Why did my milk thicken when heated?

[Alison]

Maybe this is a common sense chemistry sentence (oxymoron), but why did my milk thicken when I heated it?

My doe kidded yesterday. Her udder was HUGE and the kids couldn't latch on. So I milked her out and saved some for the babies (bottle feeding them colostrum), froze some, and kept some for me. Tonight I heated it to pasteurize. Yes, I'm a fan of raw milk, but this was an emergency milking, there were particles in it as she was uncomfortable and kicked stuff in. I did't want to take a chance.

Anyway, I heated it in a double boiler, but I think it may have gotten above 165. It's thick like yogurt, but not scorched. Why does it do that and what can I do with it?

 

[Ferguson K]

I think the colostrum thickens it, but I'm no expert so don't quote me. That's my guess.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Probably because she is still making colostrum. It will get very think like you are saying when it is heated to certain point. The milk from a doe that fresh will likely taste nasty anyway

Personally, I would not have used it even if it was "normal" milk. You can still have bacteria left over, even with the pasteurizing. It would have been better to toss it IMO.