posted 1 year ago
It is mid spring in New Zealand and despite sharing my two new dairy cows with very healthy calves, I am swimming in milk for a family of two. My chickens love milk and will eat the cultured whey, and will slowly eat some of the citric acid whey. The dogs drink any of them but then pee in the house if given too much. I am ordering the microbes to Make a hard cheese, but I am also looking a separating the milk and freezing the curds for winter for the chickens or dogs. Doing some research, however, it seems that the cheese curds will be mainly casein, and most of the limiting proteins for chickens will be in the whey. I can freeze whole milk, but have a limit in room. I don't have a woodstove with free heating to evaporate milk. I am wondering about making them into yoghurt and then spreading it in the sun on a cloth to evaporate, hopefully the acid would stop bad bacteria. (Or evaporating cultured curds)
I am third generation vegetarian, so a pig is not an option.