Milking and milk hygiene

In short

• Milk twice a day, roughly 12 hours apart, always in the same order and at the same times.
• The first 2–3 squirts go into a strip cup with a dark bottom: clots, blood or watery milk mean mastitis.
• Strain the milk at once and chill it to 4 °C (39 °F) within 1–2 hours.
• Rinse equipment first in lukewarm water, then wash in hot water with a dairy detergent, and dry upside down.
• Raw milk can carry brucellosis, listeria, E. coli and tick-borne encephalitis. For children, pregnant women and the elderly: boiled or pasteurised only.
• Milk from a treated goat doesn't go to people until the withdrawal period is over.

What's inside

Chapters

1. Lactation: how much and for how long
2. Milking area and stand
3. Milking equipment
4. Milking step by step
5. By hand or by machine
6. Straining and chilling
7. Washing the equipment
8. Mastitis and the CMT
9. Why milk "tastes of billy goat"
10. Safe milk for the family
11. Common mistakes
12. Printable checklist

Worksheets

• Milk diary
• Lactation summary
• CMT and treatment record
• Milking hygiene schedule
• Milk and equipment calculator
• Calendar of the dairy year