a bit over the top for just a couple of goats but I have problems hand milking due to an industrial injury . the unit was standing unused outside for a couple of years by the previous owners, so I begged it off them and replaced the electric motor , works fine.

[little blue]

we (well, my husband - she won't let me!) milk into a squat jug, she isn't tall enough for a bucket & tends to knock it.
I hold the big pan & so the jug can be reguarly emptied into it.

Its then sieved (tea strainer) into a flattish pan that is left in the fridge over  night so the cream rises & can by taken off for butter.
The milk is then pasteurised on the stove, seived again into glass bottles (ex-wine / cider, with screw lids) and put straight into the fridge. Its ready to drink the next day.

I use milton & the dishwasher for cleaning, and regularly replace the funnels & sieves.
We use a strip cup to check for mastitis, and have udder cream & wipes ... though this goat hates both!

If making cheese, or yogurt etc, just leave out some the steps in pasteurising etc.

We do also use it "raw" from the fridge, or leave the cream on if feeling lazy! Our first goat, we never made butter, but this one we found that the whole neck of the bottle was solid with cream!

[jaykay]

I use an Udderly Ez, which is a little hand pump that milks directly into a bottle.
It's very easy to use, means someone can relief milk occasionally and the most important thing for me, since I'm milking before going to work, is that there's no filtering the milk, since the bottle is sealed. I just put it straight into the fridge and use it raw.

I can't sing its praises enough. I was pretty impressed already. Then my nephew dropped the pump on our stone floor and broke one of the jaws. I was quite prepared to buy a new one, its that good. But get this - you can order parts to mend them! Now I am truly sold   

I rinse the bottle and top tube with warm soapy water each day - that's the other good thing about this make, no difficult to clean, long thin tubes. Once a week I wash it all in Capriclense or Milton.



Edited to say pic isn't that clear as thera's white wood behind it - the 'thing' is just the pump in the woman's hand, the tube above the bottle and the bottle. You get inserts for different sized teats to make it fit well.

[colliewoman]

Oh I want me one of those

[plumseverywhere]

Oh wow Jaykay!! I want one too!  I might have to save up for a bit though 

Well I milk into a plastic bucket on a milking stand.
We don't pasteurise (unless I'm trying cheese making) but instead it is filtered immediately into a sterilised milk bottle and put into the fridge.

Of course some goes into soap so I weigh 9 oz into butter tubs and freeze it immediately.

I wash udders with cloth and warm water that I take up in a lidded tub but have also been known to use udder wipes that I've bought from Supplies for Smallholders or Ascott.
Udder cream sometimes - countrywide sell in a yellow tub.
teat dip after milking.

You might want to think about strip cup to test first few squirts. 

[wytsend]

There have been reported issues with the Udderly Ez....... apparently used long term it can cause damage to the teat canal as the pressure applied can vary.  Also it does not replicate the manner a kid sucks which a standard milking machine does.... assuming the pulsation rate is correct.

Most of these reports have come from America   .... but I suppose it is a case of there is no smoke without fire.

[jaykay]

Maybe. I've been using it for three years, no apparent problems. I fact, I think it's far gentler on the teats than hands to be honest. It's gentler on the hands too - easier to use when my arthritis is bad.

Yes, I use Ascott's wipes and strip out the first squirt, to check.

[plumseverywhere]

I think the pressure applied by my hands varies, certainly from left to right as my right is stronger. Having seen how these kids 'latch on' I'm just glad I was a human mum not a goat one!!

[Skirza]

I made this for emergencies but generally I use a stainless steel bucket and strain the milk through a sterilised muslin before chilling it in the freezer for a couple of hours ( I find it loses the 'goaty' taste completely if you do this). Just remember to take it out before it starts to freeze 

[salopman]

Udderly EZ Goat/Nigerian Milker

this was on youtube ref the eze milker

[Anke]

We have been very extravagant and bought a milking machine - I love it, and with bad carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands I can only milk out one goat by hand..., and it allows me to even go away from home once in a while....

I strip out by hand after machine milking, one teat at a time into a plastic jug, however my 8 year old is quite good at doing it two-handed into a bigger bucket! My GG's are often a bit fidgety when milked out.

I use white food-grade lidded plastic buckets for everyday carrying from the shed to the house, it gets then filtered into milk jugs (using the standard milk filter in a cone shaped sieve) and put into fridge straight away. I do not pasteurise.
All buckets etc are washed in very hot water, and if I think they need it a soak in MIlton. The machine is first rinsed with hot water/Ecover, then with Capriclnse solution and finally with plain cold water, in the morning I usually omit the Capriclense step.

[Lesley Silvester]

My girl stands on a low milking bench with a bucket of food in front of her (nothing to hold her head.  She stays there good as gold) while I wipe her udder and teats with a teat wipe (~Teissens) then hand milk into a stainless steel milking bucket with no handle (it fell off some time ago).  I then strain the milk through a muslin in a sieve over a plastic jug and transfer it to a re used milk bottle, which will have been in soak with hot water and washing up liquid.  I don't pasteurise.

The busket, sieve and jug are washed out with very hot water and washing up liquid then rinsed, or go in the dishwasher.  The muslins are soaked for several hours in hot water with washing up liquid then rinsed and hung up to dry.

[colliewoman]

Thankies all! Very useful info as usual

[tizaala]

" ( I find it loses the 'goaty' taste completely if you do this) ".

Skirza,      There won't be a goaty taste if you get a cobalt suplement like Cob+ , a 5ml dose once a month will prevent that taste.