Author Topic: Milking (Read 15416 times)

goosepimple · « **Reply #30 on:** September 28, 2012, 10:17:27 am »

Thank you Anke, if you are at 'the show' on Sunday I will try and catch you - that would be great to see actually if that's ok I would love that, I'll pm you if I don't catch you. It's a commitment I know to keep a milker, so am taking that notion through the winter months before I do anything about it, don't want to be fickle. At the moment it feels like the next step in goat keeping.

Another question - does it make financial sense to keep a milker - understanding of course that there will have to be equipment bought to make the dairy goods after, cheese, yoghurt, ice cream etc. In theory it sounds good - price of feeding a family is just horrid these days - and I have had several people saying they would buy it to feed their pets, livestock. Do you need an extra fridge / freezer - is the kitchen big enough to do the routine etc?

plumseverywhere · « **Reply #31 on:** September 28, 2012, 10:24:54 am »

Everything gets done in my kitchen GP - soap making/cheese making/ filtering the milk into bottles etc.
I do have an extra freezer because I keep enough milk frozen to go over winter for soap reasons mainly but also for if I can dry Vanna off and give her a rest.
I think it makes financial sense from a smallholding perspective - especially if you can make your own hay. The outlay is infrequent when it comes to vaccinations (good if you can share, although you have sheep so you will already have what you need). I once did the sums (prior to setting up the soap business) and found that once all concentrates and drugs were covered we saved something along the lines of £30 per week (family of 7) on milk/cheese etc. No idea how it equates now. You can improvise with a lot of the equipment - eg a thermos to make yoghurt/tins of baked beans to make a cheese press/you don't need an icecream maker as you can just stir icecream yourself a few times between freezing

Ebay and car boot fairs are your friend

ballingall · « **Reply #32 on:** September 28, 2012, 10:40:42 am »

My sister worked out she would save I think £12 a week on milk alone by having her own goats! Family of six and the children do drink a lot of milk. Roll on November when the goats "move house"

Beth

goosepimple · « **Reply #33 on:** September 28, 2012, 11:05:07 am »

Our milk bills are about £50 per month and a block of cheese is nearly £5 (bloomin' outrageous is cheese!) and we go through at least 1 per week do that's around £70 per month total. Don't know if I can beat Mackies Ice Cream but we buy 4 tubs which does us a month so there must be a saving there, at least periodically.

Anyone know a good book on dairying ?- I bought one a while ago but its a bit American/lifestyleee type for me, would like something a bit less about the person who has written it, more practical.

Oh sorry Carl fk, it's just occurred to me I've hijacked your thread.... apologies

jinglejoys · « **Reply #34 on:** September 28, 2012, 11:45:10 am »

You want to get in touch with Jean Brown in Leics she used to write quite a few cheese pamflets as well as other goat products

Carl f k · « **Reply #35 on:** September 28, 2012, 12:06:31 pm »

Quote from: goosepimple on September 28, 2012, 11:05:07 am

Our milk bills are about £50 per month and a block of cheese is nearly £5 (bloomin' outrageous is cheese!) and we go through at least 1 per week do that's around £70 per month total. Don't know if I can beat Mackies Ice Cream but we buy 4 tubs which does us a month so there must be a saving there, at least periodically.

Anyone know a good book on dairying ?- I bought one a while ago but its a bit American/lifestyleee type for me, would like something a bit less about the person who has written it, more practical.

Oh sorry Carl fk, it's just occurred to me I've hijacked your thread.... apologies

thats ok we all learning somthin new

countrywoman · « **Reply #36 on:** September 28, 2012, 03:39:52 pm »

Update to my query about changing to once-a-day now my GGs are down to half a pint in the evening - well, I decided to stop yesterday and they both gave a fraction more than usual this morning but their udders were perfectly comfortable and not at all huge-looking. I'm really glad this topic came up as I had been wondering whether it was worth the time/water/steriliser/effort etc to clean the machine for a pint at a time. Thank you for the advice and, because of that, the confidence to make the change!

plumseverywhere · « **Reply #37 on:** September 28, 2012, 03:46:23 pm »

Glad it worked for you country woman

Savannah protested quite vocally about her missed milking yesterday. She was quite full by evening but only gave me 4 pints (in 24 hours), my hands hurt so much though as her udder was tight - we are back onto twice daily.

Carl f k · « **Reply #38 on:** September 28, 2012, 07:45:48 pm »

Plums you say you can dry Vanna off?? Does that mean stop milking her? And will she have to have a kid to start again?? Bet u fed up with all my questions

Anke · « **Reply #39 on:** September 28, 2012, 09:03:15 pm »

Hi GP - re financial sense of having a milking gooat...
IMO it is not possible to even compare the shop-bought "white stuff" to the fresh, unpasteurised and non-homogenised milk you are producing yourself. I have never calculated up how much money we may be saving (or maybe not), but the cream and ice cream are so much nicer than anything you can by in the shop - even Mackies!

I don't have a separate "milk" fridge/freezer, we do use a cream separator, I make lots of cheeses and have made soap in the past too, piggies or orphan lambs get any surplus not needed in the house (actually in April we can be a bit short on home-produced milk... but only means no cheese making for a few weeks).