We Have Vampires!

Oh… yuk you will never guess what happened with my first time milking. Prepared everything by the book, got the grain for Frankie to eat, got some warm soapy water to wash her udder with, found a paper towel to dry her udder with, located a clean glass jar to milk into, rummaged for an old mug to use to collect the first couple of squirts of milk into and mentally prepared myself so as to fool the goat into thinking I knew what I was doing.

As we don’t have a milking stand yet I just led Frankie up onto the patio and hemmed her in a little stall I made with the patio chairs. I sat on a little stool next to her and commenced to wash and dry her udder and then collect the first few squirts of warm milk into the mug to check the milks colour and odour. Everything looked hunky dory so I commenced to milk her, trying desperately to get the coordination of grasping, , pinching off the top of the teat and then squeezing my fingers ( like playing a piano) down her teat.

All was going swimmingly, actually to be perfectly honest quite proud of myself thinking I have this milking thing sorted when plop something dark and round fell into the milk. What was it? Hoping it was a piece of leaf or some other inert object I kept milking. Another round thing feel into the milk soon after.  As I stopped milking and looked around her udder I saw a multitude of small, round, inflated dark discs  latching onto her udder and around her tail and on the inside of her back legs. I pinched one off and it squirted red blood over me!!! Yuk we have ticks.

an engorged tick

Ticks are these mini leach-like insects that attach themselves to mammals and suck their blood before falling off in a blood filled stupor. On closer inspection Frankie was riddled with them. They were on her ears, her face, along her back and neck and even hanging out of her bottom! Its times like these I wish I had a farmer for a husband! Luckily had  Api and Catherine, woofers who had just arrived to stay. Api said he has had a lot of problem with ticks this summer on their dog so was well equipped to assist. He grabbed some vinegar ( organic apple cider vinegar non the least) and paper towels and a rock. By smearing the tick with vinegar it makes them release their mouth from the hide so they could be pulled off easily. If you just try pulling them off apparently the mouth piece can be left in the animal causing infection. They were then quickly dealt to with a rock to squash them. Apparently they can easily leap onto any other passing mammal including us! I am sure Bear Grylls would eat them but I was very happy to see them squashed on hard concrete.

There are chemical treatments for ticks but because we are milking our goats I want to avoid these. Slowly over several days we have managed to de – tick both goats. I am sure they are much happier for it. I have read that animals can become anaemic if they have only 30 ticks feeding off them. My girls certainly had many more. I guess milk production will not be great for a while.

post note  Yes, the ticks were removed from the milk, the milk filtered and feed to the dog. Just could'nt bring myself to drink that batch after that experience.