Milking angus....

[sparkles2307]

Is there a difference in the milk of an Angus? DH wont have dairy cows, and we sold off several calves on Saturday, so yesterday I brought the nice cow into the barn, talked nice to her, washed her udder up, and milked about 1/2 out of her. Amounted to 3pt. She decided she was done after that, and since she figured out how to get out of the headgate (must remember to set it for a smaller cow) I didnt feel inclined to argue that altho she might be done I wasnt. She did well for never having had a human hand on her udder before. Never kicked, never hit the bucket, she just leaned into my head once in a while and fidgeted when she wanted more grain. So, theres really no difference in the milk form and Angus opposed to a Holstein or other dairy breed, is there? DH says higher butterfat cause they have to fatten their calves up... I didnt pasturize, its just for us and my kids already eat a lot of things off the ground, so I figured two trips thru 6-layer cheesecloth made it plenty clean. I'm just like, nervous, I'll prolly give myself a stomach ache just because it isnt "milk cow" milk... hopefully I get more tonight in the same time frame. My hands are only mildly sore so thats good!

 

[michickenwrangler]

No reason you can't. You just won't get 3 gal. of milk a day.

My family could live quite nicely with 3 pt. a day, maybe even a bit leftover for a batch of cheese

 

[freemotion]

You won't give yourself a stomach ache, raw milk is actually much more digestible than pasteurized milk is. If that cow goes out in a pasture, then the milk is even better for your family than anything you can buy in a grocery store. You are doing your family a great service by milking that cow. Go for it!

 

[henrymilker]

All I can say is good for you! Milk that Angus cow and enjoy every drop of milk. I am sure you have heard enough already to know that the milk produced by your beef cow is just as good (+or-butterfat content) milk as from a dairy cow.

 

[sparkles2307]

She's the nicest lil cow! Last night was only our second round, and she acted like she knew the drill. Walked into the headgate, waited for her grain, actually let me get ALL the milk out last night (1.5qt) I forgot to pasturize...I read that I can get more cream off it the next morning if I pasturize (I am milking because I want to make butter, and she isnt giving much cream.) but Mondays are bad. I will try it with one batch. I'm also going to try some easy soft cheeses. I hate milk, so the kids have to drink it. Yuck.

 

[freemotion]

Yogurt is super easy to make. Read up on the benefits of raw milk before you decide to pasteurize.... www.westonapricefoundation.org and search for raw milk.

To get the most cream, you need to let the milk sit for a while in a widemouth glass jar in the fridge, then you can see the cream line and skim off the cream.

 

[sparkles2307]

Yogurt is super easy to make. Read up on the benefits of raw milk before you decide to pasteurize.... www.westonapricefoundation.org and search for raw milk.

To get the most cream, you need to let the milk sit for a while in a widemouth glass jar in the fridge, then you can see the cream line and skim off the cream.

Oh I am not pro-pasturization by any means, but I am experimenting with different ways to get more cream. I only pasturized 2qt last night. It seems that the cream takes 2-3 days to seperate from the raw milk which chaps a bit because I am into instant gratification.... I seem to remember the milk getting a thick layer of cream after one day when I was little... But I guess I can wait a few days. Once I get the cream off for butter making I am going to try a few cheeses... since theres no way we will use all this milk for eating/drinking. She seemed empty last night, I only got 1qt from her. I hope she isnt drying off, her claf has been gone for 4 days now and we've been milking every evening till she's stripped out so I dont know why production would be so low yesterday.

 

[sparkles2307]

I made butter last night, from cream I collected over the last week from my milking. Go me!