Milking goats is more of a skill than many people realize.
Though it’s something we’ve been doing for thousands of years, this doesn’t reduce the amount of time it takes to learn how to do something like this.
For many of us, then, who own small herds on our homesteads, who want to milk them but don’t have the time to do it by hand, the milking machine is always an option.
This, too, though, is not something you can easily pick up.
You need to know what you’re doing before you can get started.
So, today, we’re going to look at the ten steps to milking a goat by machine.
Let’s get started.
Clean the machine
The first step is to clean the machine.
Even if it’s brand new and never been used, you don’t know what it might have picked up during the manufacturing and shipping process.
There will most likely be specific instructions with your machine on how to clean that particular unit.
Make sure it is thoroughly sanitized before you get a goat anywhere near it.
If you have used the machine before, or even more so if it was pre-owned, be very thorough with your cleaning.
Clean yourself
Next is yourself.
Milking isn’t an especially messy job, so you should wear clean clothes.
This reduces the chances of spreading pathogens.
You also need to make sure you thoroughly wash and sanitize your hands before you start.
It’s best to bring a bucket of soapy water with you to the milking station, so you can keep them clean throughout.
Once you are clean, you should also clean the goat’s stand.
Clean the goat
Next, you’ll want to clean the goat—ideally before you get it into the stand.
You should be regularly brushing it and giving it some form of wash—if not, you’ll probably want to do this before you get it near the milking stand.
Even if you are regularly washing the goat, though, you’re going to want to take some extra steps before you start milking it.
It’s best to shave the udder back a bit, to make sure no hair globs end up in the milk.
Then, give the udders a wipe and a quick wash.
You can use either soapy water or goat sanitizer.
Then, be absolutely sure that the udders and teats are completely dry.
Use a paper towel to gently soak up any water—never milk a wet udder.
This can lead to mastitis.
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Turn the machine on
Get the machine going now.
It will take a minute or two to get started up properly, so do this before you secure the goat in the stand.
This will reduce the time that it is in there, and reduce the overall stress it experiences from the milking.
It will take a few minutes to reach the correct vacuum setting.
Secure the goat in the stand
While this is happening, get the goat secured in the stand.
You’ll need to provide it with some kind of food as a distraction—whatever your goat likes best is a good choice.
Fresh fruit, vegetables, oats, and things like this are a good choice.
Then, be sure the goat is firmly strapped in and is comfortable.
This is going to be at least a mildly stressful experience for your goat, so you need to make sure it’s comfortable and won’t wriggle around too much.
Dry the goat
As I mentioned, it’s absolutely vital that the goat is completely dry before any part of the machine touches it.
Soak up any remaining liquid from when you cleaned it with a paper towel.
Once you’ve done that, use your hand to squeeze the first few drops of milk out.
Then, discard this milk.
Check for any abnormalities, such as blood or other discharge, in the milk. if there is any, you shouldn’t milk the goat.
Now the milking can really begin.
Place the cups on the udder
Once the machine is going and you’ve started getting some milk going from the teats, you can secure the vacuum cups over the teats.
You should see milk begin to flow through the tube straight away.
If the vacuum has reached the proper setting, then the cup should stay on the goat without you holding it on.
You can now sit back and watch the milk come out.
When you can no longer see a large stream of milk flowing through the tube, you can remove the cup.
Overmilking can be a big problem for the goat, and can also be a cause of mastitis.
You should be able to see the udder shrink as you are milking it.
Depending on the breed of goat, this will take a varying amount of time.
You’ll get to know better when your goat is done the more you do this.
Finish off
Once there’s no longer a large amount of milk flowing through, you can remove the cups from the teats.
You should then give the teats a few final squeezes, to get the last bits of milk.
This is known as stripping, and is as essential as hand milking the first few bits.
Spray the teats with sanitizer, or dip them in a solution.
Avoid cross contamination by using multiple cups.
It’s really essential to avoid contamination, particularly across different goats, so be sure to clean and sanitize all the equipment between milking sessions.
Your goat is probably getting a little bit stressed by now.
Return the goat
Now, it’s time to return the goat to the pasture.
You should, ideally, keep an eye on that goat for an hour or two after returning it.
Give them plenty of food and water to keep their energy up and keep them occupied after milking.
Ideally, you want to avoid the doe lying down for a while after milking, to avoid contact with bacteria on the udder.
Make sure she has plenty of hay, alfalfa, as well as water and other foods to keep her busy and to keep her from lying down and exposing her udder to infection.
Clean the station
All you need to do now is clean up your station.
If you are milking multiple goats, you need to clean it after each goat.
Again, you really need to avoid cross-contamination here.
Mastitis and other milking-related infections can be really bad for the goat’s overall health.
The machine you’re using will likely come with specific, manufacturer’s instructions on how to clean it.
You should follow these to the letter.
Of course, you also need to thoroughly clean the milking stand and any other equipment you used during the process.
The main point, then, as you can see, is keeping everything clean and sanitary at all times.
The most important thing you need to do when milking your goat is making sure there is no chance of infection spreading.
Machines make the process a lot smoother, but you still need to know what you’re doing inside and out.
It’s also really important that you know the workings of your specific machine—they’re all going to be a bit different.