I'm taking care of two goats for some neighbors for the summer. They sold the kids over the weekend and the goat's udders are bursting. They have never been milked before. I was able to relieve a little of the pressure tonight however, I don't think it was enough. I will have the goats until September if I want. This gives me a chance to see if I wish to have a goat and it my facilities are safe. These are pygmy goats, very nice tempered. I've milked cows but not goats. Any help would be appreciated. Also, how do I care for the milk?

-- Cheryl Cox (bramblecottage@hotmail.com), June 06, 2000

Answers

Cheryl, if you've milked cows, it's pretty much the same. I hope you wash their bag with a warm rag - that will help let the milk down while massaging. Depending on how new the kids were - their bags will be swollen for a while but you should be able to relieve the pressure. I've never milked pigmy goats - wouldn't think they'd be different but you never know. As for the milk, go ahead and strain it like you would a cows'. Put it in the refrigerator immediately. My friend puts hers in the freezer for 20 minutes and then the frig to cool it down faster. We kept ours for about 3 days and NEVER combined new milk with the old. Enjoy!

-- Pat (pmikul@pcpros.net), June 06, 2000.

If you want to use the milk, go ahead and try to milk these very small teated girls :) We use wet ones to clean the udder off first, keep them empty once or twice a day, and even pygmys should give you a few cups. We use a small spray bottle with about 1 quart of water to 3 tablespoons of bleach to spray the teats with after milking, to close the orifice and to prevent mastits. If you want to just dry them up then stop milking them. Pygmy's are not the diariest of breeds and you wouldn't need to do anything special, the pressure of the milk in the udder, will cause them to absorb the milk and stop making milk. Remember that milk supply is, supply and demand, if you stop demanding milk from the udder by weaning kids or milking it than the supply will stop. Remember how you dry up when nursing babies, tight bra, boobs like rocks, but it all goes away :) Vicki McGaugh

-- Vicki McGaugh (Texas Nubains) (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), June 07, 2000.

if you don't want to milk...when my kids were weaned i cut back a bit on the grain and after a few days the mothers milk began to dry. they didn't get uncomfortable as they didn't run around a lot at first. they were back to normal within a week.

-- pj jacobson (sngr@juno.com), January 11, 2001.