Pasteurization is the process of heating a liquid to below the boiling point to destroy microorganisms - developed by Louis Pasteur in 1864 to improve the keeping qualities of wine.
Why pasteurize your goats milk? 1 To increase milk safety by destroying disease causing microorganisms (pathogens) that may be present in milk. 2 To increase the quality of goat milk products by destroying spoilage microorganisms and enzymes that contribute to the reduced quality and shelf life of milk.
Practical pasteurization can be achieved by using the following tools:
Double boiler
Digital pressure cooker - Instant pot
Home pasteurizer - SafGuard Pres-Vac.
Milk can be pasteurized by heating milk to pasteurization conditions of 145°F (62.8°C) for 30 minutes for a batch process, or 161°F (71.7°C) for 15 sec. Milk should then be cooled as quickly as possible and stored at less than 40F.
How to feed heat treated colostrum and pasteurized milk to your goat kids.
Feeding heat treated colostrum and pastueurized milk after separation of kids from does at birth provides the perfect opportunity to limit transmission of diseases that can be transmitted in milk such as Caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAE), Johne’s, mycoplasma, salmonella and E. coli. Important points to know about feeding colostrum:
Colostrum is the first milk a doe produces after she freshens - rich in antibodies energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals
Kids should be fed at least 10% of body weight of colostrum within 8 to 12 hours of birth
antibodies that can be absorbed by the gut of newborn kids up until about 24 hours of age - most effectively absorbed within the first 12 hours. Kids start producing digestive enzymes at 6 hours
Passive transfer is a method of providing kids with “passive immunity” to disease-causing organisms until kids start producing their own antibodies - liquid gold
High quality colostrum contains 50 mg/L or more of immunoglobulin-G (IgG). This can be measured using a refractometer. Colostrum should be > 1.050 specific gravity or > 21% Brix
Colostrum is damaged by high temperatures used for pasteurization - antibodies are denatured and the colostrum begins to cook and solidify and cannot be fed
To adequately heat treat colostrum it should be heated to 135°F (57°C) and held at that temperature for 1 hour.
gentle heat treatment with use of a water bath to regulate temperature more closely is easily achieved with a digital
thermostat controlled sous vide machine or pressure cooker such as an instant pot
After heat treatment colostrum should be fed at 102F
Colostrum can be also be frozen for later use, freeze for up to 1 year and thaw in water bath at 120F
Kids can utilize the nutrients in colostrum after 24 hours - feeding colostrum up to 3 days after birth can lead increased early growth and development
After the initial colostrum feeding, kids should be fed a safe source of milk in increasing amounts to accommodate their nutrient needs for growth. Below are some guidelines for bottle feeding pasteurized milk.
Measure milk portions to feed 15% of bodyweight in milk per day divided between 4-6 feedings per day
Do not allow kids to overeat on milk - unable to fully digest the milk before it refills its stomach by nursing again, creating a potentially life threatening toxic condition called enterotoxemia
I have listed below some of the tools that I routinely use to easily and affordably heat treat and pasteurize milk at home.