Goats make excellent milkers for the small farmstead. They are very efficient users of feeds, converting more pound per pound to milk than a cow. They are smaller body size, intelligent and easily trained to milk. The equipment required to milk your doe is minimal. However the time you will invest in caring for your milking doe is large.
They must be milked twice daily without fail. If you cannot milk on any given occasion, you must find a substitute to do it for you. It cannot be postponed. If this seems unrealistic for you, then congratulate yourself on your good foresight. If, on the other hand, you have a home based lifestyle, then milking may easily fall into your routine of daily activities.
The main item you will require besides a 'freshened' doe, one who has kidded recently, and is lactating, is a milking stand and stool. A stanchion style milk stand is preferred by many. The doe will quickly enjoy her time on the stand if you give her grain rations there.Many does enjoy grooming with a rubber curry brush while on the stand. In addition when she is relieved of the pressure of her full udder, she will gladly allow you to milk her, once accustomed to this process.
As mentioned goats are quite agile; with some encouragement you can teach her to jump up onto the milk stand and receive her grain. Once she does this willingly, the stanchion bar is secured which allows her to move her head up and down, forward and look around but not back. This is important because you will be seated near her side to milk her. if she backs up milking is nearly impossible, and she will surely step into the milk pail and spoil the milk you've collected or tip it over. so always secure the stanchion bar when she jumps up onto the stand. If you find training your doe to jump up difficult, a ramp may be added to the stand for her to walk up onto it.
A few other items will be required in addition to the milking stand which you may make yourself or purchase ready-made. Stainless steel milking pans or pails, at least one of each; iodine compound for cleansing the udder just prior to milking or another approved product for this purpose; towels, soft brushes for cleaning milking equipment, milk filter paper, for filtering the milk after collection and a refrigerator kept at 38 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit in which to store the milk. Learning to milk really isn't hard; practice makes perfect, and you can laugh while you get the technique down.
Remember, it is very important to milk your doe each and every day at the same time or very close. Many does will become ill with Mastitis and a serious fever if you do not. For more details about the process of milking, consult your library, the Internet for videos or your extension agent. Contact the American Dairy Goat Association, located in North Carolina to learn about others in your area who have milking goats.
Goat milk when well handled is nutritious, good tasting and naturally homogenized. It is easily frozen for later use. Consult with a veterinarian or your state extension service to learn if any specific health tests are recommended for your milking animals. It is not unheard of for milking species to carry forms of tuberculosis or brucellosis; both diseases are transmittable to humans. For any sales of milk to others, your state may have several specific requirements. Learn what these are if you intend to sell any milk or milk products.
A final note, there is a specific breed of sheep which produces good quality milk, often used in yogurt or cheese making, the Holstein sheep; like the cow of the same name it originates from the same region of Europe. They are available in the United States about 20 years now. Check the internet or the breed association for breeders and locations.
For more about care of goats or sheep: http://oncollinspond.blogspot.com/2014/02/sheep-and-goats-small-farm.html
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