Our Milking Practices

When obtaining raw milk from someone else's farm it is important to understand the manner in which the milk is collected and stored to ensure your safety from contamination. Our family depends on our clean, fresh milk for optimum health and we feel confident that you can too.

We milk our goats in a clean barn with plenty of space and open ventilation. No livestock reside in that barn. It is used for storage and milking only. The goats are brought in for milking twice a day and the area is cleaned after each milking if any part of the area is soiled.

Before handling any milking equipment and before EVERY milking we wash our hands thoroughly with soap and water. We keep the goat’s stomach and udder area clipped to help keep anything from sticking to the hair and falling in the milk.  We brush off all dirt and hay that lay loose on the goat’s coat. Then we wipe each teat individually again with a disposable sanitizing dairy wipe. We squirt milk from each teat onto a wipe to clear the opening of any dirt or bacteria that may be resting there and then we proceed with hand milking.

Immediately after milking, while still in the barn, we filter the milk into a clean tote and cap the tote tightly. The milk is bottled in the house about 30 min later and rapidly cooled in an ice water bath for 30 minutes then transferred to the fridge. We use only 1/2 gallon glass mason jars to allow for faster cooling than gallon jars. Rapid cooling of the milk is important in preserving the naturally occurring lactic acid bacteria (the good guys) that help prevent the growth of potentially harmful bacteria. To ensure the best quality, milk must be cooled to 45 degrees within two hours of the end of milking.  Ours is cooled to less than 40 degrees in less than an hour of milking.

All of our milking supplies are rinsed in cold water to prevent milk stone from forming and then washed in the dishwasher where they are sterilized.

All of our goats are confirmed CAE, CL and Johnnes free. As members of CA DHIA milk testing every month a sample of each goat’s milk is sent to Fresno DHIA lab and tested for butter fat %, protein %, bacterial levels for possible infection.

If any milk ever becomes contaminated by any means (like something falls in the pail or one of the goat’s sticks their foot in the bucket), it is immediately discarded. The shareholder will always be notified of any concern like in the case of mastitis which could create a decrease in the milk supply and the need to withhold the shareholder's weekly milk, the shareholder will be notified and will not be charged the boarding fee for those weeks.