Back in the Dairy Business

 Guess what???  Last week we were blessed to add goats back onto the farm.  Hubby and I always said that goats and chickens are our non-negotiables, meaning no matter what we would try to have them.  We had found an awesome family who was selling their herd.  We bought a doe and her buckling from them.  Another family had a milking doe for sale.  Our herd now consists of two beautiful ladies, and one tiny baby boy.  The mamas are milked every morning and evening.  When we first brought them home, they were so unsure of everything.  Now we have a routine.  In the mornings we let Mocha, the mama who didn't come with a baby out first.  She walks to the milk stand and jumps right up on it.  Once she is done, we open the door for her to return to the pen.  After that is Latte's turn.  Both Latte and her son, Java, come right out and hop up too.  This morning Mocha wasn't moving fast enough for Latte so Latte pushed her off the milk stand.  It was pretty comical.  Goats need to be milked at least once a day, preferably twice.  We milk around 5:15am and 6:00pm.  Typically milkings should be about 12 hours apart.  Milking is a huge commitment.  We can't decide to sleep in, or to not milk because it would mean that the poor goats are in pain.  Without kids (goat kids that is) nursing from their mamas, the udders remain full.  If they are not milked by a human (or a machine) they will be incredibly full and uncomfortable.  The goat mama would then realize that there is no point in producing milk and would dry up.  As long as the goat is milked daily she will continue producing milk whether or not she has a kid around.  Java (the buckling) nurses from only one side of Latte, so we milk from the other.  Between the two does we get almost a gallon of milk a day.  I will be trying  my hand at cheese, soap and anything else I can to use up the milk.  I made ice cream last week and yum oh yum! 

  These goats are so entertaining and I could sit for hours watching and playing with them.  I would think everyone would want a goat (just maybe not a milk goat).  I am sure the goats will dominate some posts here.  How can they not when they are so stinking cute?