Opinion Forum

Milking Goats

April 13th, 2009

On Saturday my grandma and grandpa took my sister, Ashley, and me to Brian Bagent’s house. Ashley and I were waiting the past week to go to his house. We know Brian because he and my grandma work together at the hospital.

Like he described in the article posted below, Brian has lots of animals. He has cats, dogs, rabbits, chickens, pigs, and goats. He has a little farm in the big city!

First he showed us his rabbits. I got to hold the big white one. It was so cute and fluffy.

His pig had four piglets but three died. We saw the piglet. It was so cute and so small. It was the size of our little kittens. The piglet was being fed with an animal newborn bottle with goat’s milk. I found out that the little pig loves the goat’s milk and is growing really fast.

Then Brian let out all of the baby ducks into the pond he made. It was so cool to see them swimming in the pond. Ashley kept saying, “Awww, they’re so cute!”

After that, Brian and his three sons chased down the first goat, Priscilla, to show us how to milk her. She is a sweet, pretty, white goat. Brian taught us how to milk a goat and it was really fun. He also taught us how to shake the utter to get more milk. This was our first time milking a goat. My grandpa started helping us milk the goat! Ashley missed the bucket when she milked and sprayed me with milk!

Brian let us milk two more goats and while we milked them, Brian’s son played a song for us on the keyboard. He’s so funny! There’s nothing more fun than milking goats with music! I’d have to say Priscilla was the easiest for me to milk. Ashley says the third one was the easiest for her.

After we finished milking them, we got to taste goat’s milk! It tasted so good. It kind of tasted like soy milk. Brian gave us a pint of milk to take home. Brian said that the milk was Pasteurized by boiling it at 180 degrees for thirty minutes to make it safer to drink.

I’m so glad Brian let us come and taught us how to milk goats. This is definitely an experience to remember! Thanks, Brian!

Articles written by Amber
Tags: animals, goat, milking
Categories: Life, News | Comments (8) | Home

8 Responses to “Milking Goats”

Tom | April 14th, 2009 at 8:45 am

Amber, this is a great article! It makes me remember when I was about your age and someone tried to teach me how to milk a cow. I don’t know who was more reluctant—me or the cow. As I remember it, I got more milk on me and the ground than I did in the bucket.

It’s nice that you and Ashley get to see and do things like this. Too often, kids growing up in or near big cities don’t have these kinds of opportunities. Of course, it helps if you know a gentleman farmer like Brian!

doris | April 14th, 2009 at 5:03 pm

Coooool! Wish I could have gone…. But I’m with Tom, I hate milk. What a great experience. Tom, remember when we rode the calves? Guess you can’t ride goats, are they hard to keep in the pasture, Brian? I need a few to help mow, horses cost too much to feed…cows are kind of stupid and hateful. Suggestions? Where do I get a mole trap, never heard of one? My cats catch one, every now and then.

Elizabeth Barrette | April 14th, 2009 at 6:34 pm

It’s wonderful for children to learn where food comes from and basic skills like milking. Thanks for the lovely article and photos!

Jan | April 14th, 2009 at 7:47 pm

This is a delightful story, Amber. Brings back a lot of memories of growing up in farm country, feeding cows, etc. I never milked a goat, though one tried to eat my pants!

Brian Bagent | April 16th, 2009 at 2:13 am

Good news, Amber. I checked my rabbits yesterday, and they are definitely pregnant. Babies are due on 1 May. Maybe if you sweet-talk your grandmother and mother, they will let you have one of them.

Jessica | April 16th, 2009 at 9:12 am

Amber it is so cool to get to do that. My uncle has a farm and some chickns and two cows but not goats. I dont think I would want to milk one or drink the milk. Me and my sister visit him a lot and see him milk the cows but we dont do it.