Learning with goats . . . chapter ?

My sister is a brave lady!  She is ready to try to take on the task of milking a goat.  I find it fascinating to be able to make my own cheese.  That is one of those processes that until very recently, embarassingly recently, I thought happened by some sort of magic known only to a privileged few.

The newest additions to the herd are tiny.  My sister bought a doe with two babies!  They are so darn cute.  The benefit to this arrangement is that we will have a buck, and she can try milking while there is a “fall back” plan.  It has made for a long week at the farm.  We had to separate the littles from the bigger goats.  I am sure our little resident “bossy” girl would not be gentle with these new babies.  And, our new mommy goat is very calm and kind.  Makes her great for a milk goat but too easily bullied by the bossy girl.

So we have been making new stalls, making new fences and generally getting ready.  Finally we went to get them and we love them!  These goats are friendly and let you love them a little.  Not like our skiddish goats so far.

We waited a couple of days for everybody to get used to everybody and deal with the stress of moving, then she started milking.  Kudos to her!  I went for the first time and enjoyed the process.  At least I might be willing to fill in some days if life gets crazy.  Looking forward to making my own cheese.  We might work out some trading somewhere down the line.

Bernie did a great job making a milking stand, and it did the trick just fine!

Well, Andrea did a great job!  She got about as much as Missi normally produces in the morning – 2 cups!  Mozzerella, Chev, . . . I don’t like milk, but I do like cheese!