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GENERAL BOARDS => DAIRY FARM - Animals => Topic started by: goat lady on March 11, 2009, 11:21:40 AM
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how many out there produce your own milk for cheese making?
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Hi Goat Lady
Yes, I am producing my own milk (jersey), but only since July last year. It's been a very steep learning curve for me to get a handle on managing cows and all that goes with it. I have two cows, but only one producing milk for me at the moment. The other one is nursing a calf (6 weeks old) and has had a recent rapid decline in her condition due to a bad tick infestation, so is not being milked.
But I am enjoying the experience (I think!), and particularly the ability to experiment with cheese making.
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Like Bella, I have been milking my own cow since July. She is 3/4 Jersey, 1/4 Holstein. As it was her first calf, and I had to learn how to milk, I started buying raw milk in December 2007 and started playing around with cheese and buttermaking, so that I didn't have to learn those things from scratch along with the milking.
I love having the fresh milk available and will really miss it when she is dry for April and May. New calf late May/early June, so that is something to really look forward to, as well as more milk than ever. It will be interesting to see how much she produces this lactation.
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I got to say I'm jealous I would love a little jersey milk cow just to make butter but the hubby vetoed that said he'd have to build a bigger barn... Goat milk is hard to make butter with even with the separator. I was told canning the milk would be easier.anyone can milk ????
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I'm currently milking 5 goats (3 nubians, 2 alpines) for about 2.5 gals per day. I make fresh cheeses and sell a lot at a local farmer's market.
cheers
vl
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Buttercup weighs about 950 lbs now,so she's not so little! Sweet gal, though, and I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world.
I do can milk, even though there are no USDA guidelines for doing such. Jackie Clay of Backwoods Home magazine gave a couple of different methods. I chose to Hot water bath mine for an hour after the water started boiling again. I'm only going to be using it to make yogurt, though, as I don't like the taste of cooked milk. I'm freezing milk for drinking, cereal, etc. for when my cow is dry.
Why would you need a bigger barn for a cow? As long as you have a small place for a milking stanchion and she has a run-in shelter she'll be fine. A three-sided shelter is enough even here in the frozen tundra of Wisconsin. Some cows will even allow people to milk them out in the pasture, but mine is too wiley for that.
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We have our own dairy goats here. Just freshened so in a few weeks the cheesemaking will start.
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how many kids have you gotten??
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We produce all our milk or should I say our Nubians do. We are drying one off right now in preparation for kidding (we bred very late this year) and milking two through. Also going to have a first time mom with a Saanen X Nubian.
CC
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No, I've never pressure canned milk. It takes longer and I've been told that the milk turns brown and caramel-smelling/tasting, which doesn't sound very appetizing, even for yogurt.
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You just got to love first time milkers :DIve had nannies freshen only nine more to go(just got to love the whole triplet thing :-[)
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I've got my own small herd (mostly Nubians). The last one finally freshened. ;D Let the cheesemaking commence!
I handmilk so jeez, the FF are so hard on the hands. :P
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I know what you mean. My wife has two that she loves and she insists on breeding them. They are sisters and both have pathetically small utters with tiny teats. I refuse to milk the darn things. My hands are too big and I can only get a few fingers on them. The actually do milk quite well though. I was just talking to my neighbor tonight and she has 220 little ones on the ground right now.
CC
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how many kids have you gotten??
I had a set of trips and one set of twins. I actually have one still to go- a FF oh joy! ;) but her genetics are good in that department so we should have only a week or two of pathetic tiny teats. I hand milk as well.
I plan on picking up another doe in milk later on.
I really love my gals and they work hard for me. One is currently at 11 lbs per day (about 1 1/2 gallons) and the other had a rough kidding but is still up to 4.5 lbs per day. I should have no trouble hitting the 4-5 gallon of milk coming in per day in about a month. :) Right now those babies are sucking down the milk so cheesemaking has to wait. ::)
CC, Are your neighbors goats Boer? I'd love to have a much bigger farm-more goats=more babies, but just happy to actually have a place of our own for now. Besides the fact that my helpers are still under 4 yrs old. :D
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My neighbor has all American alpines
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I was just talking to my neighbor tonight and she has 220 little ones on the ground right now.
:o Whoa, that's alot of kids and presumably does to milk, by machine I hope! Those kids do suck up so much milk too, luckily not for the entire lactation.
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My neighbor has all American alpines
Wow! That's alot of dairy babies.
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She has a pretty big operation going and makes fantastic cheese.
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Besides the fact that my helpers are still under 4 yrs old. :D
goat lady, I am soooo jealous of you guys with your own fresh supply of raw milk :(. Your little helpers are at a good age to get started too. You are so blessed... Our kids are grown with their own helpers now with the youngest being almost 3 and the oldest 14 and three others in between.
With 5 grandchildren I am blessed too. The least one makes every track I make when I am out doing something and is sooooo eager to help. I just love it ;D. Making memories, aaawwwww.....
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yeah kidding done for this month 15 thank goodness mostly twins last year it was all triplets.7 nannies and 8 billies.
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I have my own sheep, that I milk, I also have 2 cows and 2 goats-The sheep get my full vote for cheese making, I get around 1-2 litres per day, sheep's milk has double the cheese yield of cow or goat and the cheese is to die for! We also prefer it's smooth creamy taste for drinking too and we separate and make butter as well. The cow's are okay, heaps of milk, but they are big, messy and can be dangerous-the goats and sheep don't hurt me if they but me or stand on me or kick me etc-the goats are also okay but I don't like the goaty taste that most cheese develops over time, I know some people love it though! The sheep and goats are easier to handle for sure-if I need to drench or trim feet I can do it myself with the goats/sheep but need major help and a crush for the cows.
Nessa
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I am milking two Icelandic Sheep and one Dexter Cow. I have not made cheese yet, but really love milking. It is as gardening is to some other people in that I find it bring rhythm to my day and year. I love the babies and lambing - calving season. Then share milking with the babies, followed by only milking after weaning and lastly drying up. So cheese making seems like the next step for me.
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Hi SophiaLady,
How do you like your Dexter? We have been thinking about getting one for a while because woth the goats and Highlands we are starting to get a bit pasture limited and I would love to have some bovine juice for cheese making as well, instead of just goat. How much milk do you get from her and how are they with regard to calving ease?
Thanks
CC
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Well this is an old post but I'll reply anyway. We produce our own milk from our goats. We have in milk at this time, an Alpine and 2 Nigerian Dwarf does. The Alpine is a first freshener in her 7 month of lactation and is down to 4 lbs a day. The Nigerians are also FF and in their 4th month of lactation and they are giving just shy of 4 lbs between them a day. They might have been producing more but they raised their kids until I pulled them off to wean. I mix their milk and out of 1 gallon I got almost 2 lbs of chevre yesterday. I love my goats!
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goats have wonderful personalities and become family quickly great to hear from another goat person
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Nice yield on your Chevre RadioFlyer!! I love my goats too and the milk is wonderful in every kind of cheese :)
Christy
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I had a doe kidd just last friday. (The neighbor's buck got into my pasture last summer.) I have Boers. She had a little solid black buck and a tri-color mostly white doe. She rejected the doe out of hand and almost killed her trying to run her off. So, I am milking momma bottle feeding her. Four AM feedings; just like having a kid (pun intended).
Pam
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Here down under, we are (share) milking one Jersey, by hand, freestyle out in the paddock, she's a first timer and I can only fit one finger round each teat! So squeezing out up to 8 litres once a day does take some time. Gotta love it though, I had never realised that real, tasty cheese was so easy to make.
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I can only fit one finger round each teat! So squeezing out up to 8 litres once a day does take some time.
I can truly sympathize! I have a jersey with very small teats as well. It takes me 4 times longer to milk her than my guernsey with 5 inch long and 1.5 inch diameter teats. The kids have an easier time with the Jersey though. You are right: "Gotta love it!"
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Welcome to the CheeseForum, Brett! And to the wonderful life of handmilking your own cow.
I also sharemilk with my cow. Last year it took forever to milk her out. I do believe that sharemilking has lengthened her teats (though they were never as small as what you describe) and I know that the orifices are larger this year, as there's more milk that comes out with each squirt.
I never want to live without my own cow again!
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Thanks Karen. So pleased to hear that sharemilking should be good for ease of milking next year. I grew up with my family always having a housecow, and tried for years to before we finally put all the pieces together. My wife loves rolling past the dairy section at the supermarket without needing to purchase anything (much). AND it's just so healthy, fantastic!
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Sharemilking is going much better for us this year than it did last year, too.
When sharemilking, my cow holds back most of the cream for the calf and is resistant to letting down for me, so I use the calf to get letdown started, then milk her out as best I can, allowing the calf to clean up the last of the milk/the best of the cream <Sigh>.
Last year, her calf started cutting her teats at 3 mos old, so I decided to wean her. Within three days, I was down from almost two gallons of milk a day to little over a quart. The cow was trying to dry herself off! So I bought a foster calf, unfortunately, all I could get at the time was a Holstein. Within six weeks, he was so big I couldn't manage him, so I went back to using the original calf to get letdown started. When the cow was six months pregnant, she started kicking at her calf, so I went to milking once a day and she actually let down for me. Even though it was only for the month before I had to dry her off, I was elated.
This year, I again sharemilked. When I was really busy with preserving the harvest from the garden, it was great to have a "relief milker", as by that time the calf was big enough to handle all the milk she had. I only separated them overnight a couple of times a week to get enough milk for the house. I weaned the calf just over a week ago, as things have settled down and I'm ready to get back to cheesemaking. She held up against me as best she could, but still gave me a gallon and a quart for OAD milking. Over the past two days, she went up to a gallon and a half and a quarter of it is cream. She still has some firmness in the upper portions of her front quarters, but I am sure that I will get full letdown within the next few days.
I am very relieved that I don't have to buy another foster calf this year!
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Karen, What is your routine before beginning to milk? I mean how do you prepare her bag: i.e. washing with warm water, teat dip, etc? Just curious because I grew up having to worry about the cows holding back for the calf but I don't ever deal with it now. I am wondering if it is the routine, or maybe my cows are just inherently that way, or some other factor. Just thinking out loud.
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We're noticing problems with letdown also. We vigorously wash with warm (slightly) soapy water. I've tried using the calf to stimulate letdown at the start of milking, half way through and near the end but with no consistently good results. Thanks for the warning about the possibility of the cow drying herself off at weaning. Still hoping there will be bulk milk later in the season for better/more cheesemaking, might have to get a second cow otherwise! lol
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JD,
I put her in the stanchion with her grain ration, then brush off her body and udder with my gloved hand if she's fairly dry and clean, or brush her down with a rubber curry if she's laid in nasty stuff.
I wash her udder with hot tap water (I transport it to the barn in a thermal container), making sure the rag comes clean before I finish washing her off, then dry her with a towel. I then squirt a couple from each teat to clear them, then milk her.
This is the routine I have always used. When she was drying herself off last year, I tried massaging her udder and the milk well, leaving her in the stanchion for anywhere from 10-30 minutes before milking, and even oxytocin shots, yet she started drying up.
She's just a really good mother, even to her foster calves. If I had more land and it was legal to sell raw milk in Wisconsin, I would probably buy another cow and stagger their freshening times so that I always had fresh milk, but would use Buttercup to raise both the calves, plus an extra or two.
As it is, it does work for us. I just have to put up with less cream until she recognizes that she's not going to get the calf back. Besides, it was much better this year than last, so maybe next year she will share with both of us. I can always hope!
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That sounds very similar to what I do. I know many people struggle with the "holding back" problem. I guess I have been lucky.
kawatiri kaas,
I did get a second cow; and a third! Never enough milk. :)
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Now that's scary FarmerJD! Did you hand milk three cows? I have a Dutch friend who is always telling me stories about how his father (hand) milked a few cows and made his living from the cream, in Holland only 40-50 years ago. Our family is developing quite a taste for cream, so much so that's it's getting hard to find enough cream to make butter! lol
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Just wait until you try making mascarpone, Brett! Then you'll never think about making butter again.
I shouldn't really say that. I'm making mascarpone now because the cream doesn't turn into butter very well now that she's on all hay, no fresh grass. Come spring, I'll be making lots of butter again.
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Yes every morning my sons and I milk all three by hand. We usually race or chit chat while we milk. special time.
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Sound perfect FarmerJd, my son is happy to help, but with only cow to share and no bail to secure her it's all a bit awkward. Can't really imagine by daughter volunteering though she was keenly involved in rearing the cow when she was a new born calf (and cute). Mascarpone... I only know from an American (now Kiwi) friend who uses it in desserts from memory (mine not hers), I'll have to look into it. Cheers