best way to test milk?

[Suburbanfarmer]

I would like to start testing our milk. Do I only need to test for mastitis? If so, what is the best way to test? I've seen the California Mastitis test and I've also seen the Dr. Naylor Mastitis Indicator. What works the best for regular testing? How often should I test?

Thanks!
-Kristin

 

[DonnaBelle]

I'm not sure what else you'd be testing for?

Yes, you can get an inexpensive test for mastitis.

Are you concerned that the milk is OK to drink?

DonnaBelle

 

[ksalvagno]

I think you send milk off for testing but there are no other "at home" tests for milk other than the mastitis tests.

 

[Suburbanfarmer]

I want to keep up on making sure that there are no problems. We drink our milk raw (and prefer it that way ). I don't want to end up drinking milk that has low level mastitis.

I don't think my goat has an issue right now, but I don't want to be caught unprepared.
-K

 

[ksalvagno]

You can certainly buy a test and test her now just to have a baseline/verify she doesn't have it. If it makes you feel better to test her periodically, go for it. Certainly doesn't hurt anything. Properly cleaning her teats before and after milking and keeping her area clean will certainly help with preventing mastitis but no matter if you do every single thing right, it will always be a possibility.