Chicken Scraps Blog

     So, you have a young heifer, or a cow which has never been milked before, and want her to be your family milk cow. You grab a bucket and head out to the barn to do some milking, and, lo and behold! she kicks you over and tries to break out of the stanchion the second you touch her udder.  What went wrong?

Feldman Family Pansy Pansy is a beautiful heifer with a great temperament.  She is well built, and in perfect condition.  She has been very healthy her entire life, and has been kept on a good regimen of milk, free choice kelp based minerals, grass, and alfalfa hay.  We do not practice feeding grain to our cows, as we feel that grass is their natural food, and the milk is much  healthier if they are fed exclusively grass. Pansy is used to having her udder handled quite a bit, and allows me to "milk" her without much fuss at all, if any.  She also picks up her feet, and leads okay.  (I am working on improving her leading training, and also teaching her to tether.)

I just finished building another goat milking stand, and now it is for sale! This one was particularly fun because I stained the wood a beautiful Provincial brown, and then varnished it, making for a stanchion that is very pretty (at least, to me!) as well as sturdy and functional. Price:  $150

Over the last few years, I have been hearing more and more about A2/A2 cattle, and the health benefits of the milk, but I always kind of passed it over as rather silly; I mean, seriously, how can a genetic difference in the cow make a difference in how healthy the milk is?  I also did not like that the company who tests cattle for this gene was also the one doing the research.  But then recently, some friends who run an excellent natural farm in Lake City have started talking about it.  Apparently, a customer interested in buying a heifer asked if any of their cows were A2/A2, and when they tested, they discovered that 5 out of 6 of their cows were. Now, the interesting thing about this, is that quite a few people who have reactions to cow's milk, even raw cow's milk, have told them that they can drink milk from their cows with no problems.  I always assumed that this was because of the high level of cleanliness, and the good quality grass/ minerals they f...

Sometimes it is tempting to only blog about the good things happening on our farm, but the fact is, that we have problems too.  I have just been reminded that I don't know nearly as much about raising goats as I sometimes think I do.  I am currently dealing with my first (and hopefully only) case of staph mastitis. Shortly after I bought Mabel, she developed a knot in one teat that soon made milking impossible, and that side dried up.  Twice when she has kidded the vet has opened the teat surgically.  It would stay open for a week or two, then gradually close again as that half of her udder dried up. I thought this was scar tissue from an injury received at her former home, as did our vet, but last month I noticed that side of her udder swelling suspiciously.  When I felt it, I knew something was drastically wrong.  It was hard, with round lumps- not at all normal.  It was not hot, so I hoped it wasn't mastitis, but some research and talking...

There are few things so frustrating as having a full bucket of milk kicked over, just as you are stripping out those last few squirts, and dreaming of the yogurt, cheese, or just plain creamy milk you are going to enjoy.  Even worse is when she kicks you in the nose first, then plants her dirty foot squarely in the bucket.  A kicky milker can cause all kinds of problems, and be downright dangerous.  Frequently, kicking is only a symptom of other issues, such as extreme nervousness.   A nervous cow is a dangerous cow. She is liable to hurt herself and other cows or people.  She may try to jump or charge through fences, and likely will attempt to break out of the stanchion if she is frightened.  This is not an article dealing with nervousness, but I will say that the cure, so far as I have experienced, is twofold:  1).  Lots of gentle, but firm handling, feeding of treats, and desensitizing her to common things she perceives as threats. 2)....

(All are sold, this post is for reference only.) Well, I'm selling Nelly, and two of her triplets. I've owned Nelly for almost two years, and she has been a good milk goat, wonderful mother, and excellent "teaching goat", that is, I've taught my siblings how to milk, and given lessons to several other people, both adults and children, using her.  She doesn't mind other people milking her as much as Mabel, who will kick a little when an inexperienced or underconfident person milks her.    Here is a video of me milking Nelly.

Our farm has two new additions:  Adelaide and Freda, twin doelings who came to live with us just yesterday.  After much searching, research, learning about bloodlines and conformation, (and prayer), I bought these two little darlings from a farm not too far away from us.  I'm really excited about them, and also about finally having someone to go to when I have a problem who has been raising goats so much longer than I have.  (Thank you Dawn for all your help and advice, and two lovely little doelings!)

     Here's a 10-minute video I put together a couple days ago.  It is a tutorial on hand-milking a goat, and includes washing, dealing with kicking (Nelly rarely kicks on the milk stand, but she does not like any change in her routine, so me constantly getting up to move the camera, and narrating was disturbing to her), and straining.  Enjoy!