Milk Goats

[don2]

Those of you who have milk goats let me hear from you.
What kind you have and how they do.
Would like to have the hornless type but don't think it would affect the milk any.
Just for the goats safty, not getting their horns hung up in things, fences etc. :)don2

[VolunteerK9]

The ones that I used to milk were French Alpines. Good milkers, great attitude and far less vocal than a Nubian. I could expect at least a gallon from one Alpine doe that I had everyday. I kept a stainless steel milk container in the freezer, when I came home with the milk pan, I ran it through the strainer into the super cold milk pail. The key was to chill it as quickly as possible to lock in a good fresh flavor.  The reason I got into dairy goats in the first place was due to my oldest son. He was allergic to baby formula and the wife couldnt breast feed so a doctor recommended goats milk. If a little milk is all your looking for, look up Nigerian Dwarfs. They are good, small milkers with great dispositions.  I have 2 of them now, however I havent found a good buck to put with them yet. Most people that raise a dairy goat for milk will already have them dehorned when they sell them.

Heres you a couple of links:

http://www.adga.org

and

http://www.hoeggergoatsupply.com

Hoegger is where I bought all my milking supplies and great people to deal with. They have a nice catalog that they will send you.

[JP]

Don't believe hornless goats exist, something you have to do or as mentioned, the person you buy them from. I like goat's milk better than cow's any day of the week, just goes down sooooo smooth!


I get mine from a lady in Summit, Mississippi. Hers are a cross of Nubian and something else, can't remember what at the moment. She has a nice little set up going, milking stalls with stainless everything except of course the milk hoses themselves.

The goats go into the stall for a bite to eat while they're being milked, its a pretty cool set up.



...JP

[David McLeod]

JP, I wondered if they had mini milking machines for goats. I learned to milk cows early on and I can still wrap my big mitts around a cows teat. Goats on the other hand look like a two finger job on those small nubbins. Besides without a raised stand I can't bend down low enough.

[VolunteerK9]

Yup, they have milking machines for goats but I never used one. Alot of people will keep a few Nubians or at least breed a few percentages into their herds to increase the butterfat content of the milk.

JP--Gonna hafta brew Schawee up a goat milk milk shake  :-D

We had a family reunion one time. .

I had a lot of people say they wouldnt touch goats milk no matter what you told them. Sooooo..I made up some banana pudding, ice cream and a few other things and took down there. After it was all gone, I then told them about my caprine ingredient. If I hadn't told, no one would ever have been the wiser. The only thing was that I learned real quick to remove all the wild onions from the goat lot. Shooo weeee.

[AllenF]

On bending down to milk goats, any table will work.   They love it up there.  Hoegger goat supply is in Georgia and the stuff you can get for the goats is amazing. 

[Brian D. Bray]

JP:  hornless goats do exist, I have 2 poled (born hornless) toggenberg does.

Toggenbergs are a good choice, a little bigger than the dwarf or pigmy goats, quiet (don't blaat alot), and easy to milk. 
For milking build a table about 18-20 inches high with a means of restraining the head (stantion or halter), and a feed box so they can eat grain while being milked.  Milker should be able to stand behind the goat, chin on tailbone, and milk by hand. 
If you want to milk the goat make her a pet to the point of being a pest...the friendlier the doe the easier to train to milk and easier to milk.

[JP]

Thanks for the info Brian, I didn't know they existed.


...JP

[VolunteerK9]

Thanks for the info Brian, I didn't know they existed.


...JP

I didnt either. I knew that the Lamanchas were earless but I didnt know that there was a polled variety.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2222/2152023798_93c32e3435.jpg

[ArmucheeBee]

I am selling out on my Nigerian Dwarfs.  They give about 2 qts. per day of a very sweet milk, not goaty!  I have two milking stachions if anyone in GA needs them.  I enjoyed the Nigerians, but we are traveling too much for me to keep them in milk.  We had 5 kids last year from them.  Nigerians do not need much room, eat relatively little but produce enough milk for a family of 4, from just one doe.  I dehorned using an iron.  I did all 5 kids, it was my first time and all turned out great even 1 year later.

[VolunteerK9]

If you were a shade bit closer, I would be game for all of them. I have 2 Nigerian does that would appreciate the company.

[ArmucheeBee]

VolunteerK9

I sent you a PM.