Dairy Goats Of Our Very Own

A couple of years ago, we had the privilege of goat-sitting for some friends.  I fell in love with the peaceful rhythm of milking in the morning and at night.  We were amazed at how delicious the fresh milk from these Swiss dairy goats tasted.  There wasn't a trace of "goat taste."  The cute little does we watched over for a month have since had kids, and we are now the happy owners of two.

They are only seven weeks old so there will be no milking until March; perfect timing for us.  One of the most important jobs our children have is loving on the little kids so they don't become wild and milking will be easier for them.

These cute little goaties are half Oberhasli and half Saanen; both Swiss dairy goats with exceptional milk, known for their gentleness and ease of milking (perfect for families with children who will help with the milking).

When the day is done, you will find my nose buried either in one of two books: Natural Goat Care or the Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening.  They might not be the most inspirational literature when it comes to writing style and creativity, but this new-farmer-needing-wisdom mama is captivated by them both.  When we are not doing, we are learning.  It's a very happy, full season of life and I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. 

Dairy Goats

There's a question that's been churning in my brain for years now.  It's very serious.  A lot of careful thought and consideration is needed.  Actually, it's a pair of questions: DO I or don't I want to commit to dairy animals?  If I do, should we get goats or a cow?  I have decided answer to the first question is yes. (Yes, even though I'm pregnant.  Perhaps I want lactating buddies or something.  Nevermind.)  This next month will help us decide the answer to the latter.  We are goat-sitting for our good friends for a little over a month altogether.  We have in our care two of the cutest little oberhaslis you ever did see.  They are the sweetest things.  Almost like dogs.   These two does are quite affectionate and they love to be around people.  After my brother-in-law milked the first (and hardest) one, today, I milked my very first goat.  See?

The does were super docile and just chomped up their feed while being milked. (By the way, I had to stop myself from saying "nursed" instead of "milked" several times.  Uh...)  Guess how much milk we got from just one of the two milkings today?  This much!

Which translates to this much!

This was only the first day with dairy goats, mind you, but here are some observations made thus far:

• Listen.  I hate the flavor of store-bought goat's milk.  Barf.  But this milk tastes nothing like it.  No goaty aftertaste at all.  Even my very reluctant husband tried some and said, "Why do we not have goats?  This is amazing."  Whoa.
• Goat milk doesn't cause mucus production, so my kids could still enjoy raw milk from grass-fed animals even if they're stuffy.
• Goats are much smaller than cows and (I'd imagine) not as intimidating to milk.
• The fat molecules in goat's milk are so small, it doesn't separate from the milk and rise to the top, which also means no cream can be yielded. Which also means no butter.  Yikes!  Butter!
• Fabulously amazing soap can be made with goat milk, something I plan trying out sometime within the month.  Yippee!
• Goats are lower maintenance than cows.

There are a lot of pluses when it comes to goats.  But the thing is, I love butter.  And buttermilk.  And ice cream.  And cheese.  To have a dairy animal that can't produce cream for butter et cetera is almost too hard to consider.  We'll see what happens this month.  Maybe things will change.  I would so incredibly love to hear from those of you who have raised both dairy cows and goats and what your take is on it all.  Help a sister out, will you?

Time for bed.  Milking comes early, and I can't lie.  Writing that makes this sissy rancher just a little bit giddy.

I'm sharing this at Simple Lives Thursday, Barn Hop, & Farm Girl Friday.