Milking and milker diet adjustments

Milking went more smoothly yesterday. One of my problems is that I've been weaning the COB (rolled corn, rolled oats and rolled barley) out of the goats diet. I've been slowly replacing it with a mix of whole oats, whole barley, wheat berries, field peas and sunflower seeds. This has been a two month transition. For the last couple weeks we've been done with the COB and onto the whole grain mix. Some of the does have been on strike. This is the worse time of year to be making changes in diet and thus, having does not eating their grain. Some are, some aren't..This is a huge problem for two reasons: one: they really need the extra calories right now as their bodies are designed to produce large quantities of milk, but they can't just do it on a hay diet. If they don't get the calories, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals their bodies need, their milk production drops, the milk itself doesn't taste as good, and most seriously, they can have other health issues like Ketosis, which is what Rose has been dealing with. Furthermore, if the goats aren't eating their grain, they don't really want to get on the stand, nor do they think they should have to stand still to be milked, thus some of the confrontations we've been having this week at the milk stand.

So, I was just about to break down and go buy some COB or even some Goat Chow, when I had an epiphany: why do the goats like the goat chow so much? Molasses. I need to mix in a little extra something that will sweeten the deal. I've never been big on sweet feeds. I worry about their long term dental care. This however, is just starting out as a quick fix and we will go from here. I mixed a little over a tablespoon of molasses into each of their feed rations and voila, everyone ate all their grain. I only needed help getting Rose on the stand, and Zinnia still needed her back hooves held down, we are getting there.

Another note about goats diet and feeding changes. I've been noticing that the milk is not as creamy as last year. I've also been brushing the goat's coats which naturally they are shedding this time of year, but a few of the does also have dandruff. I read a few articles on feeding olive oil, olive by products, soy or corn oil to goats. I got to thinking that while I'm still feed sunflower seeds to the goats, the reduction in corn does reduce their overall fat and oil intake, thus possibly the drier skin and less fatty milk this year. While soy and corn oil are much cheaper, they are not as healthy and they are gmo crops which we are trying to reduce in our own diets as well as that of the animals. So olive oil would be the preferred choice. Sam's club had 3 liter bottles for fifteen dollars, only fifty cents difference between the extra virgin and cooking olive oil, so that was a no brainer. So, now I find myself adding a Tablespoon each of of olive oil and molasses to the goat's feed twice a day. We'll see how long this lasts. I don't like to add extras, extra steps, extra cost, unless they make a significant difference.

Fussy milkers

We've have been having a cold spring around here. The forecast was looking brighter, but today has disappointed. We had big plans for the day: cover greenhouse with new plastic, assemble row tunnels and covers, turn more beds, plant carrot and turnip seed.... None of which got done. I did venture over to a friend's garden to dig Toklat strawberry plants, which is always exciting...never enough strawberries.

This week I've been working with our two main farm helpers for the summer. I'd say that I'm "training them" to do my morning chore routine. But with the milkers acting up, I'm not really sure who is training who. We humans, have been double teaming the milking does. I have finally moved inside and set up my milking area; milk stand, grain tubs, counter with supplies etc. Dustin had been tiling the area with slate, and like all projects this one went late. So, up until this week I was just milking one doe twice a day, and another doe once a day.  outside, in the mud, in a frustratingly, disorderly fashion. Each doe is bringing some personal issues to the milking parlor, with the exception of Zuri, who is the best first time milker ever - an absolute angel.

Rose, four season veteran has been balking at the milk stand. She has bad feet and has slipped a couple times this year on either wet milk on the stand, or a while back on frozen milk that pooled on the stand. She has also had mild Ketosis symptoms which we are attempting to remedy, but as a result she hasn't been interested in her grain, so she doesn't think she should have to stand patiently while we milk her - if she isn't eating.  So she has been stomping, jumping and struggling vigorously to get out of being milked. Then there is her daughter who is a first timer, who deeply resents being milked. She jumps on the stand fine, but doesn't eat and it takes one person to hold her hooves down while another person milks. She also poops out of nervousness every time she gets on the stand. Which until this year we have only had two occasions where we had a goat poop on the stand, our record is totally skewed now.

Then there is Xanadu, this is her third season. I just started milking her this week, as she has triplets and they are just three weeks old. She is going to be fine, but it takes a few days to get into the rhythm. She has stepped in the pail twice this week, but has stood fairly well, we milker's are just slow on the reflexes- but as the season progresses we will get sharper and quicker. Lastly there is Xoe who just kidded on Friday. Her twin bucklings are nursing on one side and leaving the other to fill to enormous proportions. So we've been emptying her full side. Well, then we had some clots and blood in her milk - I know - gross right? So I tested her for mastitis and one day it looked negative, but today maybe a mild positive. For now, I'm going to milk her out twice a day, teat dip with essential oils, massage with salve and some stimulating essential oils. If  this continues or gets worse I am going to start giving her Molly's immune support tincture a few times a day, but first I'm going to see if it clears up on its own. This is another first, first time in four years of milking that we've had clots like this or a maybe positive mastitis. Xoe has also been reluctant to hop onto the stand. So, milking around here has been a two person job. We are trying to be kind and patient, but it is hard with the seasoned milkers. Come on already, haven't we been doing this routine for four years now. So you got a few months off, time to get back to work, remember this?  I don't remember the beginning of milking season being so difficult before - I guess I gave them too much time off. They've been on vacation for too long.

Another week of this and we should all be re-trained. One cool thing that has just happened is that Zuri, our first time milker who lost her only doeling this year, has started caring for and nursing Xanadu's doeling, Bali. Bali is nursing off Zuri frequently and keeping her drained through the day. If I was counting on Zuri's milk this wouldn't be good, but as Bali is one of triplets and the smallest, and growing slowly, and Zuri is lonely, well it works out for everyone, and I get to skip the nine p.m. milking for another couple months, until we sell most the kids.

In other news, one row of shelling peas is in the ground, along with the first sowing of scallions, beets and the fava beans. The beds are covered with plastic mulch to keep the heat and moisture in. I'm about two weeks behind last year in planting, and our spring is about two weeks behind. The birch still haven't leafed out and greenup has yet to come to Fairbanks.

We have bees now. I can't wait to check on them. If today had been a little warmer and sunny, I would have checked on them. On one of our nicer days this week I counted about thirty bees entering the hive per minute, all loaded up with pollen on their legs.

Dustin is out building me a second milking stand. Having two stands will help in a number of ways. Milking won't take as long as I'll be able to start on the next doe without waiting for the doe I just milked to finish her grain. Also, we need to start getting the younger does use to the stand so we don't have some of the same problems we are having now, next year.

It still looks like fall out, brown, cold and blustery. Is summer ever going to get here?  Sixties would be lovely, but I'll settle for mostly sunny and no wind. I am so ready for summer. Ready for bare-footed dirty children, wet children splashing in the baby pool, children dripping with watermelon or cherry juice.

Farm chores at ten below

 This morning our thermometer read ten degrees below zero, which isn't super cold for here - although I have to say I wrapped a scarf around my face for the first time this winter, so colder than it has been. At ten below zero, you can see where the heat escapes from door cracks.

 Self-portrait. You can see my scarf is frosting up a bit. My eyelashes were getting just a bit wet and sticky. At twenty below eyelashes really start to build frost, and nose hairs get a little icy - not there yet.

 Ducks get fresh water... check. Plastic is brittle at these temperatures, so I have to be careful not to drop the lid or it will break.

Our milking area is unheated for now, although we have an uninstalled wood-stove sitting next to the milking stand. The first few streams of milk almost solidify as they hit the cold pail, the splatters that reach the sides freeze quickly. My bare palms stay warm with the action of milking, but the outside edge of my hands get cold.

 This is how I chill my milk in the winter. Milk cooling off while I milk the next goat.

 Fresh water for goats. Check.

Mother and daughter, ah.

And that was my morning out with the animals. Water and food to all. Milk and eggs to the house

From milk to Chevre

We make a simple goat cheese daily. I call it Chevre, as that is what most people know as a fresh soft goat cheese. Technically,  Chevre is poured into molds to drain, whereas I find it easier to pour the curds into cheesecloth to hang. Then I shape it into logs or pack it into jars. I find this to be the simplest and most versatile cheese to make. It does require direct set cultures and rennet which need to be special ordered from a Cheesemaking supplier. I use the Dairy Connection. I find their prices to be the most reasonable. I also order cheesecloths or butter muslin as the "cheesecloth" you'd buy at the supermarket is not the same thing and would not work for this purpose. The process is very simple. I find that the most tedious part of making cheese is packaging it and cleaning the cheesecloths. So without further adeu.... 

I should mention that I've used these first four pictures in a previous post on milking. I thought I'd include them again for those of you who are new readers. We are getting about a gallon and a half of milk per milking from three does. We were getting more milk from these does last summer. I've been somewhat puzzled by this. It is less milk than I'd thought we'd be getting, (hay quality?). Regardless, we milk the doe, weigh the milk, jot down the weight, pour the milk into a stainless steel lidded tote and when everyone is milked the tote and pail get carried into the house.

 

The milk gets poured into a stainless steel funnel with a disposable cloth filter, which helps filter out any hair or fine particles that may have fallen into the milk while milking. I usually filter the milk directly into the container I plan on storing the milk in. These days we pour the first gallon into a clean glass gallon jar. The rest goes into a half gallon or wide mouth quart jar to be used for drinking, yogurt or buttermilk.

A clean surface and clean utensils are important.  My first summer I sanitized all my utensils, vessels and cheesecloth with bleach water. Then for a while I boiled the utensils to sanitize them. Now, when I make yogurt, feta, mozzarella or other labor intensive hard cheeses I would bring my cheese making pot to a boil with all the utensils inside and boil for ten minutes to sanitize. However, when I am making chevre daily I have not been sanitizing anything. I wash my utensils with soap and water, rinse with hot water and air dry. This is what I've been doing the past two years and haven't had any problems. I wipe down the counter and sink before I begin.

This recipe has originated from Molly's online Fiasco Farm Chevre recipe:

One gallon milk, about seventy to eighty degrees

1/8th tsp chevre culture, MM 100 or other

2 Tb. of rennet water (from 1 drop of rennet disolved in 5 Tb distilled water

kosher or other non-iodized salt

Add culture to milk, let dissolve while you prepare the rennet water, then stir. Add two tablespoons rennet water. Stir well and cover. Let sit twelve to twenty-four hours. Pour into two cheesecloths or cheese molds. Let drain. In cheesecloths it takes about seven to eight hours, but this does depend on house temperature and humidity. Molds usually drain for twenty-four hours.

 

I culture my milk as soon as we've strained it. It comes out of the goat the right temperature. Then I let it sit on on the counter all day and overnight. I pour it into cheesecloths in the morning, after it has sat for about twenty-four hours. The cultured milk is ready to hang by the evening before. However if I drain off the whey overnight the outside gets dry and rubbery. So, if you hang your cheese for too long the outside will get too dry and your finished product will have dry rubbery chunks in it.

Once the whey has stopped dripping from the cheesecloths, squeeze them briefly. Then dump the cheese into a bowl.

Add salt and stir or mash. I use a potato masher followed by a stiff rubber spatula. This is the time to add any other ingredients. Our favorite combination is fresh thyme, garlic and freshly ground pepper. We also add fresh chives and other herbs. The ideas are endless here; sundried tomatoes and basil, jalapenos, jam, honey, nuts, citrus peel...

I wrap the cheese up using plastic wrap. It makes nice logs which fit into a gallon ziploc nicely. Recently I've been packing and freezing cheese in eight ounce glass jars as well. Sometimes I weigh the cheese as I roll it up.

The cheese freezes beautifully. It keeps in the refrigerator for up to ten days. This cheese can be used as a substitute for drained cottage cheese or ricotta. We eat it with crackers, on sandwiches, in tacos, on scrambled eggs and in omelets and quiche. I make a cream sauce using chevre and goat milk for macaroni and cheese and pasta dishes. I love it crumbled on salads and pizza. Make a dip by drizzling with olive oil and warming gently. I add it to muffins, pancakes and breads. The other night instead of draining yogurt for a tzatziki sauce, I made it with chevre. The uses for this cheese are endless, which make it my favorite cheese to stock up on.

My least favorite part of the process is cleaning the cheesecloths. Boring and lots of hot water. There are always cheeecloths hanging to dry from our pots and pan rack.

And as I mentioned, the part I dislike the most is packaging it and cleaning the cheesecloths. It takes lots of hot water to get the cloths clean. There are always cheesecloths hanging from our pots and pan rack.

Morning Chores

For the last couple months I've been doing morning chores wearing a tank top, skirt and sandals. These are the moments I dream about while trudging through the snow in heavy boots and thick layers doing similar chores in the winter months. We have had the hottest summer on record. We only had 5/8ths of an inch of rain in the entire month of July. I don't think I've worn a sweatshirt headed up for morning chores in months, until yesterday (photo taken by Noah). The last few days have been in the sixties and low seventies. The air is cool, but still surprisingly muggy and damp. We live in an arctic desert, and are not use to the humidity. I'm enjoying the humid air. It has that tropical - I can shut my eyes and envision myself in Hawaii- kinda feel to it.

On mornings where the kids accompany me on our chore route I don't have much time for relaxation or day dreaming. However, on mornings where I escape the house solo, I relish every moment of summer beauty:

Walking up the hill to the garden the Brahma rooster crows accompanied by an awkward chorus of adolescent roosters. The woods are busy with the cheerful and much more graceful songs of chickadees and small birds. As soon as the does catch sight of me they began urging me closer, calling me to them. Opening up the greenhouse warm humid air greets me and I step inside and pause for a moment surveying the tomatoes, baby eggplant and lush basil. Heading out and over to the ducks they get noisy with their excitement, eager to break out of their small confinement and waddle freely to and fro. If I was a bit cool leaving the house I'm thoroughly warmed after the walk and stand now in direct sun with no trees for protection. After reaching the tent, I set my milk pail and tote down, pull out udder wash, paper towels, notebook and pen. Out of the tent I proceed to fill six grain tubs, then toss hay into feeders and snap each goat onto their own chain. Two of the does are dry and the three kids are in their own pen and share one grain tub. After giving them their grain I lead the milking does, one at a time to the milking stand.




Here is Xoe. She doesn't have any kids nursing off of her anymore so I usually milk her first. Since I am only milking once a day, she only gets milked every twenty-four hours so I try to keep to somewhat of a schedule. We are not early morning farmers. Often I am out at night until midnight or later putting everyone to bed and making sure everyone has enough food and water to get them through the night and into the morning. The goat kids don't get put in their stall until at least ten p.m., sometimes closer to midnight. I like to be up milking by ten a.m. Occasionally I don't make it up till closer till noon. If I have an inkling that it will be a late morning, I toss everyone extra hay and put the kids away later at night.
Milking is generally relaxing and enjoyable. Rhythmic and soothing. The girls practically run to the stand and hop up eager to eat their grain. I close them in, wash their udder, teats and my hands. Sitting down beside them I grasp a teat in each hand and milk away. I do have to be careful that a doe doesn't lift up a leg and set it down in the pail. Each doe has her own personality. Usually milking takes about four to ten minutes (a little over a minute a pound) and I am usually done before the doe has finished her grain. Otherwise they will often get restless and impatient and the safety of the pail is jeopardised. Not all milking sessions are calm. Maggie might be annoyed that the kids are making too much noise and step in the pail, knocking it over and a whole pail of milk goes flying. By the time I get it rinsed out and wiped clean she is done with her grain and won't stand still for me to finish. I've found that yelling, scolding and smacking do nothing to help convince a doe to stand still on the milk stand. A calm and level disposition and quick reflexes are most helpful.
I weigh the milk. Lately I've been getting between three and six pounds depending on the goat and the time of day I'm milking. If I'm up milking an hour or two later than usual, there will be a noticeable difference in every one's production. Early in the season two of my does were milking close to eight pounds but since then I've almost completely stopped feeding them alfalfa. I would like to be able to feed the three milking does alfalfa each morning. Between the kids and the dry does, the alfalfa vanishes in minutes and they don't really need the extra calories like the milking does. If I were needing more milk or were wanting higher fat milk for cheese making, I could feed more alfalfa or gradually increase their grain even more. In return I would get larger quantities of fattier milk. As it is I've been enjoying being able to leave the kids in with two of the does if I am short on time in the morning. I've been getting between a gallon and a half and two gallons a morning, which is plenty of milk for us. When I have more time for cheese making I may invest more feed into the does and get more out of them.
I pour the milk into a stainless steel lidded tote. That way it is protected from spills and any hay, hair or dirt that could get blown into it. I record the milk weights in a notebook along with any other notes that may have affected the outcome. Like, "Maggie knocked over the pail"or, "kids stayed in with does". If I have a few minutes while a doe is finishing her grain sometimes I just sit and gaze around the garden. I may pick up a brush or the hoof trimmers and do a little grooming. Often I walk around the garden and peak at the zucchini growing under the large leaves or pick a few peas to munch. I always stroll by the flower bed and dead head a few things, (I toss the old calendula flowers and safe weeds to the goats). When all three does are milked I let the kids out of their pen and everyone off their chains. The kids still manage to suck some more milk out of their dams. At this point I am often tempted to sit and visit, but the sitting milk bids me not to dawdle as it should be processed and chilled quickly.
But before I go, I stop to make sure the chickens have food and water for the day. These are the cornish cross chickens that are in our extra goat pen. In a few weeks they will join the frozen and canned goods of the house and the goats may have their pen back. Headed down to the house I skilfully guide the ducks back into their home, checking on food and water levels. There are three more stops to make and I make them quickly or sometimes come back for a second round of chores. There are a batch of pullets and young cockerels in a chicken tractor by the does that need food and water daily. The bucks get hay and grain. And a stop in to look for eggs and check the adult layers food and water levels. This can get messy and time consuming as unexpected chores often come up and can be distracting. So if there is a lot to do I just put things off for an hour and head to the house.
After a thorough hand washing, I pour the milk from the tote through a filter and into gallon or half gallon glass jars. They are dated and placed into the fridge to cool. Most mornings I culture a gallon of milk to be turned into chevre. Then it sits at room temperature until the following morning when I pour in into cheese cloths and hang it above the sink to drain. I also have a quart jar of kefir that sits on the counter and each morning I pour off the kefir and add fresh milk from the days milking. What is left over goes in the fridge.

I enjoy these mornings immensely. If we are in a hurry to go someplace or if the weather is nasty, the kids challenging, well then the morning can seem like a lot of chores and mouths to feed. However, even in the winter when I am sitting outside in twenty below zero temperatures with bare hands squeezing hot streams of milk into an icy cold pail, I enjoy the ritual and rhythm of the morning. Coming down to the house with a full pail of milk and pockets full of eggs after spending quality time outside with the animals is rewarding and makes my day regardless of the climate. Having said this, I am hoping for a few more tank top and sandal mornings, followed by a couple months of sweatshirt mornings before heavy coats and boots are in order.

Udderlicious

So here are two udders that are about to explode. I finally started putting the kids in pens at night so I can milk the does in the morning. I had been leaving the kids in full time with their moms and that way didn't have to get up to milk them as early. I'd been milking them around noon and getting a gallon or so but the last couple days hardly got any. So I felt triumphant as I walked down to the house with almost two gallons of milk. I still didn't even milk them out completely, partly because I couldn't get all the milk out by the time they'd finished their grain, didn't feel like struggling with them, and some of the kids are just a few weeks old and nursing a lot still. Even if I'd milked them out all the way the does still hold some back for their kids. Plus their kids are with their dams all day and have plenty of opportunities to get their share. Once we dry the kids off we will have to milk the does out completely or risk infections like mastitis. You can see in the above photo that Rose's two kids prefer her left side and she is often lopsided as a result.
So I'm no expert but I have seen some goat udders and I believe that Maggie (black and tan) and Rose (white doe) have lovely udders. They are high and round with nice teat placement. Maggie's teats are on the small side and her orifices are also smaller than the other does, but not extremely so. I brought up a scale recently and hung it near my milking area and just need to keep a notebook and pen handy as I'd like to start weighing their milk daily. I milked both of these does until February (OUTSIDE!) and they both did really well. I can't even say who is the better milker as far as quantity, they both seem to have their days. We wethered Zen, Xoe's son and our first buck kid of the year. Maggie's son (below) and Rose's son are both for sale as bucks at the moment. However, if I have no serious interest in them within the next few weeks I will probably wether them both. As nice as they are we have no need for any more bucks, especially ones related to half our herd.

I just started the first batch of chevre of the season. I cultured a gallon of fresh warm raw milk after today's milking and it is sitting in a gallon jar. In the morning I will pour it into two cheesecloths and hang it for the day before taking it down and adding a little salt. Over the last couple years I've made a few batches of cheddar and gouda (without much success), mozzarella, ricotta, ricotta salatta, cottage cheese, cultured buttermilk, yogurt, kefir and panir but mostly fromage blanc and some molded moldy chevre. Last summer I turned one to two gallons of milk into a couple pounds of chevre or rather fromage blanc daily. Fromage blanc is what we know as chevre. It is fresh soft goat cheese that is poured into cheese cloth and then scooped into containers whereas chevre is poured into molds and drained in individual containers. Most people only know of chevre and think that it is the name for all or the only type of goat cheese but I think that most of the little logs of goat cheese labeled as chevre are really fromage blanc. It is versatile and mild. I don't pasteurize any of our milk or dairy products so mine doesn't keep as long as the supermarket product.

This summer I plan on making chevre a few times a week but not as often or as much as last year...I still have a bunch in the freezer! That is why I am so glad to have a cream separator. Once or twice a week I am going to separate cream from ideally six to eight gallons of milk and then turn it into cultured sour cream, cultured cream cheese and ice cream. I have been drinking my tea and coffee with the most luscious scoopable cream for the last couple weeks. I gave my dad all my cream to make ice-cream with this weekend and then didn't get any milk for a few days so I have sorely missed my cream the last few mornings. The ice-cream was good, but it will be much improved the next time we make it. I couldn't quite provide my dad with the four cups of cream he needed as I haven't been milking enough nor have I fine tuned the separator yet. My cream is extra thick so I was hoping that less cream with higher fat content would work, but it was lacking in creaminess.

I must disclose that fortunately I grew up in a home where real dairy products and butter were appreciated and imitations were disdained. There was only ever real butter in our fridge and never, god forbid any dairy products that were fat free unless by accident. I thank my father for this and perhaps his mother (rebels in their time) as well for my love- (without a drop of guilt or remorse) for pure dairy products, no fat removed.