Dairy Goat Milking Procedures

Besides the possible lucrative dairy business, keeping dairy goats provides a family with a steady supply of goat's milk. Goat's milk has more calcium, protein and vitamin A than cow's milk, and the smaller fat globules in goat's milk contribute to its better digestibility. Whether you are raising dairy goats for fun or for profit, you need to know the proper procedures for milking your goats to keep them healthy and the milk drinkable.

  1. Cleanliness

    • Cleanliness and proper sanitation is key in milking goats. Create a separate milking area away from the goat's living area. The separate area is easier to keep clean. Shave or clip the area around the udders to prevent hair from falling into the milking bucket. Use only stainless steel milking pails to milk into. Plastic cannot be properly sanitized. Always wash your hands and sanitize the pail before milking your dairy goat.

    Preparation

    • After leading the goat to the milking stand and fastening her in, brush loose hair, dirt and bedding away. Clean the teats with a paper towel dampened with teat cleanser. Do not saturate the udder with liquid. Express two to three streams of milk from each teat into a dark-colored bowl or strip cup, checking for abnormalities. These first couple of squirts have high levels of bacteria and must be discarded. Place the sanitized milking pail under the udders and you are ready for milking.

    Manual Milking

    • All of the prep work triggers milk let down. The teat fills up with milk. A squeezing motion takes the milk the rest of the way. Wrap your index and forefinger around the top of the teat, trapping the milk inside the teat. Squeeze with your middle, ring and pinky fingers in one smooth motion. Relax your grip to allow more milk into the teat and repeat. Stop when the teats are deflated. Disinfect the teats when you are finished milking the goat. Reduce the temperature of the milk to 35 degrees Fahrenheit as quickly as possible.

    Machines

    • Vacuum-powered bucket milkers and pipeline systems are available to those raising larger herds of dairy goats where hand milking is impractical. The bucket milking system uses a compressor to power pulsators that create a vacuum that draws milk from the teat and sends it through food-grade tubing into a stainless steel bucket. A pipeline system is also known as a milking parlor, and several goats can be milked at the same time with the milk being collected in one large stainless steel container.

    Schedule

    • A lactating doe must be milked twice a day or every 12 hours. Ideally, milking occurs at the same time each day. If the doe is also nursing a kid, she can still be milked once a day. After she stops lactating, the doe needs a two-month dry period before being bred again to restart lactation.