Sunday 5 August 2012

Milking the goat!

Jack and Jill are settling in well, and are incredibly funny to watch as they run across the orchard, their ears flap which makes me chuckle! They play with the dog and cats until they consider that they have had enough, and then gently butt them out of the way, unless you are our stupid dog who keeps coming back for more!

We were advised to tie the goats legs to stop them jumping out of the orchard, however, we didn't, as I am a firm believer that if you give an animal food, water and love they know where the best place to be is, unless you are a dumb chicken! The goats are happy, we love having them here and they are slowly growing into fat, cheeky creatures.

However, the thought of milking Jill is causing me a headache, as even with the power of Google, I have no idea where to begin. I can usually blag my way through anything, however, on this occasion I feel that knowledge would be good.

I understand the concept of milking Jill, and that the milk would be great to make cheese however, the actual act of milking is becoming an issue. Thankfully she is still too young to milk, therefore, I can spend longer researching and preparing for the milking time.

The amount of support material on the Internet for milking goats is incredible, with tips on technique and the "correct" procedure turning milking one small goat into an Olympic event.

So for the moment Jill can be safe in the knowledge that I am not going to sterilize and warm my hands in preparation of squeezing her teats. I do have my milking stool ready though :-)


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