One of the things I dearly love about living here on our little "farm" is that I can have my dairy goats! :) I love my goat girls and it is so nice to always have fresh, raw milk available. Since we don't have a big family, a goat is just the right size to meet our needs and then some!
In addition to drinking the milk and using it for cooking and baking, I also use it to make yogurt, buttermilk, ice cream, and cheese. Madeline kidded in March of 2011 and I didn't breed her back in the fall but continued to milk her through the winter. She is still producing well over 3 quarts a day, enough to feed BW the bottle baby, meet all of our needs and supply two of my friends who buy milk from me every week. Here in about a week, when BW goes to his new home, I will have an additional 2-1/2 gallons of milk every week for cheese making.
If you are thinking of adding a dairy animal to your farm, consider a goat. They don't eat as much as a cow, produce less "waste" and don't give as much milk, which is often a good thing. I don't know what I would do with an average of 6 GALLONS of milk a day! Yikes!! Just remember though, you'll have to have at least two goats as they are very social animals.
This week marks my one year Blogiversary! :) One of the first posts I did was Milking Time, check it out if you would like. Linking up with Lisa and Nancy for Rural Thursday, Deb and Heidi for Farmgirl Friday, Lisa for Farm Fresh Friday and Tayet for Forever Farmgirls Friday.
24 comments:
We've been toying with the idea of getting a dairy goat. I think we probably will at some point. Milk has gotten so expensive, and while I don't drink it, my boys sure do!
very clever title.
glad you threw in the part about them being herd animals and needing a buddy. :)
First of all - congratulations. I have really enjoyed your blog.
Great goat post! I am impressed that she continues to have milk, even though you didn't breed her back. I am going to try my hand at cheese this year. I hope we like it : )
Happy Blogiversary! Time sure goes by when you're blogging, doesn't it? I LOVE my blog (not to just pat myself on the back) because it's a great way of keeping records that I can go back to.....as long as I don't crash my computer or somehow lose my blogger thingy.
BTW, I have your goat yogurt recipe in the yogurt maker right now! Only a few more hours until I get to see if I screwed it up or not!
Congrats!!!
Congratulations on one year of blogging!
Congratulations on the anniversary. I'm impressed that you make cheese from some of your goat's milk. And can you really make yogurt from it? I've never seen it commercially available, but would love to try it.
I look forward to breeding my baby Penny in a year so I can have fresh goat milk =)
I wish you would write a post on "horned" goats... so many dehorn, I would like to hear the "other side" and hear what problems you have found, and the "plus" side of not dehorning.
congrats on the blog-a-versary!! i've never had goat milk before...how different is it from cow milk? we drink 1% milk, is is very thick? that would be wonderful to have my own milk machine!
Happy Blogiversary! Yay! for goat milk! It does a body good. :)
Happy Blogiversary!
Happy Anniversary!!!!! :)
My co-worker was raised on goat's milk. When she was a child (in the city) she couldn't tolerate cows milk so they had to find a farmer with a goat. It was the only type she could drink!
Happy Blogoversary, Candy -- so happy to have met up with you. Love your interesting posts and photos.
Your goat is such a pretty girl and how great that she gives you milk for all of those projects.
Thank you for sharing at Rural Thursdays this week!
We have 2 milk goats & sure enjoy the milk, cheese, etc. My daughter & I share milking duties, so we both get the benefits.
What kind of ice cream maker do you use? I'm trying to decide what or if to get one.
I enjoy your blog.
This has been a very frustrating week and a half for me...I have been having trouble seeing SOME pictures on people's blogs! I can't see the shots you have of the blueberry scones (though I want to try the recipe and will be copying that down!)OR your pictures of the jackrabbit! I can see only one of the shots on this Goat Milk post. I keep trying back to see if it is a Blogger problem that has finally cleared up, but even though I've rebooted and re-plugged and restarted, I am still having issues! It's infuriating! I enjoyed the goat cheese very much, and would really consider getting a goat if we do move! I love buttermilk and yogurt, too!
loralie,
I have a little Rival 1-quart electric ice cream maker. The bowl part stays in the freezer so there is no need for ice or salt. It makes ice cream in 20 minutes or less! I bought it at Target a few years back for less than $30. Hope that helps! :)
what a nice blog you have! would love to be able to have a goat! Never had the privilege of real country living!
Happy Blogaversary to you Candy... I like your title too!
I have to agree goats are great for their milk!
thanks, Candy, for the info.
Our Max would probably be jealous if we got goats! But, it would be fun. I'd love to be your neighbor and buy some milk from you!! Happy Anniversary, may you have many year's worth of fun farm posts!! Thanks for linking up with FFF!!
Happy 1st Blogiversary, Candy!
Happy blog aniversary! I am a bit jealous of your milking goats. Hopefully someday I will have some...
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