Selling raw milk for 18 month old

eclipchic · #21 05/17/11, 07:09 PM

In our state its illegal, shares are a gray area so I would have to sell her a goat and offer to board it. When I give (free) extra milk to friends, I tell them how to pasteurize it and that they didn't get it from me (usually with the "but I want my jars back"...haha!). These are very trusted friends though who already buy raw cow milk on the DL. We are still learning so I do pasteurize it for my 2yo. I would be just ill if I made my own kid sick.

Manchamom · #22 05/17/11, 07:29 PM

In Washington you must have the permit to sell shares also. Pet milk must be dyed, but you know a toddler doesn't care if his milk is blue.

LFRJ · #23 05/18/11, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rootsandwings

from the legality angle - you could lease them a goat and make arrangements to board it and milk it for them - they come get their milk. Have a written contract. I'm not sure what to do about the fact that that gives them a lot more than a gallon a week - you don't have niggles do you? that would reduce it some....

We have a single Kinder doe in milk - coming up on a year and still going so strong, we're milking through> avg. 1/2 gallon per day. Her two doelings (both one month shy of a year) have not been bred so I have no does to sell.

Thanks everyone, for the best advice ever! I was afraid I wouldn't get much understanding over being nervous. I know we're all goat owners and not afraid of raw milk - but selling it is an entirely different matter.

So - I'm looking for a testing facility. I DEFINITELY want to keep up with that. Great suggestion.
We will be having a talk about selling pasteurized milk from here forth. I'll sell her raw this one time. (I have to sleep at night, too!)
I think we'll be going with the 'sign a waiver knowing it's for "pet consumption". Does anyone have a similar contract from which i can borrow verbiage? I don't know legaleze to well.

Thanks again.

Usingmyrights · #24 05/19/11, 10:23 AM

My thoughts are that they are specifically asking for it so I'm sure they are aware of the risks. Also at 18months the baby has had time to let its immune system build up some so its not like its being fed to a newborn with a much lower immune system. You could always have them sign a waiver if you're concerned.

RoyalValley · #25 05/19/11, 07:05 PM

I specifically put my Daughter on Raw Goats milk when I couldn't nurse her any longer (oops baby was on the way

) started her at 6 months and went well over 18 months. I wouldn't even hesitate to sell it to her with the baby being older.

Make up a simple waiver for her to sign as well, that'll make everyone happy. Doesn't have to be 10 pages. If you look up cow-share or goat-share programs on google some of them have links to their waivers.

DWH Farm · #26 05/20/11, 09:06 AM

I understand and share your concern. When I first got my goats my plan was to sell milk to help pay for their feed (legal to sell up to 100 gallons off the farm here in AR). I have no problems selling it for 2.50 a quart. I have come to realize thought that while me and my family consume it raw (the reason that I got goats is to have raw milk) and I give some to a few family members and close friends, I just really dont like selling it to people that I dont know. Its kind of hard to explain, I know that it is handled well, chilled quickly, etc but to me it simply isn't worth the stress of worrying about "what if"...Like someone else said someone could get sick and it have nothing to do with the milk but still blame it on the milk.. Not to mention having to schedule pick up times, people not showing up when they are supposed to, etc. I think that it I can get as much value using the excess to make cheese, soap, raise bottle babies, etc and NOT have to worry about it. Maybe I am just a worrywart, I actually wish that I didn't feel that way..

Our Little Farm · #27 05/20/11, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaliannG

My granddaughter can ONLY consume goats milk raw. She cannot consume any other kind of milk at all, and if it is pasteurized, she reacts badly to goats milk also.

I am GLAD I have goats and didn't have to depend upon having to get someone to agree to sell me raw goats milk for my granddaughter in this state, where it is illegal. The doctor had her on rice milk (she couldn't consume soy milk or any of the infant formulas, she just threw them up) and while she was surviving on it, it had very little protein and fat for her growing body, and she was very behind developmentally.

I thought she was going to be permanently disabled. At 6 months, she barely moved, she still couldn't track things visually. She slept most of the time and she was obviously underweight.

Raw goats milk saved her. Literally, within a week of changing her diet to raw goats milk, there were EXTREME, *obvious* changes. She became active and playful, she started tracking visually, she started GROWING. It was amazing the changes that happened in such a very short time....and these changes were so extreme and so huge, that no one, not even her doctor, could chalk them up to a growth spurt.

Considering my own experience with my own granddaughter, who is nearly two years old now and speaks in complete sentences, and is mentally *ahead* of her peer group, I could not imagine not selling (or giving, depending upon the circumstances) raw goats milk to someone with an infant in need, no matter what the legalities are here.

This is just my experience and my feelings. If I had not already been into goats and had goats milk, would my granddaughter still be unable to see clearly, listless, and wasting?

I have to wonder.

Oh my gosh! I could have written this post, about my own daughter! She was so ill, they tested her for lukemia etc.

To the OP. I would get them to sign something saying that they they know the milk is NOT being sold for human use.

It will cover your back.

Maybe discuss your concerns with them.

IF you are still very uneasy, then don't do it. It's one thing feeding your own child raw milk, to someone buying it illegally.