I finally have a goat--in milk!!!!

[miss_thenorth]

I brought her home last Thursday. LIfe has been crazy for the the last week, so I haven't been on the forum much to share the news.

She is an alpine, age unknown, but she doesn't look too old, and this is her 2nd freshening. I bought her from a sahm, who desperately wanted raw milk for her family, but found the demands of milking and having three kids under the ager of three overwhelming. So, sadly, the mom had to sell the goat. Her name is Caprice, and she is giving us justr under a litre of milk per milking, and we are milking her twice a day. DD and I fight over who gets to milk her.

The first time we milked her, it took three of us. She was in the milking stand, with hobbles on, but hubby had to hold onto her back legs, since she was trying to do handstands on the stand. I would hold the bucket, and dd would try to milk. The first time we only got about a cup of milk. Hubby was not impressed. That was thursday evening. Friday morning, three of us again, same set up, but we got about 2 cups of milk. Friday evening, and ever since, we are getting just under 4 cups per milking. Yesterday and today, while I had back up for milking, Caprice was wonderful on the stand, and I could milk her all by myself.

We are ecstatic, we finally have raw milk again. and getting much more from this goat thatn we did with the sheep.

In fact, I need to go look for easy recipes for cheese. I have already made goats milk ice cream and ricotta.

Also, I used my kefir grains in some goats milk, after they had been in storebought whole milk--does it take a while for the grains to become accustomed to the goats milk, because it didn't turn out.

 

[framing fowl]

So do you have an automatic customer? Will she buy from you or are you keeping all the milk yourself? Do you still have the sheep?

 

[miss_thenorth]

No, unfortunately she is an hour awasy from me, so she won't be buying any milk. Yes, i still have the sheep, but we gave up on milking them. Now, we will just raise them for meat.

If this is too much milk for just us, which I doubt, I just need to learn how to make cheese and soap--, hubby works with a coupla guys who would be interested in raw milk. We will just have to see how it goes, but we are thrilled that we are getting so much!! And that she has calmed down on the milk stand!!!!!

 

[savingdogs]

Yay you!

I made farmer cheese first, I can give you the recipe if you need it, but Java and I made it as a first cheese and it is real easy and really good.

We have been making more pudding and buying just about anything at the store that is labeled "just add milk" lol

I have an easy first soap recipe too.

I love having the goat milk, this is my first year. Mine are FF and I didn't expect much this year so I've been pleasantly surprised.

We have seen a huge jump in the price of goat feed so we don't see a big financial savings for milk with the added feed being so high, but I'm still pleased to be self sufficient.

 

[miss_thenorth]

SD, how much milk are you getting from a FF? And yes, I would love the soap and farmers cheese recipes!!! As far as feed goes, she is on pasture fulltime, and at feeding time I am just giving her some minerals, oats and alfalfa cubes for now. i will soak my grains if I think she needs it, but so far she seems fine. I will post some pics or rather, I will have to get my dd to upload pics.And 2 litres seems like a good amount, so no need to feed her to get her production up. I am gonna have to do lots more reading to brush up on goat health, since it has been a while since I had goats, and Ihave never had a goat in milk before.

 

[lorihadams]

Congrats!!! I have one in milk now too and we have finally settled into a routine. I am only getting 10-12 oz per milking but she's a nigi so that's not too bad. I still get a quart a day from her almost which is enough for us right now. I will be glad to have another in milk too so I can have some extra for soap and cheese and stuff too. I'm trying to freeze some for soap cause it is just too blessed hot right now to be standing over a pot of soap outside (I don't want to do it in the house with the kids under my feet...safety first, right?)

I'm having trouble stripping her teats at the end....she won't let me so I just have to milk and milk and milk until I just get dribbles and hope that is good enough. Mine also hates the teat dip so I had to put it in a spray bottle and spray them....she hates that too but she dances less for the spray bottle.

Our dairy goat feed is running about $15 per bag....how high is yours? We use Blue Seal Dairy goat feed.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I haven't priced out goat feed, I had oats, and the girl I bought her from was only feeding oats and barley, and she was out of barley. She seems fine on just oats. When I get to half a bag of oats I will go to the feed store and price it out, but I;m not sure if I will feed it to her. I have more reading to do, and want, really to keep her to a more natural diet. as in -what they normally eat. I have been going to the bush across the road and clipping some weeds, and branches etc for her. She loves that.

 

[freemotion]

Lori, don't strip goats. Milking until there is just a dribble is perfect. Cows=strip. Goats=don't strip.

MTN, congratulations! If you get a tiny bottle of veal rennet and a packet of M19 culture from www.dairyconnection.com you can make a whole bunch of cheeses. I didn't like chevre when I first started making cheese but I made a batch using this culture and oh, my, is it good! There are other resources, ofg uses a different one, but that is the one I'm familiar with.

I am feeding my does oats (soaked) and alfalfa pellets on the stand. I'm going to start adding a bit of beet pulp again because I'm having to race them too much lately and the soaked beet pulp really slows them down.

Branches from trees are a really, really good supplement for a goat, especially a lactating doe. The deep roots of the trees provide a more mineral-rich food source that goat's need. I bundle branches with a ball bungee and hang them from a snap in the stall. Grows nice, healthy kids, too.

Oh, and your kefir will love the goat's milk. It may be a bit runnier than you are used to, after using pasteurized milk. You can strain it through a cloth to thicken it up, like you would when making yogurt cheese. I do this when I want to make dips or salad dressings with it. Otherwise, I use it as a drink, so runny is ok. It still has all the benefits and good bacteria. Goat milk yogurt will be the same, runny, unless you pasteurize. But then what is the point of having the raw milk? Just use it in different ways and consider it to be a different product altogether. Or strain it on occasion for a thicker product.

I am falling in love (after only one batch!) with using chevre the way many use yogurt....with berries as a quick snack or part of a quick meal for on-the-go. I don't like the taste of yogurt so this works for me. A bit of honey and vanilla extract is wonderful, too.

 

[savingdogs]

Here is the recipe I started with:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Home-Made-Farmers-Cheese/Detail.aspx

And here is the soap recipe I started with:
http://www.pureandnaturalsoaps.com/recipe-easy-crisco-soap.html
I (I just substitute 8 ounces of water for 8 ounces goat milk)

they are both super easy and made me confident to try other cheese and soap recipes.

I've been using the recipes on the Junket packet of rennet (from the pudding section of the grocery) and using buttermilk and yogurt as my starter to make soft cheeses. I hope to try motzarella next!

 

[miss_thenorth]

thanks Free, so the kefir is good then. I got a blendtech for my b-day last month, so we have been doing smoothies, and I just dump the kefir in with frozen fruit etc, so I don';t need it thick. I have strained it( the storebought milk kefir) to make dips with my dehydrated veggie mix. It is awesome, -can't wait to try it with goat milk kefir.

I'll have to order some cheesemaking supplies, and get some soap making supplies. I am soo excited!!!!