What a wonderful day! We were surprised to find that Jessie, one of our first timers, had kidded this morning! I knew it was soon, but with the new moms, they don’t have as obvious signals like clearly dropping, milk coming in, and personality changes. Sometimes, it is a little early morning gift. 🙂
So, we have a new kid named Ginger. She isn’t doing fabulous, due to her mom not quite sure what she was, but usually it doesn’t take long for the idea of motherhood to take over. Meanwhile, I have the baby drinking her mom’s colostrum and she is gaining strength. I really don’t like separating moms and babies, but once in a while it is necessary for the baby to make it.
Meanwhile, I wanted to celebrate being in goatmilk again!! Now, I can share a lot of my cheese and other recipes that we love.Goat’s milk is sweet and creamy without a hint of goat in it, unless it has been mishandled. Even fresh, delicious milk gets a funky taste if not chilled quickly and handled gently.
If you have never tried fresh, clean goat’s milk, this is the time of year to look around in your area. Many homestead goat owners kid in the winter. There is no worry of worms and flies(both of which are a horror on babies) and personally, I think the moms experience less stress having to keep warm, than they do in the heat. If I had an air conditioned barn, I might change my mind, but for now I always try to kid around Christmastime.
Now I have to milk every morning and evening, but for me it is a built in quiet 15 minutes, twice a day. Nobody can call that a chore.
Have a great day!
Congratulations on your winter kidding! Fresh Goats Milk and Goat Milk products are wonderful. I am a Southern California cattle rancher and I to believe in winter calving being the best time of year. I feel the cows and calves have an easier time, I do believe the calves are healthier and stronger. I look forward to sharing with you and again Congratulations Annie
Thanks, Annie- Mom is still ditching her baby this morning, but we have dealt with this before and really, its not such a big deal. Photos coming..we are buttoning up for a huge snowstorm at the moment. Thanks for posting!Amy
I wish I could find a friendly goat farmer. I don't know if this is normal, but around here 4 litres of goat milk is almost $10 — 4 litres of cow's milk sells for $3.99 in some stores.
I have seen it that expensive, but there has to be a market for it, or you are doomed to keep all your milk. Around here, it is $5.00 a gallon and thankfully, it is legal to sell off the farm. I can not advertise, but with making cheese and butter, etc. I don't have that much extra right now anyways. Amy