Educational Information

THE MILK GOAT

By Clara Hedrich

Commercial Goat Dairymen / Ag. Ed. Instructor

SELECTION OF A GOAT FOR MILK PURPOSES

You’ve decided that you would like to milk goats. Whether you are going to milk one to two goats for your own use, several goats for your FFA/4-H project, or several hundred as a commercial dairy there are a few basic points to take into consideration when selecting a goat for milk purposes.

CONFORMATION

The milk goat should have a strong set of feet and legs. She should be able to move about with ease. Her knees should be clean, no puffiness or swelling. Remember she needs to get to the feeder to eat to produce milk.

The dairy goat should be deep in the heart girth and wide in the barrel. She must have good lung capacity and plenty of room for feed. The ideal milk goat is A-shaped when viewed from the side. In other words she will be narrower from topline to underline in the front end and will become deeper as you move towards the rear end of the animal. She will not be parallel from front to back. If you place your fingers between her ribs you will find them to point backwards with a wide spacing between them. Her ribs should be flat boned as opposed to round boned.

A good milk goat in excellent condition should have loose pliable skin and not be carrying excess fleshing. She should be sharp in the withers with an in curving thigh. If the goat has the above-mentioned features she has the willingness and genetic ability to milk.

Look closely at the udder. If should have a wide area of attachment with one third of the udder extending behind the leg when viewed from the side, one third of the udder behind the leg and one third of the udder in front of the leg. The rear udder attachment should be high and wide with no pockets where the fore udder meets the body. If your doe’s udder has the above-mentioned features then she has the udder capacity to provide milk.

Teat size and placement are important when selecting a milk goat. If you will be hand milking your goat select one with teat size that fits your hand, not too small or too large. If you are machine milking the goat the teat should fit into the inflation. The teat should be placed on the outer edge of the half pointing downward or even slightly inward. The medial suspensory ligament should be strong, providing a halving of the udder. The orifice size is important. If it is too small it will take a long time to milk out and if it is too large your doe may leak milk. Upon milking the doe out her udder should be soft and collapse down. If she has a hard udder after being milked out she may have scar tissue in her udder or have some other health issues. If the doe has just kidded she may have some udder edema which should be gone within one to two weeks. If this swelling persists there are some other problems.

A management tool that is extremely useful in selecting a quality milk goat is DHI records. Ask the owner of the doe if they milk test and if they do ask to see her records. A good milking doe should be producing at least six to eight pounds of milk on a daily basis. On the DHI test sheet you will be able to find information regarding pounds of milk, butterfat and protein content of the milk.

You may also find information regarding SCC 9somatic cell count), high count can be an indicator of some mastitis issues especially subclinical. Be sure the udder is even as this can also be an indicating factor of some problems that have occurred or are occurring.

HOW TO MILK A DAIRY GOAT

Sanitation is the key. You want to minimize any opportunity for bacteria to enter the end of the teat canal.

The use of latex or nitrile gloves is recommended. The surface of the milker glove is non-porous and is sanitary. It is impossible to get your hands as clean and sanitary. If you choose not to use gloves, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly and keep them clean through the milking process.

Pre-dip the teats. There are a number of different products on the market sold as pre-dips. Read the label. The product should be able to kill bacteria on the teats and still be mild enough as not to dry out the skin on the teats. The product should have lanolin in it.

Strip two to three streams of milk from each teat into a strip cup. You are looking for any abnormalities in the milk. (Please refer to the section on abnormal milk.)

Dry the teats with single use towels. Do not use the same towel on the next animal. Remember your goal is to minimize the spread of bacterial from one animal to the next.

The pre-dip needs to stay on the teat for 30 seconds so it can kill any bacterial on the teat. If the teat does not come clean the first time repeat the process until the teat does come clean.

The process of milking should begin about one minute after preparation of the doe as the milk let down hormone is actively working and the doe is ready to be milked. The longer one waits to milk after this time the less ready the doe will be to let down her milk. Now either hand milk the doe or attach the machine to her.

Upon completion post-dip your doe’s teats. The pre-dip and post-dip should be compatible. For example if you use iodine based pre-dip use iodine based post-dip.

The purpose of the post-dip is to kill any bacteria around the teat end after milking until the orifice closes. Feed your doe right after you’re done milking her so that she continues to stand to minimize the chance of her lying down and getting bacteria into the teat end.

In summary the proper procedure to milking a goat is:

1. Pre-dip

2. Strip

3. Dry with a single use towel.

4. Milk

5. Post-dip

Dipping the teat end is typically better than spraying the teat end as the dipping ensures full coverage of the teat end whereas with spraying it is hard to ensure adequate coverage of the teat end.

DAIRY CLIPPING

Prior to milking your doe. A dairy clip is recommended to reduce debris and hair from getting into your milk. To dairy clip your doe, clip the belly, udder, and rear legs. Your goal is to remove long hair that may collect debris. The quality of your milk is improved by reducing any debris that can get into it.

ABNORMAL MILK

Work with your veterinarian to develop a management plan and procedure as to how to handle potential sick does. There are different strains of bacteria that cause abnormal milk and different products that work best on a given strain of bacteria. Take a sample of the abnormal milk to your veterinarian to have it tested so you know what types of bacteria you are dealing with.

Upon the completion of milking all of your milking equipment must be washed and sanitized. This is a must for keeping your does healthy and for providing quality milk.

MACHINE MILKING

There are a few key points to remember when machine milking. The teat should fit into the inflation. The inflation should not be conti9nually falling off or slipping. A slipping inflation will cause teat irritation followed by udder infections. Vacuum pressure should be at 11.5 to 14 psi depending on your type of system. With a pulsation of 60 – 90 beats per minute. For specific information regarding the set up of a milking system, best milking practices or other milking related questions refer to www.dairpc.com. The Dairy Practices Council has a number of excellent management booklets out. Their information is based on research.

You will need to find an inflation that works best for your. There are a number of styles of inflations and materials that inflations are made from. Do not over milk with a machine, as you will cause teat ends to become irritated and cause additional problems.

PROPER HANDLING OF MILK

To maintain a quality product the milk should be immediately strained and cooled to 38 – 40 degrees F.

If the milk is to be fed to kids it should be pasteurized. Heat the milk to 165 degrees F for 15 seconds. Colostrum should be heat-treated to 130 degrees F for one hour. Heat treatment of the milk kills many harmful microorganisms. Diseases as CAE and Johnes can be passed on to the offspring through the doe’s milk.