Due to job loss we are selling our hobby farm in the city in Northern CA and moving to a community of homesteaders in the Berkshire mountains in Western Massachusetts which is beautiful and also affordable to us. We have 3 adorable Nigerian dwarfs (
Read more…Little off topic but.... Anybody know if left over whey is a good source of calcium? I am thinking it could be a foliar spray for dealing with blossom end rot if so.
Read more…So I have been putting up milk for future use ( canning in pressure canner of course ) and I was wondering if it would make decent cheese? I'm not sure if the canning process changes anything too much to get a good product out of it. Has anyone eve
Read more…I have some friends who are very interested in helping our little homestead grow and they want to 'sponsor' a goat. Which means they are willing to help with expenses of bringing on another goat in milk, pay for her upkeep of hay, grain, minerals, e
Read more…Is it normal for a first freshener to have colostrum 3+ weeks after kidding? We picked up this doe (& a pregnant herd mate of hers) just over a week ago with one of her two kids on her (the other was sold as a bottle baby the day before we picked up
Read more…OK - newbie to milking here!
I'm SO excited that milking is getting easier for me. My does are being reasonable - as long as there is food involved. Amazing how they can control the milk - food ends - I can't get anymore milk to come out!
Anyway -
Read more…Okay, this may be a ridiculous question but...can fat globules be disrupted and separated during milking from very strong milk streams? I ask because I have had some issues with floaties/specks/tiny globs gunking up my filter and sticking to the sid
Read more…So I've just begun to try to milk my doe. Her kid will be 2 months next week & I just got a milking stand. It's been 4 days & every day I'm just able to get a couple to a few tablespoons. That's it. This is my first time milking anything ever. I've w
Read more…We have jsut recently started making 30 min mozzerella from our NDG's milk. We are making it based on Ricki Carols recipie which is simmiler to the one in raising goats naturally. Our yeild is only 1/2lb for 1 gallon of milk. I used the whey afterwar
Read more…I know milking is old hat to many of you but for the last 7 years - I've been deficient in these skills. Couldn't get milk from my sheep and not from my friends goats who were steady edy milkers.
But this morning - it happened. I've been working on
Read more…Hi guys. I have a 2nd freshener with triplets. I had very high hopes for her, her sire has produced a lot of excellent milkers and her dam milked well on DHIR.
As I said she has triplets. I have separated them overnight to milk a few times and ne
Read more…I've been milking Cayenne everyone evening since a couple days after she kidded. She's been averaging about 1/3-2/3 cup per milking. Suddenly last night I got under a 1/3c. and tonight I got a couple tablespoons. Star is gaining weight and growing fa
Read more…Hi all, I've been making chevre since last fall and it has been wonderful. I've been making it raw and had no problems but this season with different goats and culture ordered from the same source (new batch) from cheeseandyogurtmaking.com after 3 ba
Read more…Please don't say as often as she needs it..that is obvious...but twice a day...three times? What?
Mahalo Deb
Read more…Hi All! I've been lurking here for WAY longer then I care to admit and I figured now was a grand to come out of hiding, post a question, and join in the chatter here.
To give a little quick background, I'm new to having Nigerians and just started my
Read more…I made the carmel sauce yesterday, recipe in Raising Goats Naturally, oh my, it taste just like carmel candy. Thank you Deborah for an easy and wonderful recipe!
Read more…we brought our goats home one week ago and our doe (2nd freshener with twins) has not been producing as much here as she was at her last home. I realize moving can be a stresser for them and affect milk production, but I thought she would've been bet
Read more…I noticed something interesting. Last summer when I started milking Caramel, there were about 2 weeks right at the beginning when her milk tasted really twangy, almost too much for me to drink. But then it cleared up and tasted AMAZING, so I figured
Read more…I have a fairly new doe that about 2 months ago had triplets ( her second set) first freshening was not here and not sure if kids nursed off her. She udder is beautiful. Round and high, but that seems to be my problem. She is soooo hard to milk becau
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