Our Milker

Here is what our portable milker looks like, how we set it up, use it, and how we clean it.

The pump itself doesn't have a switch. It is plugged into this outlet strip so we can turn it on and off easily.

The pump is in this bucket with a towel wrapped around it to reduce noise. We used to put the pump outside the barn door each time we used the milker, but this keeps the noise down. Since we don't leave the milker on for long periods of time, I don't think it will over heat the air pump.

This is what the gasket looks like on the inside of the lid. The lip on the gasket is facing into the bucket, not into the lid.

Here is what the lid looks like when it is set up and ready to use with the goats. The double hose on the left of the lid goes into the inflations, one side into each inflation. The large hose right under the handle and heading out to the left also goes to the inflations. It carries the milk into the tank. The hose that goes down towards the bottom of the picture heads to the air pump. The double hose and the air pump hose both attach to the pulsator which cannot be submerged when being cleaned.

The pump has to be on before the infations are put on the goat's teats. If the inflations don't attach fairly quickly and you hear the pulsator working (you will hear a 'click, click, click, click'), then check all the hose connections, even the one on the pump. If any of the connections are loose, then the suction is reduced.

Once in a while, even when all the connections are intact and secure, the suction isn't enough. Check the gasket on the inside of the lid. Every once in a while I have to open the lid and just lift the gasket away slightly from the lid. Then replace the lid and, voila! suction again!

One of the brass connectors at the bottom of the inflations isn't as snug as the other one. After the doe is done being milked and we shut off the pump, we release the pressure by disconnecting the looser of the two connections. Then we gently pull the inflations off the doe's teats.

Cleaning Step 1
Check the tank to make sure that you emptied all the milk into the holding bucket before you start the rinsing and cleaning process. We've forgotten that a few times and end up having to throw out anywhere between 1/2 gallon to 2 1/2 gallons of milk depending on if we are weighing milk between does or just filling the tank with everyone's milk.

In the photo the bucket is set up with clean water and the inflations are submerged. This is the first cleaning step--rinsing the milk from the inflations, hoses, and inside the tank. Turn the pump on and suck the water out of the bucket.


Next we throw the water from the holding tank out into the dirt area in front of the barn.

Cleaning Step 2
Disconnect the hoses, brass fittings, and inflations. We leave the inflations attached to the double air hose because that hose never touches the milk, however, all the hoses are inside the bucket. Add about 1/4 cup chlorine dioxide, then fill the bucket with clean water and let everything soak for about 60 seconds. Chlorine dioxide will continue to work as long as there is a little yellow coloring to it. Most bacteria and viruses cannot survive 60 seconds in the solution.

 Set the lid on top of the hoses, but don't submerge the pulsator (the gadget on top of the lid) or the hose connector (the part my finger is pointing at) under the water. Use a clean paper towel dipped into the bucket to wipe the handle and any other parts that shouldn't be submerged.

Re-attach all the hoses so you can suck all the chlorine dioxide from the bucket into the tank.

Wipe the inside of the tank with a clean paper towel after the chlorine dioxide has been taken up by the tank.

Swish the water and chlorine dioxide around in the tank and dump it into the dirt area in front of the barn. Rinse the outside of the tank with water from the hose.

Storage

 Take the gasket out of the lid, place all the hoses, lid, and tank in the laundry basket that is lined with a towel.

Cover with another old towel. This allows the tank and hoses to dry without getting covered with dust or dirt.

Put the bucket in the old table by the water. Keep the chlorine dioxide stored out of the sun--it degrades very quickly in the daylight.

It takes me about 8-10 minutes to clean the milker and put it away.

All done!

Solait Cheesemaking Booklet

Here is the recipe booklet that I got the idea for using yogurt in my Feta.


Solait Cheese Making
It is an old booklet written in the early 1980's I think There is no copyright on the pages and no dates in the booklet. I scanned it in and hopefully it will be useful for some new cheesemakers.

Making Pectin at Home

I haven't tried this, but I just got an email from my friend, Sheepy. Her hobby is food storage and emergency preparedness. She likes to do things herself and she doesn't have a big freezer, so much of what she does is stored in storage rooms. She is a great friend and a great resource to me!

Here are some links for you to look at (and for me to remember!)

Making Your Own Apple Pectin
by Sam Thayer
From The Forager

Practically Edible
This link teaches what pectin is and fruits that are high in pectin. It also describes how to test your pectin to see it's strength.

Making Pectin Stock
A great link directly to a PDF that teaches how to make pectin and how to store it on the shelf. You can store it in the freezer.... but if you don't have a freezer you need another option.

Who Do We Keep?

We will have to make a decision as to which kid to keep and which to sell. Both are registered, and both have different strengths. Our good friend drove 40 minutes to help us make a decision.

Lizzie. Good topline, good slope on her end, nice looking little doeling. She is about 2 months old.

Lizzie's udder and escutcheon.

Annie. Nice shoulders, good topline. No photos of her escutcheon, but it wasn't quite as good as Annie's in our friend's opinion. A little cow-hocked, but she may grow out of it. Has a bit of color so she may have to be registered as a Sable. Sometimes the color fades in the winter so we will wait and see before we send in the registration papers.

In the end we decided to keep them both through the summer and show them both. Then we will breed them with they reach 80 pounds. We will probably keep Annie because our friend said although Annie had 'busy shoulders' she had a good top line and some other good features. If she was going to pick one to keep, it would be Annie.

Shearing the Llamas

It finally got hot around here and we needed to shear the llamas. Actually, one llama and one huarizo. Daisy (the huarizo, which is a llama x alpaca) had a heavy fleece this spring. You can see in the photo below how much fleece she has.

I went out to the field to find Daisy and realized the sprinkler was on it's side... again! I realized why why kept finding the sprinkler on it's side when I found Daisy sitting on it trying to stay cool. It was spraying right onto her belly and legs. I should have gotten a picture of that!

Taco, Vet2Be's good friend, came to help us shear. He's sheared alot of sheep and knows how to use hand shears. Last year we sheared Daisy with a pair of 8" sewing shears. It worked okay, but I wanted to see how to shear with the 'real' red-handled hand shears.

I held Daisy and Taco started shearing. We have a llama chute, but it is storing RN's things before she moves. So we decided to see how Daisy did in a stall. She did just fine!

It took almost 2 hours to shear her because her fleece was so thick. Once in a while she would stand without me holding her, then I grabbed the second set of shears and worked on her, too.

So cute! Huarizos are known for being more pet-like than llamas or alpacas. They are usually sterile and they usually have a wonderful fleece.

Me holding Daisy and Taco shearing. Vet2Be was in the house sick with Strep Throat. We saved the 'blanket' of Daisy's fleece and tossed the rest.

 

Daisy didn't like anyone shearing her legs, but we were able to do it without too much trouble. Shearing her neck was trickier. I had no idea there were folds of skin at the base of her neck. I ended up holding her head down towards the floor while Taco sheared.

Meadow with two years of growth on her. We leave the halter around her neck because otherwise we would never be able to catch her. She was originally rescued by Taco's mom and then placed with us. She came to us skittish and afraid of people. Now she will come up to us and cautiously eat grain out of our hand. She is a wonderful mama llama and nursed Daisy for about 18 months--much longer than most llamas.

We paid to have someone shear Meadow the first year we had her. He stretched her out on the ground with ropes and pulleys between two trucks. She was really easy to handle when she couldn't move! This year Taco was willing to help us try it without a 'professional'. We are always greatful for his help, and he helps often!

Meadow was faster to shear than Daisy, but more difficult because she was not happy with us at all. Son1 brought Taco and I some water to drink since it was about 100˚ while we were shearing, and he got right in and helped us. Son1 held Meadow while Taco and I sheared. At first we wanted to be as fast as possible so we used the loud electric shears. After doing her back we noticed that the electric shears weren't working very well and switched to the hand shears. Hand shears don't give as smooth a cut, but they are much quieter and less to mess with than electric shears.

We didn't get a picture of Meadow with her 'bandit' mask on. Taco showed us how to cover her nose and mouth with a flour-sack dish towel so if she decided to spit we wouldn't get covered with green goo. Basically the towel was folded on the diagonal and went across her nose, it was crossed under her chin and tied behind her head. It worked like a charm! No spitting!

 Daisy peeking in the stall to see what we are doing to her mom.

I also trimmed Daisy and Meadow's toes while we had them contained. They both 'went down' as we were finishing the shearing. No problem. I reached underneath and pulled their feet out and trimmed them. Meadow ended up with Taco and Son1 laying over her back so she didn't jump up while I was trying to trim, but Daisy was fine as I pulled each foot out to trim.

Daisy and Meadow aren't too pleased in this photo. But they were fine in the evening. Both came up and ate some grain out of my hand. We didn't do a fantastic job shearing, but they have a much shorter coat and are much cooler. That was the most important!

Feta

I made a batch of Feta cheese yesterday. I love Feta.

I have made it a few other times using Ricki Carroll's recipe in Home Cheesemaking.

This time I decided to try using her recipe but substituting yogurt as the mesophilic starter. I read that in a really old recipe from the 1970's.

Instead of the feta turning out into a nice curd with a clean break, it turned out kinda weird. The curds were defiantly formed, but they were cracked and broken.

I cut it as best I could and let it sit for an hour, as it said in the recipe. Since it was getting late, I decided to let it drain in the fridge overnight instead of 4 hours as it said to do in the recipe.

This morning I tried to cut the curd, but it just crumbled. Hmmmm...... this looks very much like the feta that I have seen in the store!

Crumbly feta just right for putting on a salad. It will ripen in the fridge for 4-5 days, if I can keep from 'taste testing!'

So, from now on if I want feta that looks like store-bought feta I will use yogurt as the starter instead of the 'normal' mesophilic starter. If I want softer, cubed feta, then I'll use the mesophilic starter asked for in the recipe.

New Fence

Just a photo of the new fence. It has been up for a few weeks and has done a great job. I love looking out my window and seeing this beautiful fence!