Any parents here feed raw goat milk to their babies?

[FrenchHen]

Milk is a great place for bacteria to live. Lots of yummy sugars and above 40 degrees, it's a perfect culture. That's why they started pasteurizing it in the first place.
I saw on TV (Food Network, Good Eats) that most milk is flash pasteurized, which destroys any and all bacteria and enzymes. That strips it of much of its flavor. It is possible to gently pasteurize, but it takes time (inefficient for the industry). It does preserve many of the enzymes that make fresh milk so tasty.

Country folk are always hardier than city people, but I'd pasteurize it before giving it to my kids. I'm still losing the illusion that something from the store is safer than something we make ourselves. Husband wants a milk goat because we go through 4 gallons a week between him and the boys.

If you get it tested for TB and it's negative, and if you practice good food safety, why would it be a problem?

 

[Sebrightmom]

We drink raw milk here and wouldn't change it. The thing is with raw milk if you are very clean in your milking you should be just fine. Raw milk has wonderful healthy bacteria that does benefit your body. The problem with pasturizing it is that the good and bad bacteria is killed. I am a member to a yahoo group called RawDairy. There is a lot of great information on this group if you have any questions. Good Luck.

 

[mekasmom]

You vaccinate goats against TB, clostridia, and a few other diseases, so that shouldn't be a problem if you vaccinate your goats.
I wouldn't give a child under a year old raw milk. It is too easy for them to catch salmonella. My husband and I both use raw goat's milk, but I would hesitate to use raw millk on an infant.
My dog's litter caught clostrida once from raw goat's milk I got from a friend. It taught me to not trust unvaccinated goats nor to trust goats from other farms. I never got sick from it, but the puppies did.

 

[Msbear]

I wish I could have goats just for the milk. It's illegal!! to sell raw milk in WV so I have to drive to amish country in northerd MD just to get it

The doctors have to cover their butts and will tell you to stay away from anything that could potentially be dangerous. I believe this world has gotten so far off track that now their telling us young children shouldn't be around farm animals and we shouldn't eat or drink things in their natural form ... all the while new studies are coming out to prove children raised on farms have better immune systems and less athsma and allergies and that eating and drinking things in their natural form is the healthiest way to consume by gaining the most amount of nutrients.

Keep your livestock healthy and they will reward you with their goodies

 

[mountaintopchicken]

I have a friend who worked on a dairy farm. It was clean and the cows were well taken care of. If it weren't that way, he wouldn't have worked there. He had a good full time job with the state, with benefits, and only moonlighted at this farm because he loves cows.

Anyway, everyone who worked there drank the milk raw, with no problems. Until there was a problem - he got listeria. That's the chance you take with raw milk. It could be no-problemo for years or even a lifetime. Or, you could get listeria at some point. With a child that young, there are greater risks. It's definitely a judgment call.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

My friend who raises and milks dairy goats heats all their milk before drinking. It is not difficult to do, and it will save you a lot of aggravation in the future.

Basically, the milk comes out the udders, which are practically below the rectum and urethra. Even though you may wipe down the udders before milking (which you should always do anyways!) you can never be sure whether or not you've actually gotten all the bacteria from feces, dirt, etc.

Of course, I've had unpastuerized milk and I lived, but there is always a small risk of illness. I didn't really see a big difference between the boiled milk and the raw milk though, so I'm not really sure why you wouldn't want to boil the milk before using.

My friend also boiled the milk even if she was giving it to her baby goats. She always tells me it is just a good practice to get into.

 

[Msbear]

Quote:
Good Point, chickerdoodle

 

[cariboujaguar]

There is a raw goat dairy here and they have ben in opperation for years and years. The only outbreak of Ecoli was from their cows so they sold them out, cows are too dirty to trust raw milk from. Maybe if you had one or two but a handful in a dairy opperation, all it takes is one person rushing to not follow proceedure...

Now we bought our first goats for our daughter, she was 1 at the time and the organic formula we kept her on was changing companies and wouldn't be available for 2 months! She loves the goat milk and so do we, we'd never boil it that kills all the good stuff! Like with anything you need to be mindful of how you keep your animals and how you collect the milk. only 2 Nigi's should be super easy to milk and care for without endangering the health of your family.

So keep your girls in clean fresh bedding, a draft free, dry shelter. Get a pre-dip and a post-dip iodine treatment in two different dip cups or spray bottles. Wash the udder down with a clean warm rag then spray down with predip or dip with predip and clean off again with a new rag. Milk into a clean stainless steel bucket making sure as little debris as possible falls in (this is best to avoid by rubbing the does udder, tummy, thighs etc with your hand before doing washing the udder- or you can shave their tummy, udder, thighs with horse clippers) once you've milked one doe I always pour it into a container or something so one cranky doe can't spill two does milk (really bad start to the day, lemme tell you)
be sure to dip the teats after milking to block the orifice and avoid mastitis, let the doe finish her grainif she hasn't already then let her into the pen and get the second doe.

I'm sure people could make plenty of arguments about chicken eggs as well, they could be dangerous is not handled proparly right?

 

[ksacres]

I'm not a parent, but if I were, I wouldn't hesitate to feed fresh raw milk from my own animals. I know what they eat, how they're cared for, vaccinated, medicated, etc. I know they aren't injected with hormones, fed high estrogen feeds, or needlesssly medicated.

Yes, pastuerization kills any potential "bad" germs, but it also kills the beneficial bacteria.

Many people that can't drink milk from the store do just fine on raw milk.

 

[Chatychick]

All Ian say is I feel better drinking raw goats milk than pasturized dead cows milk. I am still here and we used to go to the dairy when I was little and get raw milk with no after affects. I drank raw goats milk for years and feel great and I am 51 this month and still going strong. I cant stand store bought milk and will drink frozen goats milk when my goats are dry. I have learned to freeze enough to last...my friend drinks it also and she dont have the heartburn she used to have and feels so much better. the doctor told my DIL the same thing about raw milk but they have to say that dealing with the public. Rules I guess...Yep it dont last around here either to take the time to pasturize it either...