Wholesome Wednesdays: Goat's Milk

As most of my readers know, goats are high on my list of things to get into in the next 2-5 years. In preparation for goat keeping, i've been trying out as many different goat activities and chatting with other goat keepers as much as i can. I was very lucky to goat-sit a friend's two does and 4 kids this past weekend and learned a lot.
1. Milking takes a lot longer than you think it should
2. Don't assume you're done milking, keep massaging those udders to work it all out.
3. Udders hold a lot of milk!
4. Kids are really really loud and really really cute.
5. I like goats.

This little doeling was last to the bottle and definitely knew it was her turn.

Haha. Anyway, it was great fun to bottle feed the hungry kids, have them climb all over us and get the occasional nibble from the does. Milking was also fun, but i have some serious learning to do: we milked about half the amount they usually give due to our lack of experience. My technique is okay, but i'll have to work on it as i got some major finger cramps. Those little teets don't leave much room for extra fingers and i found myself milking all over myself as often as into the pale. Most of the milk our friend's does are giving go to the kids right now, but they're destined for some new homes soon, resulting in lots of milk on their hands. I dream of cheese, my husband dreams of milk with dinner and i've recently begun dreaming about fibers and spinning (bought my first spindle this weekend!) so we'll add one non-dairy goat to our herd eventually.

Goat's milk (or meat) isn't as popular in this country as in others (more goat's milk is drunk yearly than cow's milk worldwide!). I'm not sure why that is, other than the 'beef it's what's for dinner' brain washing we Americans are subjected to. Goat's milk is much more easily digested than cows, goats take up less space to keep and goats frequently throw multiple kids: great for increasing your flock quickly, selling the animal or meat to help pay for herd costs, or provide meat for your family's freezer as well as freshening your doe to keep your fridge stocked with milk. A family milk cow requires more space and hay and generally only throws on calf. The breed of goat we plan on raising (Kinders) has a very high dressing ratio (lots of meat harvestable within the total body weight of the animal) and gives lots of very high quality milk. Best of both worlds!

Seriously, could anything be cuter than this??

Goat's milk may be more digestible for some people. Goat's milk contains different proteins than cow's milk, though some are similar. So, depending on which protein you are allergic to, you may react more favorably to goat's milk. Some people complain that goat's milk tastes 'goaty.' I have experienced some goaty tasting milk, but more frequently goat's milk tastes just like (or better than) cow's milk and is whiter. The presence of a buck may taint the flavor of a doe's milk, and every breed and every individual goat will have its own unique flavor. If you're considering purchasing a doe for her milk, try to get a taste of it first to be sure you like it. If you're purchasing a doeling, ask to taste the mother's milk.

I can't wait to have some of these of my own, and will be very happy to know i have a step mama living a few hours away with years of goat experience. Freshened does means daily milking, and i for one need at least the occasional weekend out of town for a good camping trip.

Do you like goat's milk? Do you drink it often? If you have goats, what do you do with the excess milk you have once the kids are weaned?

This post is part of the Simple Lives Thursday blog hop.

Saturday Morning Goat Time

Some people may not be attracted to the idea of waking up at 6:30 am on a Saturday morning.
I can't say that i was overly thrilled about it either. haha.

That being said, it was lovely to wake before my hens for once, and even lovelier to get to hang out in the flesh with Heidi of Yellow Door Barn, and her super adorable baby goats!

Insert captions under most of these photos: baby goats are hard to photograph without blur!

Together with a few other local goat-interested volunteers, I learned from Heidi the basics of milking, bottle feeding and straining the milk, plus clean up procedures. It takes a while to milk a goat, let me tell you! But i was very proud to get some milk out on my first try, and really enjoyed the experience of resting against a warm goat while relieving her udders. I definitely think two or three goats (one is probably better for our first year!) needing milking in the same season is all we can handle, so it was a great learning experience.

Noah milking Dove

They milk twice a day and bottle feed the babies, verses the one milking a day/ take the babies away at night strategy i'd like to employ: screaming goats aren't ideal in an urban setting.

Straining the milk

And if there is ever a reason to wake up at 6 am: it's leaping, frollicking, bleating baby goats!

This post is part of the Simple Lives Thursday blog hop!