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| - | # Dairying | + | This topic is part of [[gt: |
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| - | ## What is dairying? | + | ===== What is dairying? |
| Dairying is the production of milk from livestock and may also involve processing the milk into other products. Dairy products include, but are not limited to: milk, cream, ice-cream, butter, cheese, yogurt and soap. The most common dairy animals worldwide are cows, sheep and goats, but horses, buffaloes and camels are also milked. Harvesting milk from animals may have begun as long as 10,000 year ago with nomadic herders, after which it was taken up by the first settled agricultural communities. Today dairying takes place all over the world at all scales, from subsistence farming communities with a few goats to ' | Dairying is the production of milk from livestock and may also involve processing the milk into other products. Dairy products include, but are not limited to: milk, cream, ice-cream, butter, cheese, yogurt and soap. The most common dairy animals worldwide are cows, sheep and goats, but horses, buffaloes and camels are also milked. Harvesting milk from animals may have begun as long as 10,000 year ago with nomadic herders, after which it was taken up by the first settled agricultural communities. Today dairying takes place all over the world at all scales, from subsistence farming communities with a few goats to ' | ||
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| - | A milking cow with her calf still at foot (pic:[Sven Hansen](https:// | + | _A milking cow with her calf still at foot (pic:[Sven Hansen](https:// |
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| - | ## What are the benefits of dairying? | + | ===== What are the benefits of dairying? |
| If milk is part of your diet, you can ensure that your milk has been produced in an ethical and sustainable way - that animals are allowed to roam outdoors, have a natural diet and are allowed to remain with their young. You will have the peace of mind of knowing exactly how the milk is produced and how the animals are cared for. | If milk is part of your diet, you can ensure that your milk has been produced in an ethical and sustainable way - that animals are allowed to roam outdoors, have a natural diet and are allowed to remain with their young. You will have the peace of mind of knowing exactly how the milk is produced and how the animals are cared for. | ||
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| - | Anglo Nubians are a popular dairy goat breed, probably the best goat breed for making cheese due to a high butterfat content (pic [cliff1066™](https:// | + | _Anglo |
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| - | ## What can I do? | + | ===== What can I do? ===== |
| - | ### Choose your animal | + | ==== Choose your animal |
| If you're thinking about producing your own dairy products, one of the first things you need to consider is which animal will best fit your needs and resources. Your main options are cows, goats and sheep, here we’ll take a brief look at the requirements for each and what you might expect to get in return. | If you're thinking about producing your own dairy products, one of the first things you need to consider is which animal will best fit your needs and resources. Your main options are cows, goats and sheep, here we’ll take a brief look at the requirements for each and what you might expect to get in return. | ||
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| - | A dexter cow and calf. Dexter cattle are a small dual-purpose breed increasingly popular with smallholders (pic: [Pieter Delicaat](https:// | + | _A dexter cow and calf. Dexter cattle are a small dual-purpose breed increasingly popular with smallholders (pic: [Pieter Delicaat](https:// |
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| - | The Saanen is a dairy goat breed useful for producing large volumes where liquid milk is the desired end product. They often have very long lactations (pic: [NSW DPI Scools Program](https:// | + | _The Saanen is a dairy goat breed useful for producing large volumes where liquid milk is the desired end product. They often have very long lactations (pic: [NSW DPI Scools Program](https:// |
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| - | The Friesland is one of the best dairy sheep breeds (pic: [Northdevonfarmer](https:// | + | _The Friesland is one of the best dairy sheep breeds (pic: [Northdevonfarmer](https:// |
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| - | ### Breeding | + | ==== Breeding |
| You can usually breed cows and goats every second year to maintain a supply of milk. Goats in particular sometimes go much longer (see above). Sheep are usually bred every year to maintain a milk supply. On a small scale, keeping a bull or a billy goat is often not realistic. Rams are slightly easier to manage and may be worth considering if you have quite a few sheep. | You can usually breed cows and goats every second year to maintain a supply of milk. Goats in particular sometimes go much longer (see above). Sheep are usually bred every year to maintain a milk supply. On a small scale, keeping a bull or a billy goat is often not realistic. Rams are slightly easier to manage and may be worth considering if you have quite a few sheep. | ||
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| - | Some cows can be milked out in the field with just a stool and a bucket (pic: [Nick Farnhill](https:// | + | _Some cows can be milked out in the field with just a stool and a bucket (pic: [Nick Farnhill](https:// |
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| - | ### Milking and hygiene | + | ==== Milking and hygiene |
| When your animal has a kid, lamb, or calf at foot you can obtain some milk by preventing the young from nursing overnight. This can be done in such a way that mother and young are not completely separated and can still see each other and have some contact, e.g. in adjacent stalls. When your dairy animal has young at foot you have the flexibility to miss a day's milking and allow the offspring to take the extra milk. | When your animal has a kid, lamb, or calf at foot you can obtain some milk by preventing the young from nursing overnight. This can be done in such a way that mother and young are not completely separated and can still see each other and have some contact, e.g. in adjacent stalls. When your dairy animal has young at foot you have the flexibility to miss a day's milking and allow the offspring to take the extra milk. | ||
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| - | Milking | + | _Milking |
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| If you wish to sell your milk, you will need to have one room for milking and one room for milk processing, away from where your animals are housed. These rooms will need to meet the current hygiene regulations, | If you wish to sell your milk, you will need to have one room for milking and one room for milk processing, away from where your animals are housed. These rooms will need to meet the current hygiene regulations, | ||
| - | ### Milk products | + | ==== Milk products |
| **Cream:** cream is obtained by leaving milk to stand overnight in a large shallow container, heating gently then skimming the cream off. There are accounts of skimming off with a slotted spoon, a ladle and a turkey baster, find the one that works for you! If you're producing a lot of cream you can purchase separators which use centrifugal force to separate the cream from the milk. Once you have your cream you can make whipped cream, sour cream, ice cream and butter. | **Cream:** cream is obtained by leaving milk to stand overnight in a large shallow container, heating gently then skimming the cream off. There are accounts of skimming off with a slotted spoon, a ladle and a turkey baster, find the one that works for you! If you're producing a lot of cream you can purchase separators which use centrifugal force to separate the cream from the milk. Once you have your cream you can make whipped cream, sour cream, ice cream and butter. | ||
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| - | A milk / cream separator from the early 1900s (pic: [Dennis Jarvis](https:// | + | _A milk / cream separator from the early 1900s (pic: [Dennis Jarvis](https:// |
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| **Cheese:** cheese is an excellent way to preserve milk. The simplest cheeses to start with are soft cheeses. Making soft cheese involves adding a starter and other ingredients to the milk, leaving to stand for 24 hours then draining off the liquid ' | **Cheese:** cheese is an excellent way to preserve milk. The simplest cheeses to start with are soft cheeses. Making soft cheese involves adding a starter and other ingredients to the milk, leaving to stand for 24 hours then draining off the liquid ' | ||
| - | [More about cheesemaking here.](https:// | + | [More about cheesemaking here.](chee:cheesemaking) |
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| **Soap:** goat's milk is the milk most commonly used to make creamy soap bars, but other milks can be used too. In any soap making recipe the water can be replaced with milk, although the milk should be chilled or even frozen before the lye is added. | **Soap:** goat's milk is the milk most commonly used to make creamy soap bars, but other milks can be used too. In any soap making recipe the water can be replaced with milk, although the milk should be chilled or even frozen before the lye is added. | ||
| - | [More information on soap making](https:// | + | [More information on soap making](ints:natural_soaps). |
| If you are wishing to produce milk or other products to sell then you will need to be registered with Trading Standards as a food business. You will be inspected and licensed by the Food Standards Agency, and inspected and approved by your local Environmental Health Officer. There are many rules and regulations that need to be adhered to, procedures and risk analyses to complete and records to keep. Regular milk samples need to be sent for testing, for which there is significant cost. You need to consider the latest food labeling requirements and send samples for shelf-life testing. If you are considering selling milk, then the best thing to do is to first seek advice from your local Environmental Health Officer and the Food Standards Agency. | If you are wishing to produce milk or other products to sell then you will need to be registered with Trading Standards as a food business. You will be inspected and licensed by the Food Standards Agency, and inspected and approved by your local Environmental Health Officer. There are many rules and regulations that need to be adhered to, procedures and risk analyses to complete and records to keep. Regular milk samples need to be sent for testing, for which there is significant cost. You need to consider the latest food labeling requirements and send samples for shelf-life testing. If you are considering selling milk, then the best thing to do is to first seek advice from your local Environmental Health Officer and the Food Standards Agency. | ||
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| - | ## Further resources | + | ===== Forum ===== |
| + | This topic belongs to the section [[gt: | ||
| + | It is also in the section [[gt: | ||
| - | ## Specialist(s) | + | ===== Further resources ===== |
| + | - [Backwoods Home Magazine](https:// | ||
| + | - [Organic Herd](https:// | ||
| + | - [British Sheep Dairying Association](https:// | ||
| + | - [Compassion in World Farming](https:// | ||
| + | - [History of milk, cream & butter production](https:// | ||
| + | - [The Kitchn](https:// | ||
| + | - [The Kitchn](https:// | ||
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| + | ===== Related topics ===== | ||
| + | |||
| + | - [Smallholding](smho: | ||
| + | - [Cheesemaking](chee: | ||
| + | - [Cattle](catl: | ||
| + | - [Sheep](shep: | ||
| + | - [Goats](goat: | ||
| + | - [Keeping livestock](livs: | ||
| + | - [Natural soaps](ntso: | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===== Specialist curators of this topic ===== | ||