Feline Feeding Frenzy.

Growing up on a working farm is a much different experience than growing up in a suburb or city.  As a child, I lived on a farm and for a period of time in the suburbs of Houston.  Depending on where I lived, I had different responsibilities.

Some of my fondest memories were from my life on a farm.  I grew up around a garden, horses, occasionally steers, and chickens.  Of course, I loved the horses.  Who does not like to ride around on the back of such a beautiful and graceful creature?  My main responsibility was caring for the chickens.  As such, most of my memories are centered around our flock.

As a mother, I wanted my children to have similar experiences.  I wanted them to feed chickens, collect eggs, and help care for a garden.  I wanted them to have fond memories, but most importantly I wanted them to learn the value of hard work and responsibility.

In addition, living on a farm presents opportunities to learn self-sufficiency.  The need for this ability is growing stronger in the economic climate that we find ourselves at this time.  Learning where food comes from as well as how to produce your own food is a valuable tool.

As my children have grown older, my husband and I have increased the amount of responsibility.  This has come naturally as our farm has grown.  Our garden size increased.  We introduced rabbits and dairy goats.  I am not mentioning the ducks because they take care of themselves.

My oldest three children are on a rotation schedule.  Milking is the most important responsibility they have.  The dairy goat must be milked twice a day about the same time each day.  She must be fed, cleaned, milked, and watered.  The other goats must be fed, too.  The milk must be strained and cooled as soon as possible.  The health of our family depends on it.

The goat has to be milked completely and correctly.  If she is not drained of all of her milk, then her production decreases.  If she is not handled correctly, then her udder can be damaged or hurt.  Either one would ruin our investment and ability to enjoy fresh goat milk.

Some people might say that this is too much responsibility for a nine, eleven, and fourteen year old.  I would have to disagree.  It was not that long ago when most children in rural areas did the same thing.  Regardless of your child’s age, there are some steps you must take as a parent to ensure success.

First, you must train them to do the job correctly while instilling in them the importance of the job.  Then you must praise them for a job well done.  Eventually they will prove that they can handle the job without supervision and you must step back.  This takes trust, especially when the job is as important as milking.

Knowing that they play a vital role in your family is important.  It creates a sense of worth and accomplishment.  They thrive on the fact that we trust them.  If you are looking for a way to build self-confidence in your child, then give them responsibility.  Start out small and train them how to do it first.

Isaac is three.  His job is to feed our cats.  Kyla and Clayton trained him how to do the job.  They showed him how much feed to give the cats and where to put the feed.  For weeks they watched him do his job by their side.  After he fed the cats, I watched happily as they immediately praised Isaac.  Giving him a high five and/or a hug.

Now he does it all by himself.  Do we have to remind him?  Absolutely.  Do we have to remind him twice a day?  No, even at three he occasionally remembers to do his job.  Eventually he will move from feeding the cats to being part of the rotation with his older siblings.  Already he helps us all around the house, yard, and farm.

I realize that not everyone can live on a farm or wants to for that matter.  Regardless of where you live, there are opportunities for your child to become more responsible.  Consciously give your child some responsibility, and they will be better for it.

Wendy at the milk stand.

We have two Nubian does and only one in milk right now.  She gave birth about a month ago.  Just like humans, cows, and other mammals, goats need to give birth to have a milk supply.

Our goat, Wendy, is giving us about 3/4 of a gallon a day.  We have plenty to drink and even enough to make ice cream about once a week.  After we wean the kid, we will have enough to make yogurt, kefir, and/or cheese.

My husband built the milking stand.  It stands off the ground  so that the goat is at a comfortable height for us to milk.  Wendy jumps on it with ease.  The stand holds her head secure while she eats a small amount of grain.

My husband or children will spray her teats will a cleaning solution and gently massage her udder to aid in the letting-down process.  Then they begin milking.  They pinch off the top of the teat with their thumb and pointer finger.  Then they guide the milk out by working their other fingers down the teat.

After a few squirts, they check the bucket to make sure that the milk looks right.  It should look like, well, milk.  It should not be clumpy, smelly, or streaked with blood.  These are all signs of infection called mastitis.  Fortunately we have not had this problem with any of our goats so far.  Knock on wood!

Milking Wendy

Anyway, they keep milking both teats until the milk stops flowing.  Then Lane or our children give her a minute to relax while they massage her udder again.  Lane’s hand is so big that he gives just one more squeeze to completely empty her bag, but our children have to strip the teat.  This means that they hold the udder with one hand while they pinch off the top of the teat with the other.  Instead of working their fingers down the teat, they pull down with their thumb and pointer finger to get the last drops of milk.  Just like nursing mothers, goats need to eliminate all of their milk in order to continue to have a good milk supply.  Then they clean her teats again.

We are in the process of straining the milk.

After covering the stainless steel milk bucket with its lid and releasing Wendy from the milking stand, they bring the bucket to me.  We use half-gallon mason jars to store our milk.  We place a stainless steel strainer into the mouth of a jar.  We have to insert a straining disk into the strainer first.  As we slowly pour the milk into the strainer, the straining disk removes any dirt, hair, or anything else that is not supposed to be in milk.

A secret to great tasting milk is to cool the milk down as quickly as possible.  The best way to do this is to place the jar of milk into a bucket of ice water.  If we are in a hurry, we put the jar into the freezer for 10-15 minutes.  Regardless which method we use, the milk is then moved to the refrigerator.

It sounds time-consuming.  I know, I read many books about raising dairy animals.  With everything that I already do in life, I feared that having a home dairy would eat up too much of my time.  It does require a commitment as we choose to milk twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening.  Optimally you would milk in 12 hour intervals.

Now that we have been dairying, we really enjoy it.  When everything is said and done, milking, putting up the milk, and cleaning all the milking supplies, it takes us 30-45 minutes a day total.  So if you have been considering milking your own goat or cow, go for it.  Don’t let the fear of not having a life scare you off.  Not only does our family get great-tasting and fresh milk, but we also get a life full of memories, experiences, and we learn self-sufficient life skills having our own dairy at home.