Hi Folks,

I have a doe that gave birth yesterday. When I milked her last night, it was definately colostrum, so I heat-treated it and froze it. This morning and this evening, her milk seemed more like milk than colostrum, it's probably a mix of both. So, should I pasteurize this like milk, instead of heat treating it like colostrum? Or, shall I not even take a chance at using this? I'd hate to waste it, I just want to process it correctly. Thanks

-- Charleen in WNY (HHFarm@rochester.rr.com), March 10, 2002

Answers

I pasteurize if it is NOT yellow any more. If it is still yellow then I heat treat, and bottle feed to the kids. When there is still colostrum in the milk it really messes up the pot for true pasteurizing. I've spent more time cleaning the pot than it took to heat treat;).

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), March 10, 2002.

You have to heat treat second and sometimes thrid day milk, because pasturising it to 165 will turn it into little erasers :) You can tell when you are milking because milk with colostrum in it doesn't foam up, or take some of the milk and boil it in the microwave, if it is still milk than you can pasturise, if it clumps then it has too much colostrum in it and you have to heat treat! This is why the last does of the year as they dry up I freeze milk, so the kids get colostrum for the first day, and then right onto frozen milk, I throw 2nd and 3rd day milk to the dogs, then pasturise 4th day milk that is fed to the kids..................whew! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 11, 2002.