Goat Milking 101

Since I'm making cheese tomorrow, thought I'd share my milking chores here today. Cheddar is my main milking goat, she is a two year old nubian saanen cross. She last kidded over a year ago. When I bought her a couple months back, they told me she was dry and since she was not pregnant they were not keeping her, even though she was one of their top milkers last year. I began to milk her three times a day to build her supply back up. At first I got about a cup a day, she now is milked twice a day and is up to about 2.5 liters/day total. She is a wonderful doe, who lines up at the milking post when I arrive at the pen. I usually feed her while she is being milked, maybe that's why she lines up when she sees me coming.

I wash her udder well and squirt out the first milk from each teat to check it for anything unusual. Also, the milk in the canals can have bacteria, so its best to just let it go to waste, your milk will stay fresher longer if you do. After that I milk her out and "bump" her udder at the end when there sems to be nothing left (if you've ever seen a kid or calf nurse, you know what I mean) to get her to let down the last of her milk. Ususally I can get another cup or so from bumping her. If all the milk is not removed, next time she will make less. After time her production will go down. It takes me about 5 minutes or less to milk her out. I then turn her loose.

Milking a goat is a bit different than milking a cow, pulling on a goats udder can ruin it. It's more of a "close off the top and squeeze the milk out toward the end" process, by closing one finger down at a time till you get to the bottom. It takes a few milkings to get used to it, but then its pretty natural. Cheddar has a great udder for milking. I hope to get her bred this fall and will keep her kids to improve my herd.

Cheddar at the milking post. The chain on the fence, I just put it around her neck. Probably I don't even need that, she tends to stand pretty still for me. She's a good girl. I'd guess she weighs about 250 lbs, but she's very docile and obedient for a goat.

Her udder before milking

After milking



Here is the process. You can see, It doesn't take long to fill a glass. I then pour it into a container outside the pen to keep it free from dirt, dust and other stuf that might be in the pen. Then go back and fill the cup again...and again, and again.

Once I've finished, I pour it through a coffee filter into a 2-liter bottle. That strains out any stray hairs or alfalfa that may have blown into the cup. At first it took me so long to milk that I got a lot of floaty stuff, but now it's pretty clean when I'm done. just an occasional goat hair now and then.


Milk from just this week, and its only Tuesday morning.


Three of the girls. The smallest one is Gretel. Can you believe she is only 2.5 months old?? At 55 lbs already, she is going to be a monster when she is full grown. Weight-wise, she could be bred at 75 lbs which she will be this fall, but I'm going to hold off till next year. I have left her on mom (the shaggy goat on the right) and she gets continual access to alfalfa as well. At some point mom will wean her, then I'll be making cheese a couple times a week.

The hardest part is figuring out what to do with all the milk. I've had some minor success bartering it, but since I'm not state approved, FDA certified, etc. I can't legally sell raw milk. At the dairy they were legit, but in the 45 minute ride to their new home here they lost that. So, besides limited yogurt and cheese making, my freezer is getting full.