SC - AWK!

[Timothy a Whitcomb]

In a galaxy far, far away (and several years in the past)  we owned a dairy goat
herd.  We milked twice a day, by hand, and never had a problem.  I kept most of
does and sold the bucks, hand feeding all the babies.  We had milking stands my
husband made out of lumber where you put the goat's head through one end so
their head is above a box holding some sweet feed to keep their
attention...goats will do most anything for sweet feed.  It helps to have warm
hands and you gently punch the udder like a kid would do to help the milk "let
down".  Never had a problem with a goat withholding her milk.  I personally
think it helps if they have been hand fed from birth.  We ordered all our
supplies from a place called Caprine Supply and I think I vaguely remember some
kind of mechanical milking device (although I am getting older and they say the
memory goes first)... you can also order all the vaccines, milking supplies (if
you want a fresh sweet tasting milk you need to use stainless steel and make
sure it is sterilized) and cheese making supplies, as well as books.    Your
county agricultural agency can also help with answers sometimes.  If you decide
to raise any goats yourself and need help, just e-mail me.  I'm good for some
advice on the animals and the cheese making.

Isabella

Alderton, Philippa wrote:

> Frederich:
>
> Just south of you there are any number of cheese factories in Amish country,
> particularly in Holmes, Wayne and Tuscarawas counties. This might be a good
> place to start. Avoid the touristy stuff in Sugar Creek and a few other
> towns- they're fairly obvious with their huge signs mentioning "REAL AMISH
> COOKING!!!" and the like. One of my favorites is a small factory in
> Coshocton County, just south of Baltic, on SR 93. It sells very good cheese
> at ridiculously low prices (I have it notebooked in my head, if I ever do a
> feast), and has glass windows looking into the factory itself so you can
> watch what they're doing.
>
> Most of the factories are very people friendly, particularly if you come
> wanting to learn. I remember several years ago, I was waiting at one of them
> for one of their drivers to come in (I had to renew his insurance) and,
> since it was likely to be a long wait, the manager took me through and gave
> me a complete tour of the facility- fascinating!
>
> Possibly we could work out a time to meet and go for a grand tour? If you're
> really interested, calling the local Chambers of Commerce might give you
> some leads to factories you could then call and ask for tours.
>
> As far as milking sheep or any other animal, first it helps if you know how
> to milk ;-) There aren't any of the cups for the teats of goats and sheep
> like there are for cows, that I am aware of, so you'll need to milk by hand,
> which is VERY hard on your hands, while you're learning, and you'd need to
> do this on a sheep or goat which has A: been trained for it, just like is
> done with cows, and B: has no offspring to feed, because every last one of
> them is perfectly capable of withholding their milk at will. You'd have to
> consider, too, that you'd have to milk the animals regularly, twice a day,
> or their milk will dry up. This might be a project you could pay a young
> Amish boy to do for you next spring.
>
> Hope this helps a bit.
>
> Phlip
>
> Nolo disputare, volo somniare et contendere, et iterum somniare.
>
> phlip at morganco.net
>
> Philippa Farrour
> Caer Frig
> Southeastern Ohio
>
> The World's Need
>
> So many Gods, so many creeds,
> So many paths that wind and wind,
> When just the art of being kind
> Is all this sad world needs.
>
> - Ella Wheeler Wilcox
>
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