The ultimate goal of most dairy goat owners is to produce fresh, healthy, delicious milk. Typically, goat-keepers quickly learn the physical fundamentals of getting that milk. However, there are subtle details associated with milking a goat that such procedures might miss. Stressed goats, poor hygiene, mishandled milk and producing off-flavor milk are four areas where mistakes often occur. Goat-keepers can avoid these mistakes by following the practices described here.
DE-STRESS
It takes a healthy, well-managed and content goat to reach her potential for milk production. Thus does should be milked in safe, stress-free environments. Milking areas should be quiet, peaceful, clean and dry. Goats love a schedule and prefer to be milked in the same order every day. Milking twice a day, 12 hours apart is considered optimal for maximum milk production. But it's fine to milk once a day or on other schedules as long as it's consistent from day to day.
この記事は Hobby Farms の Goat-101-24 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は Hobby Farms の Goat-101-24 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Spot & Treat
Parasites happen, but proper management keeps things under control.
Parasite PATROL
Keep your worm treatments effective with these three valuable tools.
HEALTHY GOAT, Happy FARMER
Goats may be hearty, but they still need their keeper's care in order to live long and be healthy.
Notes ON NUTRITION
Dairy and meat goats have specific feed needs, and they're not the same.
milking how to
Goat milk is liquid gold, but you have to get milking right to get it.
BREEDING BASICS
The traditional goat breeding season in the U.S. is between late August and the early part of January, according to Angela McKenzie-Jakes, extension animal science specialist at Florida A&M University.
GIVE ME Shelter
When Kathryn Spann started raising dairy goats in 2008, she thought wooden sheds built on skids would be the ideal housing for her herd. The shelters could be attached to a tractor and moved, ensuring the herd had a safe space to escape the elements and allowing Spann to practice pasture rotation without building individual shelters in each pasture.
Natural FIBERS
When visitors drive up to our Northern California foothill farm, they immediately notice the fluffy, long-horned beasties dotted all over our pastures. If they have never met us before, these visitors will always tell us how they love seeing our beautiful \"sheep\" and ask what we do with their wool.
Choosing a DAIRY GOAT
A number of considerations will determine your ideal dairy goat breed.
CHOOSING A Meat Goat
Once you've mastered the basics, keeping goats for meat is pretty easy.