My does will be freshening this spring and I would love to do stuff w/ their milk. I don't want to drink it or make stuff w/ it before I know it is safe to use. Are there diseases that can be passed to humans through raw milk? I don't want to pasteurize it because I know how much it kills the good stuff in the milk, and how much better it is for you raw. Are there some good sites I can read up on about raw milk and the possible diseases that can be lurking in the milk? Thanks
You need to be a member of Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats to add comments!
Replies
There is no simple test for listeriosis. Diagnosis is made by looking at a variety of lab tests and symptoms, so carriers cannot be identified. However, as with any disease, if you have a carrier on your property, you are going to be seeing animals with the disease. Listeria lives in soil and water for a few months, and the textbooks say it can live in silage for up to 5 years. This is why I wonder if the diagnosis of listeriosis in my goat 7-8 years ago was correct. She was born here, and goats had never lived on this property in previous years, and we had no cases of listeriosis since then. She was simply diagnosed based upon symptoms and completely recovered after being treated with antibiotics. I was building my herd back then, but if I had bought a carrier goat, surely she would have infected another goat, as well as the soil here, so it seems like we would have seen more cases. In humans, it is one of those diseases that does not usually make healthy people sick, but it is mostly worrisome for pregnant women or people who already have a compromised immune system.
There are tests for TB and brucella, which is how states become certified free of those diseases. Brucellosis and TB are extremely rare in goats in the U.S. Brucellosis is a pretty nasty disease, causing abortions and/or chronic mastitis in goats.
IS there a test for those diseases? Thanks a lot, and thanks for this site it is so helpful, I love it.
And no, we don't pasteurize our milk either.
Tuberculosis, brucellosis, and listeriosis can be passed to humans through raw milk. Almost all states are now certified free of TB and brucella, but listeria can pop up anywhere. We had a goat diagnosed with it 8-9 years ago, but she was so sick, she certainly could not have jumped on a milk stand. I want to do more research on this because I think it's interesting that we have never seen another case of it. Makes me wonder if it was a misdiagnosis or if our improved feeding regimen has kept our goats healthier. Back then we had an unknown copper deficiency problem and had lots of problems with fertility, does aborting at all stages or pregnancy, and bucks dieing by age three. We even had a doe die from Tyzzer's disease, which is a rodent disease, and there is no documented case of any goat ever contracting it. This is why I'm such a huge proponent of good nutrition for goats -- and humans, too!
Alright! I don't think I have any of those around ;) Thanks
Hint: Do not give your milking does lilac branches! (They seem to make the milk taste "off.")
Well, thanks for all your guys great information! I have yet to try a glass of goats milk but am exited to see how it is, but I wanted to make sure it would be safe. I would also like to start making goat milk soap.
I drink my goats' milk raw every day, and make cheese and yogurt with it. I make sure I wash their udders and teats, as well as my hands, before milking. I use clean cloths soaked in Hoeggers' udder wash. I dry the udders and teats with paper towels, and direct the first few squirts into a strip cup to make sure it looks OK. I milk into a clean metal milk pail (make sure you have one with no seams). You can also use a glass container, but not plastic, which could get scratched and harbor bacteria. I pour the milk from the pail into clean glass jars and put them into a smaller cooler with freezer paks, and I immediately bring it into the house, strain it into a clean glass jar, and put the jar into a pail of ice water in the fridge to make sure it cools very quickly, which should prevent the growth of dangerous bacteria. The key is to make sure there's no contamination of the milk from the time it comes out of the goat to the time it goes into you. That said, there are diseases that can affect goats that would make the milk dangerous to drink, so it's important to keep an eye on your goats to make sure they are healthy.
HERE is some good information from Fiasco Farm. Also, the Weston A. Price Foundation has some great info on raw milk, and the history of pasteurization. I couldn't connect to the page right now for some reason, but you could google it.
My family heartily believes in getting as close to the natural state of a food as possible. I started out my life, after formula :( , drinking raw cows milk from my grandfather's cows. My family uses either our own raw goats milk or raw cow milk from a local natural dairy. We've never had any problems from drinking raw milk (though I can't say the same for pasteurized, homogenized milk).
I agree 1000% with what Glenna says too. :)
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next