People occasionally ask if Babydolls can be milked. In 2015, my husband and I milked 10 ewes for almost a month, and I would like to share that story Each evening, starting when most of the lambs were about 6 weeks, we separated the lambs from their mothers, keeping them in a pen in a shed while the ewes went back out on grass. They could hear but not see each other. The lambs got some grain, and didn’t suffer any noticeable damage from the loss of part of their milk supply. About 9 hours later, at 5 A.M., we rounded the ewes back up and started the milking rodeo. I wish I had taken pictures of the milking process, but I didn’t. Some of the girls were more cooperative than others, but none were 100% submissive.

The “stanchion” was simple – 2 T-posts driven into the ground in a “V” shape so that when an ewe’s head was high, it fit easily between them, but when it was low, she couldn’t back up. We tied the halter rope to a post in front of her so she could put her head down into the grain bucket, but not up. Then each of us held a container below our side of the udder, sat on a bucket or low stool, and milked until it was mostly empty. Milking these sheep is a 3-finger task, and by that I mean thumb plus 2 fingers. You get the hang of it after a little practice. We averaged a little less than 10 minutes per ewe, so the whole group of 10 took close to an hour and a half.

Nothing gives you insight into which ewes have the best udders like milking these sheep—an important consideration in my breeding program. One got nicknamed “tiny tits,” and she had the lowest milk yield besides being difficult to milk. Yield ranged from ½ cup to 2 cups per ewe, with about a cup being average (dairy sheep give about 8 cups a day, in 2 milking sessions). At the time, we thought the ewe who usually gave 2 cups just had the highest capacity, and while she does have a really well-shaped and productive udder, I later realized it was probably partly due to her twins being several weeks younger than the rest. Ewes really pour their energy into making milk for those lambs, and milk production drops fairly quickly as the lambs get older and start to depend on other food. We got 2 to 2.5 quarts a day, with yield dropping as they got farther out from their lambing dates, and into hotter summer weather.

After turning everybody back out onto pasture together, we strained the milk through a cloth and headed to the house with it. Often our kids were up by then and had been out to visit us. We kept it in the fridge until there was enough for a batch of cheese—usually 2 gallons. The milk was rich and had more flavor than “normal” milk, but was still quite mild and nice to drink. Milk to cheese ratio was 1 to 1.5 lbs. per gallon.

We made several types of cheese, mostly those traditionally made with sheep milk, including Romano, feta, Gouda, paneer, ricotta, and manchego, following instructions from a book about cheesemaking. It was all good, except the Manchego we tried to age. Six months later, it was firm and beautiful and had a nice smooth texture, but a brown mold on the outside had caused the flavor to go off. Our cellar-type storage area probably didn’t have adequate airflow. The yogurt was also very good. We have talked about doing this again, but there always seems to be a reason such a large time commitment is impractical. I have more ewes now, and if I were to do it again, I might separate them into two groups and only milk those that had singles.

This video looks like a good resource on How to Milk a Sheep by The Grass-fed Homestead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku34i-LOFUg

If you have photos of food products you've made with milk from your Babydolls, please share with us. Send an e-mail.