Colostrum

The first 12 hours are the most crucial for goat kids.  They are born with no immune system, they carry nothing over from their dams.  They will absorb immunities from the colostrum, the quality of the colostrum they receive in the first 12 hours will greatly effect the type and strength of immunities for the rest of their life.   If you are fortunate enough have been doing this for years, or have extra colostrum - save the colostrum out of your healthiest, hardiest, oldest does.  Saving and feeding their colostrum to your keeper kids or future dairy does will improve overall health for generations to come.   When it comes to colostrum the thicker the better..

Dose are usually producing colostrum up until about 12 to 24 hours after birth.  I milk out does 3 times  - once at kidding, and twice more 8 hours apart.  I consider these to be colostrum and after that just a transitioning form of milk. 

First fresheners will have the poorest quality colostrum - but still good enough to give kids what they need to survive. For first fresheners I usually just consider the first 1-2 milkings 'colostrum' depending on thickness.  Whenever possible I try to have colostrum on hand from an older doe to give to kids for the first feeding.  Then mix half and half with the first fresheners milk the 2nd feeding.

Heat treating colostrum - trouble shooting

Heat treating colostrum can be a tricky skill to master.  Holding at 135' but no more then 140'F for 1 hour.  Too hot and you will end up with a rubber mess of custard, to low and you have to start all over again.  Small amounts are harder to handle then larger amounts. 

I like to do about 1 quart at a time.  If I'm in a pinch and have less then a pint, I may add raw milk to the colostrum to help it survive the heat treating process.  I will also do this with very very thick colostrum.   You can add water as well - but milk is a much better choice.  Of course strait colostrum is the best, but better to have it milked down then ruined while cooking.

Make sure you have a good working thermometer - or better yet two to cross check with each other if you are having problems.  I heat my colostrum up to 140' in a double boiler on the stove.  Heat this up SLOWLY to avoid over heating and turning to rubber.  I run very very hot water through a thermos to heat it up.  Once the colostrum is at 140, I pour it into the thermose (dump the water out first), and let it sit for 1 hour.  After 1 hour I check the temp, needs to be at least 135' - it's usually right around 138',  cool down to 100' and it's ready to feed kids, or stick in the freezer for next year.

I have alos herd of people successfully using temperature controlled slow cookers for heat treating colostrum.  Place the colostrum in zip lock freezer bags.  Fill the cooker with hot water - enough to float the bags, and set the temp for 135-140'  Check the water temperature when it's reached 135-140 and set the timer for 1 hour.