Milk

[OneFineAcre]

So another newbie question. I know breeds like lamancha are milk goats is that because of the amount of production? Can meat goats be milked or just not worth the time due to less production?
You guys are all amazing. This summer I plan to make a stantion. Will take some time to figure it all out.

The dairy breeds have been bred for milk production .
The meat breeds are heavier and produce more meat
But people eat dairy goats and milk meat goats
You just usually will not get the amount of milk in comparison to what you have to feed with a meat goat

 

[OneFineAcre]

We have a grade E production here too

 

[Devonviolet]

So another newbie question. I know breeds like lamancha are milk goats is that because of the amount of production? Can meat goats be milked or just not worth the time due to less production?
You guys are all amazing. This summer I plan to make a stantion. Will take some time to figure it all out.

Yes, LaMancha's are a full size dairy goat, bred for production, so they do give a nice amount of milk - a gallon to 1-1/2+ gallons each day, if milked 2× daily. I only milk my 2 girls (both LaMancha's) in the morning, and last summer I was getting 1-1/2+ gallons/day. They are (hopefully) bred for April kidding, and have slowed down considerably. Lately I have been getting anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4 of a gallon. Today I only got 1/2 gallon. I am planning to start drying them off in about a month. But, it looks like they are doing that themselves.

In addition to giving decent quantities, LaMancha's also have higher butterfat than some other breeds. Nigerian Dwarf's have higher butterfat than LaMancha's, but less quantity, so it's a tradeoff.

Lately, I've been hearing about certain breeds having higher casein levels, which equates to higher ratios of cheese to liquid, of milk. I don't know all the details. Maybe @Southern by choice or @babsbag can add more details.

As far as milking meat goats . . . yes, you can. Many dairy goats have some meat goats and vise versa. I'm not an expert on which breeds and percentages. But, I think Kiko's and Boer's are a percentage dairy.

I'm actually thinking of getting a full size Myotonic buck next summer, so my kids are meatier when it comes to butchering.

Do you have any bred does right now? If so, the sooner you can get a stanchion built, the better, so you can get your doe up on it and she can get used to being touched around the utter and teats.

We built our stanchion & are very happy with it. I had seen an all metal one with an expanded metal floor, and that is what I wanted.

We stopped at a welding shop & asked if they had any scraps of expanded metal. The owner was looking through their scrap pile. I walked around the back of the pile & there was exactly what I was looking for! It was a 2×3' piece with angle iron frame. And it was even painted black!

I asked how much, and he said $20! I expected it to be more, so I turned to DH & said, "PAY THE MAN!!!" I think at that point the owner realized he could have gotten more $$.

 

[babsbag]

@Devonviolet Nice stanchion and good score. As far as milking meat goats you can milk Boers and probably Kikos too. The Boers have a very high fat milk but they don't give as much and don't stay in production as long as dairy does will. Some Boers are bred to dairy does but the breed in and of itself is not a mix. Kinders are, they are a mix of nubian and pygmy so you get a smaller goat, more meat, and more milk, maybe a win win for some people.

Milk that is higher in Casein does indeed produce more cheese per gallon of milk, but for people that have an allergy to milk higher Casein is not what you want. LaManchas, Nubians, and Nigerian Dwarfs typically have higher Casein than other breeds. No ideas where the meat goats fit into that lineup. I have an Alpine buck that carries both alleles for higher Casein protein so his offspring will carry at least one of the two alleles depending on what the doe brings to the table and imagine that all my Alpine does do not carry the allele for high Casein.

 

[Southern by choice]

Kikos are derived from the top dairy goats in New Zealand crossed with the Feral Goats of the Mountains... so technically they are dual purpose.

The kiko has very high fat which allows for higher wean weights/less creep feed and they can and do raise twins/triplets easily without interference.
They are not a heavy goat. The meat market weight goal is 60-80 lbs. good weaning weights are around 45# . They have less bone, as in not heavy thick bone so that weight equates to more meat.
The downside of using heavy meat goats on todays dairy goats are size...
We have bred a Lamancha buck to a Kiko doe before.

Yes, you can milk them BUT duration of lactation is not going to be there. They give fat plentiful milk but are not going to milk for 10 months like a dairy goat. They also are very forage oriented, they do not do well on just a bunch of hay and feed. They do poorly under those conditions.

Eventually I am going to DNA my goats for casien.

 

[Alaskan]

How old are the children? I've pasteurized what I have so far because I have a 1 year old and worry she might not be able to fight off food poisoning like the rest of us.

yeah.... I would also be worried about a 1 year old too. I think you can get your milk tested for a range of stuff....

but even then, I would need to research it awhile to see what all of the risks are and exactly why/ what causes them.

My youngest right now is 9. I think we got them 2 years back???? So he would have been 7.

 

[babsbag]

Since I just took my test for pasteurization license let's see if I can remember all of the "nasties" that can be in raw milk. E-coli, salmonella, listeria, q-fever, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, brucellosis, septic sore throat, diptheria, scarlet fever,typhoid fever, and para-typhoid fever. I have no idea how some of those would be contracted, like typhoid and diptheria. You can test you goat for TB and brucellosis but the ones that cause the most danger are E-coli, salmonella, and listeria and I don't know if there are at home tests for those or not. I know that the big raw milk dairy in CA has all of their milk tested before bottling. I drink it raw but I don't let anyone else drink it raw and I won't be selling it that way.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

most danger are E-coli, salmonella, and listeria

…and the hard thing is that they might be fine right now but it could be another story in 2 weeks from now. So testing 1 time isn’t going to tell you much.

 

[alsea1]

The animal must be healthy. Rumen must have correct ph balance. A balanced rumen is less likely to have bacterial action.I toss milk if a goat is off at all.
I used to wash and dry the udder and teats, but now I focus more attention to keeping the stalls as clean as possible and do a clean if the udder is dirty. I use the towelettes for babies to clean off my hands before milking. I also make a point to evacuate the teats before milking into the pail. I keep hands and fingers away from the teat opening.
My goats produce very good milk so have not worried too much about getting it into super cold containers. I'm only milking three goats and sharing it with kids so not too much milk to worry about.

 

[babsbag]

The "big 3" are found in the environment so a goat could pick it up any day of the week and you would never know.