First, let me start by saying I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my goatie girls! :) For a long time, I wanted chickens and dairy goats, now I have both! My Nike and Madeline are Alpines, Abigail is half Nubian half Alpine. They are three generations, Nike, Madeline and then Abigail.
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| Nike |
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| Madeline |
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| Abigail |
Madeline is my current milker and my plan is to not breed her and milk her through the winter. I plan on breeding Abigail next month and then to start milking her in the spring after she kids. You can read more about the girls and how I got them here:
Goat Girls. I have always only milked once a day because there is no way we could use all the milk I get! Madeline kidded on March 29th and this morning, I got over three quarts of milk! I get enough for our needs, all my baking for the Farmer's Market each week, two batches of cheese each week and five quarts for a friend of mine every week! Who needs a cow!!
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| Madeline likes to let herself into the milking shed!! |
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| Before.... |
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| ...After!! |
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| That's a lot of milk!! |
Everyone has their favorite breed of dairy goat, mine happens to be the Alpines. I have had a Nubian and a Toggenburg and they were both VERY sweet girls but the Alpines really appeal to me. They are quieter than the Nubians; Lydia Sue was a screamer! LOL!! The Alpines give nice, sweet milk; I have heard that the Toggenburgs were bred specifically for milk for cheese making and their milk can be kind of strong. I never actually milked Tara because I didn't need her milk at the time and she wasn't trained. I don't have any experience with Saanens but they look like Alpines only whiter! :) I can't quite get past the ear thingy with the LaManchas but have heard great things about them. There are also Oberhasli and Pygmy dairy goats. Dairy goats have great personalties, are easy to care for and they provide fresh milk that can be used as is or made into cheese, etc. I think they make a great addition to any small farm! :) Besides, the kids are just SOOO darn cute!
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| Abigail the day she was born! |
Linking to the
Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop at Deborah Jean's Dandelion House.
12 comments:
whew! that full udder! yikes!
They are soooo cute! I can't wait until we have one of our goats in milk.
TWG,
You should have seen her udder when I first started milking her this year!
Kristina,
It is really great to be able to provide our own dairy products!
Oh, I want one, always have to give them love at the state fair, til we get a bigger place someday... do they tolerate the heat pretty well?
My girls tolerate the heat okay. Madeline actually has more trouble with the cold, she shivers on the coldest mornings when I go down to milk. I usually end up draping my jacket over her back while I milk her! LOL!!
I love when I'm milking! I really want to get a building that has a better place for me to milk. right now I'm getting about three quarts/day. I'm drowning in milk! What a great problem!
Teresa
I can personally vouch for how wonderful we Saanens are!
Teresa,
I really like my milking time too, it's kind of "my" time. No matter what kind of mood I'm in, when I get down to the barn, I just feel happy! :) Gotta love the calming influence of the goaties (well, when they aren't in the soybean field)! ;)
Millie,
I figured you would vouch for the Saanens! ;) No-one around here has them so I can't find out for myself how wonderful you all are!
They are sooo cute! I cant wait until my goats give milk
Stephanie,
It is such a great feeling to be able to provide our own milk and cheese, I'm sure you will really enjoy milking your goats! :)
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