I have been milking Bluebell ,one of our obliging Dexters,and can get over five pints in 20 minutes leaving the calf with her.The cows were recently T.B. tested so at present I am not too worried about drinking and cooking with the milk.My question is ,has anyone produced a home testing kit to regularly monitor if the milk is still o.k. to drink regarding T.B.,or can i take it somewhere to have it tested? would there be a suggested test time period between tests,and how much would it cost? At home we use over 54 pints a week,so the chance for some free stuff is tempting!
I made ice-cream,quiches rice puddings and caramel custards which were all eaten with awe and appreciation of our little cows,but I would like to be 100% confident that it is safe to use .
milk from our own cows
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Duncan MacIntyre
- Posts: 2372
- Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2004 12:38 am
- Location: Isle of Bute, Scotland, UK
I don't think there is any way you can ever be 100% sure that fresh milk is completely free of every possible nasty thing it might contain. Having said that the sole reason we got into
Dexters in the mid 1980's was to get a supply of fresh as opposed to pasteurised milk for our family. They both survived very well on it, as did I as a boy drinking Ayrshire milk still warm from the cow.
The TB risk depends on local circumstances of course. I might take a different view if our ground was riddled with badgers with TB and we were regularly having TB in the herd. In the 1940's and 50's my predecessors in the vet practice here had a centrifuge to spin down the milk of suspect cows and stained it with Ziel-Nielsen stain on slides before microscopic examination, but that would be for suspect cases rather than as an assurance that milk was ok. TT milk came from cows which had been Tuberculin Tested, it was not the milk which as tested.
The main thing to do is to be sure that you are as hygienic about the milk production as possible. Have all utensils squeaky clean, clean hands, wash the udder and dry it, and keep the cow herself as clean and well groomed as you can. Filter the milk. I personally don't like having milk from teats shared with a calf - bucket feed the calf, it makes for very well handled calves.
Besides TB there are a lot of other things you MIGHT get - salmonella, campylobacter, cryptosporidia, endless different strains of E Coli, Q fever, listeriosis esp if you are making cheese. But if you keep up the hygiene, and only take milk from cows you know are fit and well, then in my opinion the risks are not great.
Duncan
Dexters in the mid 1980's was to get a supply of fresh as opposed to pasteurised milk for our family. They both survived very well on it, as did I as a boy drinking Ayrshire milk still warm from the cow.
The TB risk depends on local circumstances of course. I might take a different view if our ground was riddled with badgers with TB and we were regularly having TB in the herd. In the 1940's and 50's my predecessors in the vet practice here had a centrifuge to spin down the milk of suspect cows and stained it with Ziel-Nielsen stain on slides before microscopic examination, but that would be for suspect cases rather than as an assurance that milk was ok. TT milk came from cows which had been Tuberculin Tested, it was not the milk which as tested.
The main thing to do is to be sure that you are as hygienic about the milk production as possible. Have all utensils squeaky clean, clean hands, wash the udder and dry it, and keep the cow herself as clean and well groomed as you can. Filter the milk. I personally don't like having milk from teats shared with a calf - bucket feed the calf, it makes for very well handled calves.
Besides TB there are a lot of other things you MIGHT get - salmonella, campylobacter, cryptosporidia, endless different strains of E Coli, Q fever, listeriosis esp if you are making cheese. But if you keep up the hygiene, and only take milk from cows you know are fit and well, then in my opinion the risks are not great.
Duncan
Duncan MacIntyre
Burnside Dexters 00316
Burnside
Ascog
Isle of Bute
Burnside Dexters 00316
Burnside
Ascog
Isle of Bute
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Rutherford
- Posts: 229
- Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2004 9:08 am
Given the choice of milk from factory kept cows, or my home produced milk I know which I would feel safest with. For the last seventy odd years I have consumed home produced milk and its products, mostly from a cow suckling her calf. You know your own cows are healthy and that is the surest guide, moreover recent studies suggest that milk from cows fed largely on grass is likely to be better for you. Pasteurisation removes more than germs, and I wouldn’t want to be deprived of my own home produced.
Beryl (Woodmagic)
Beryl (Woodmagic)
We keep a pet black and white and have milked her for 3 years. we are lucky enough to have a milking machine. Duncan is right about hygiene, everything should be clean, get some pre wipes and post cleaner, use lots of dairy hypochlorite on everything. If the cows healthy i would would rather take my chance with my own cow than the manufactured milk of today.
we filter ours, there is lots of equipment available, goat nutrition website has lost of useful equipment. a filter and a butter churn are my recommendation.
our ancestors thrived on unpasturised milk so why shoudnt we.
i also find i enjoy working with the cow and we have become trusted friends, if thats possible.
i havent yet tried milking a dexter but i just might soon
dominic
we filter ours, there is lots of equipment available, goat nutrition website has lost of useful equipment. a filter and a butter churn are my recommendation.
our ancestors thrived on unpasturised milk so why shoudnt we.
i also find i enjoy working with the cow and we have become trusted friends, if thats possible.
i havent yet tried milking a dexter but i just might soon
dominic
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Duncan MacIntyre
- Posts: 2372
- Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2004 12:38 am
- Location: Isle of Bute, Scotland, UK
Sorry, I try to avoid too much contradiction in my posts, but a BCG vaccination may give some protection from TB, but there are many other infections which can be got from raw milk. I would not like to try to produce a complete list, but E Coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Cryptosporidiosis would do for a start. Hygiene is extremely important and will not completely remove all risks. Having said that I think the risk is small and took it with my own family. However what I would do for myself and my own family is my affair and not necessarily exactly the same as I would have to advise others in a professional capacity.
Duncan
Duncan
Duncan MacIntyre
Burnside Dexters 00316
Burnside
Ascog
Isle of Bute
Burnside Dexters 00316
Burnside
Ascog
Isle of Bute
Children exposed to very small amounts of animal bacteria grow stronger immune systems. The explosion in allergies of all kinds in children seems to correlate to the overuse of antibacterial this and anti-viral that in everyday use these days.
We grew up with unpasteurised milk from a dairy herd tested for the various diseases of the time and the only thing we did to the cows before putting the cups on was to wash them. We didn't spray them with antibacterial sprays and things after milking, they way they do today to combate mastitis.
We ate home grown meat and eggs as well. We were far healthier than a lot of the city children of today, who are exposed to chemicals and pollutants their bodies aren't equiped to handle. Give me old fashioned germs anyday, over some of the environmental poisons around today. At least we had control of our own environment, none of our food ever gave us food poisoning and with sensible hygiene, we weren't sick very often, mostly the deseases we got were from the other kids at school. Now they innoculate for those as well. Farm raised kids are much healthier in general than city raised kids and can cope with a small amount of bacteria in their food. We even coped with the germs from the odd dead opposum that was sometimes found in our rain water tank when it was being cleaned out.
Teaching kids to wash their hands before meals should be a huge amount of the cleanliness they need.
We grew up with unpasteurised milk from a dairy herd tested for the various diseases of the time and the only thing we did to the cows before putting the cups on was to wash them. We didn't spray them with antibacterial sprays and things after milking, they way they do today to combate mastitis.
We ate home grown meat and eggs as well. We were far healthier than a lot of the city children of today, who are exposed to chemicals and pollutants their bodies aren't equiped to handle. Give me old fashioned germs anyday, over some of the environmental poisons around today. At least we had control of our own environment, none of our food ever gave us food poisoning and with sensible hygiene, we weren't sick very often, mostly the deseases we got were from the other kids at school. Now they innoculate for those as well. Farm raised kids are much healthier in general than city raised kids and can cope with a small amount of bacteria in their food. We even coped with the germs from the odd dead opposum that was sometimes found in our rain water tank when it was being cleaned out.
Teaching kids to wash their hands before meals should be a huge amount of the cleanliness they need.
Inger
NZ
NZ
There are certain health risks associated with drinking raw milk but most farm families or regular have an aquired immunity .The main risks are visitors to the farm and immunocompromised people such as infants ,pregnant women aids sufferers etc. Obviously high standards of hygiene and cleanliness reduce the risk but an home pasteuriser might be considered a good investment.
TB is really not a huge issue as the number of people infected with Mycobacterium Bovis is negligible(in Ireland anyway) but my main worry would be E Coli 0157 which only requires a small infective dose . I am not sure of the figures but I remember attending a lecture which stated that the incidence of 0157 in scottish cattle was relatively high but then you only find it if you look for it....
TB is really not a huge issue as the number of people infected with Mycobacterium Bovis is negligible(in Ireland anyway) but my main worry would be E Coli 0157 which only requires a small infective dose . I am not sure of the figures but I remember attending a lecture which stated that the incidence of 0157 in scottish cattle was relatively high but then you only find it if you look for it....
I milked one of my Pygmy goats for about 11 years before I pensioned her off ( which she wasn't that pleased about). About 1 pint a day for us and the rest for her twins. I only cooled it and strained it - helpful if she'd stuck her foot in it - used some and froze some. We are still here, although dear Tessa is long gone. I'm in agreement with Inger - to much fussing these days about just about everything. I ate a chocolate mousse last night which was 2 weeks past its use-by date. It looked, smelt and tasted alright and those were the three tests by which all food used to be judged.
Of course, if you are selling foodstuffs it is important not to poison your customers if you want to stay in business but simply washing hands, keeping everything clean and storing properly ought to suffice, shouldn't it?
Of course, if you are selling foodstuffs it is important not to poison your customers if you want to stay in business but simply washing hands, keeping everything clean and storing properly ought to suffice, shouldn't it?
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jeanthomas
- Posts: 98
- Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2004 9:09 pm
- Location: Hundon, Suffolk.
While we don't have the TB problem in Canada, (knock on wood!), the same thing that makes milk a perfect growing medium for good bacteria (lactic) also makes it a perfect medium for bad bacteria. If you know that your cow and her udder are healthy and you are careful about cleanliness with your milking process then bad bacteria shouldn't be a problem and there is nothing better than fresh raw milk! Liz