# 2 raw milk questions



## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

1. I read something very recently about old farmers feeding clabbered milk to their chickens instead of ever buying grain.
But the article did not specify exactly what clabbered milk was, or how to make it. Anybody know?

2. We left a 32 oz. mason jar of milk on the counter straight out of the goat, by mistake. So when we realized it, it was a day old, so we left it there just to see what happened. Its day 3, and it has separated into what looks like green pee on the bottom 3 inches, and the rest looks like a floating mass of mayo. blech!
what did it do? Im afraid to open it.


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## Guest (Oct 14, 2007)

It's true. Farmers used to feed clabbered milk to chickens and pigs. My mother did that when I was growing up. Her mother and grandmother did before her, and probably generations before that. I used to have some really OLD books about raising farm animals, and they all recommended it.

To clabber it, just set fresh raw milk in a bucket and let it "age" overnight or up to 24 hours. It will get thick. Then pour it into a trough for the pigs or chickens. It's not to replace grain, it's to supplement grain as the protein portion of their diet. They grow and fatten out wonderfully on it.


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## Ark (Oct 5, 2004)

Our 50 or so chickens free range over 10 acres, and they get milk in some form almost daily, and not a whole lot of actual chicken food. 
I was giving one coffee can of chicken food a day, and they all look healthy and good sized, growing well, etc. BUT, I have some 7 month old pullets who are not laying yet and I am worried they arent getting enough of whatever they need, so I upped their food intake. 
We have plenty of extra cow milk, so after I skim the cream off, I usually make kefir out of it and the chickens get almost a gallon a day. I feel that the kefir is better than any probiotics that you can buy and they love it. I have a goat who loves to drink milk and gets diarrhea when she gets into the chickens milk, but now that I give kefir instead of milk, she doesnt get the runs from it. Good for _her _ too!


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## HazyDay (Feb 20, 2007)

My milk did that also. I opened it and it only has a little smell. Flush it down the toliet! I did that so I won't have to smell it anywhere! (Maybe not the best idea but it worked!)

In the spring when the does are milking their best, and their is WAY to much milk for the kids and me I give any extra to our hens! Extra protien!


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## Lannie (Jan 11, 2004)

The "green pee" at the bottom is whey. The "mayonnaise" is the clabbered milk. There's nothing wrong with it and no reason to flush it down the toilet - that's the stuff the chickens like.  

~Lannie


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## Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians (May 6, 2002)

But milk in small quaitites is good for the septic tank too  I always fed the hens sprouted oats and milk soaked alfalfa pellets. Vicki


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

By mistake they delivered a 50# bag of ground corn instead of cracked in my order. So today I made cheese and cooked a couple of pounds of the corn meal in the whey..breakfast for the hens tomorrow. Any cheese booboos and all whey gets fed to the chickens. If you pasteurize, feeding the whey back to the goats should be okay too.


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

so I could feed the chickens both the clabber, AND the whey?
do I chop up the clabber or give it in a chunk?

and sitting the milk out on the counter overnight to make this happen wont make us sick if we use the whey in a recipe?

how long is too long? its been there 4 days now, and suddenly the whey is most of whats left, and the clabber has reduced in size to 1/3rd the original size. it is slimy and very firm.

what exactly is whey? I mean the milk clearly separated. what part was the whey? homogonization prevents this correct?

why would you have to pasturize to feed the whey back to the goats? could I heat it on the stove after separation to achieve this? I do not pasturize.


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## Guest (Oct 15, 2007)

What you're seeing is the solids in the milk separating from the liquid. You've had it setting out long enough that you're seeing the primitive beginnings of cheese (though I wouldn't eat it).


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

lonelyfarmgirl said:


> so I could feed the chickens both the clabber, AND the whey?
> do I chop up the clabber or give it in a chunk?
> 
> and sitting the milk out on the counter overnight to make this happen wont make us sick if we use the whey in a recipe?
> ...


We routinely eat the sour cream from leaving the milk out for a couple of days - this is skimmed off the top and the whey is then used in bread making if it's that day or just put out into a plastic tub for the hens. Ohh Boy, they just really drink it up and the cheesey bits left are worth fighting over! 

You want to pastuerize for feeding back to goats so that you don't possible infect your whole herd to CAE. Now if you had CAE tests that are neg for years and a closed herd I suppose you wouldn't bother but it's just a precaution. And yeah, just bring the whey up to temp as usual.

As for what is whey, I'm sure wikki would be a good thorough source of info.

Have fun!


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

Liese said:


> We routinely eat the sour cream from leaving the milk out for a couple of days - And yeah, just bring the whey up to temp as usual.


is the sour cream skimmed off the top different from the clabbered milk? the white looks like all one piece to me.

also, what do you mean bring the whey up to temp as usual?


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

The whole top is sour cream after a couple of days in my cool kitchen. I skim it off into a container and refridgerate. Since we are big "baked potato for dinner" fans it doesn't last very long here. You might want to do some internet searches for clabbered cheese - a few ideas out there.

For pastuerizing the whey, just bring it up to 165* ( this temp is what I do), hold a couple of min. and you're good to go. Google "pastuerizing" to read about other temps and methods.


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## Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians (May 6, 2002)

Unless the milk captured a bad mold or bacteria from the container or kitchen it's simply cheese, try it. Now don't even think about doing this with grocery store homogonized milk!

This first step in letting the acid rise and curds form is how natural cheese, without cultures and rennet are started, this is the culture. If you simply strained off this whey, and hung the curd, salt it lightly, it would be a good, albeit tart cheese spread. The whey can be boiled, an acid added, vinegar, lemon and you have low fat ricotta...the rest of what is left, the yellow water is simply water (which milk is mostly water) and riboflavin, still a good supplement for the chickens, or use to make lemonaid.

Google Rona Sullivan, she makes cheese just like what you have accidentally done. Vicki


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## Jillis (Sep 11, 2005)

I give my chickens milk directly from milking---should I be letting it clabber for some reason? I have one doe that I am drying up. I going to sell her back to the dairy goat farmer, her milk has to me a slightly off flavor. I milk her out once a day, get about a quart only, and give it right to the cats and chickens. They all drink it right up!

Thanks, Jill!


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## Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians (May 6, 2002)

There is no reason to clabber it, mine is used to sprout the goats milkstand oats, to feed to the hens, so it is clabbered when fed, no other reason. My dogs and pups all get regular milk. Vicki


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

so vicki, you say you sprout milkstand oats for youer goats in the straight milk? do you pasturize it first?

I have noticed if I let it sit on the counter, in the closed jar, not only does it swell, but it consistantly takes about 4 days to separate completely.

Ive been giving it to the chickens everyday, and they gobble it up. I wonder if the same thing would happen with raw milk I have skimmed and frozen, if I de-thaw?


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