Fresh Raw Goats Milk

WOW! This is definitely a new experience for a city raised girl. We began milking our goats and we are getting about a half gallon a day from our two does. We only milk once a day and they are left with their babies all day after the milking until about 6 in the evening when we lock the babies up in a separate pin.

My son Lance and I are both lactose intolerant and this has been a great experience for us both. Not even one little gurgle after downing some of our fresh goats milk. My other son Logan is not as excited. He is missing his store bought milk but is slowly coming around either because he is beginning to get over the thought of where the milk comes from or because he is deciding he likes milk to much to go cold turkey. Jared does not seem to care one way or another but he is enjoying the fact that we are no longer paying for milk and that we are finally beginning to see our farm animals come to... fruition?

We do not pasteurize our milk so, it is raw. This is a new thought process for me but so was gathering eggs out of the coop  the first week the chickens started layng rather than buying at the store. I do have to give props to Dansha Farms ( http://www.danshafarms.com/  ). We bought a battery operated milker from them through eBay. This was a better idea for us than a pump you pump constantly by hand because if we are out of town 9 times out of 10 my mother-in-law would be the one coming to pump and we were thinking of her arthritis. With this pump you just press a button : ). It is a closed system so this helps keep our milk clean from debris (poop, hair, mud, etc.). I am new to this but I have to say that I love this system.

We now have milk, eggs, canned food from our garden, meat from our chickens (soon goats) and gonna start raising rabbits this year as well. Jared goes fishing and keeps the freezer stocked with fresh fish and hunting in the winter and if things go well (this year they didn't) we have venison as well. We are also hoping to start raising hogs next year. My herb gardens are going in this year. We are as busy as it sounds but we love every minute of it. Self sufficiency is the goal and we are getting pretty darn close. I need a good bread recipe that can replace our store bought bread and I will feel more complete.

Baby Goats

We had our first baby goats born on April 7.

Lupine had two boys (Loki & Floki) and is a wonderful first time mother. We were so excited to all be able to be present for the birth. Of course there was mixed feelings of interest, humor and disgust from our 15 and 13 year old boys but they were no less amazed to witness their first live birth. Lupine made giving birth look like a piece of cake. She took no time pushing them out and cleaning them off. They began to eat within 20 minutes of being born. We did not weigh the boys until the next day at which time they were 8.5 and 7.5 pounds.

On the following Wednesday, April 11th Lupines half sister Lilly gave birth for her first time to a boy. She had a much harder time than her sister had. After about 20 minutes his head finally made its way out and with a little pull on his legs; to help his exhausted mom, he was right out. Lilly took a bit longer to begin cleaning him off but the poor thing was sooo tired. Once he was placed in front of her instincts kicked in and she took care of him right away. We weighed him right away and he was 10 whopping pounds. No wonder she had such a hard time. My son named him "Block Head". I thought it was mean but it has stuck. HaHa! He is still bigger than his cousins who were born 4 days before him.

Unfortunately we will not be keeping them since they are all males and Lance is extra sad since Loki has become a good friend to him. He follows him like a puppy dog and naps in his lap. He also bites him if he stops petting him. So cute. Lance has comes to terms with it but I am sure it will be very hard when they are sent off to the butcher. He is hoping someone will buy him as a pet (I kinda am too).

This week the babies are all 2 weeks old and we will begin milking the moms by the weekend. This means fresh goats milk, butter and attempting to make goat cheese too.

The boys will all be banded at about 4 weeks of age. We did not disbud these guys because we are not keeping them and so we felt it was an unnecessary harshness in their short lives. Our goal is to keep them healthy and happy for the short time they have and show them plenty of love in that time as well.

This is harder on me than I make it out to be. I am a huge animal lover but this was our goal from the start. This first week of these guys lives I found myself almost crying at the mention of the butcher. I have come to better terms with it but Jared (my husband) is sure I will cry when we drop them off and not sure if I will eat them when they come back. We will see.