Goatucation - How Long are We Milked

Today is Goatucation day and I just loves me some Goatucation. How about you? Today's question comes from Julia. Now Julia is a busy blogger - she has two blogs; A Simple Life and The Apron Goddesses. The publicist tried to take a picture of me wearing an apron for Julia's blog. Harumph! I am a goat, not an apron model. But that is for another post. Today is Goatucation. Here is the question: How long can the publicist milk you goats after the kids are weaned?

This is a very interesting question and of course I can only speak for myself. After I had my two kids, Sarah and Michael - aren't they the cutest?

The publicist milked me for about two years. Now I wasn't giving as much milk at the end of the second year as I was at the beginning. Then about a month before I was to have my big date with that marvelous hunk of goat Luke

The publicist stopped milking me altogether so my system could have a rest.  Then after Luke and I danced the Rhumba my udder started preparing for little Kevin's birth. Or should I say big Kevin 'cause he was a big kid!


 

 I hope this answered your question, Julia.


Tomorrow you will see a carrot top eating orgy!

How to Milk a Goat

I was asked what it was like to be milked. It took me a couple of days to get the male person lined up to take the photographs but here we go - what it looks like when the publicist milks Abigail. I would have posed for the pictures myself but I am not being milked right now because my kids are due so soon. When a goat is pregnant about a month before she is do to kid she stops being milked so her udder can rest and get ready for her kids to nurse. Abby will stop being milked in June.

First Abigail runs up onto the milking stanchion. There is always some grain waiting so it is easy to get her up there. When she first started being milked she was not very co-operative but she eventually figured out it was a good thing; she got more grain and her udder got emptied.




Then the publicist cleans her teats with a baby wipe and squirts two squirts from each teat into a pan to get things started. This cleans her off and gets rid of any bacteria that might be on her. Then she wraps her hand around one of Abby's teats to milk her.

It is a two step process - rather like a pull at the top and then a pressing with her fingers to get the milk out. She switches back and forth between Abby's teats because her hands get tired. She does this until there is no more milk to be squirted.

You obviously note that the publicist milks into an All -Clad CopR Chef Sauce Pan. This is part of her good pot collection and it is desperately in need of a good polishing. The publicist suspects she is the only goatherd to milk into such a pan. She would love to know if there is anyone else doing so.

After the milking is done Abby gets down off of the stanchion and then we all get our afternoon apples! (The flash from the camera makes the photo pretty poor but you get the idea.)

I love eating my apples.

The publicist takes the milk up to the trailer (she is living in her fifth wheel while her house is being built) strains it, and puts it in a jar for the male person's morning cereal and coffee.

I hope you all enjoyed this lesson on milking a goat. If anyone else has any questions for me I would love to answer them. I will do my best to address any query you might have!