Our family has started milking our dear Alpine does after giving them about a month with just their kids. Honestly, this spring has been so busy this is as soon as we could start, and kid sharing works well for us so we can once a day milk or in the event we can’t get to a milking here and there.
We use their milk for drinking (when chilled quick it is sweet and refreshing, no “goaty flavor” I know some milk can take on). We do supplement our does with a selenium block, which we have been told helps with the flavor and doe health.
We also are using their milk to feed our bottle kids/lambs. Unlike the milk I get from our Brown Swiss cows, the cream does not rise to the top, so for the moment we are not planning on making butter or ice cream with it.
We don’t currently have a milking stanchion set up, but a goat halter tied to a gate and Susie with some treats while hand milking has been working great.
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