Milking the Goat

We wondered if we would like the taste our goat milk?

I’ve read dozens of opinions and it seems to be 50/50 between YES it’s DELICOUS! and NO its TERRIBLE!

My verdict….I love it!

Two years ago we adopted Buttercup and bottle-fed her. She is all grown up now and giving us milk every day.

Milking was a completely new experience for me. I read a bunch of books and searched the internet for all the advice I could get. It has turned out to be a great experience!

Apart from the subzero temps all through December, trips to the barn in the wind with my milk pail, frozen barn doors and fingers and pulling myself out of bed on Saturday mornings, I have enjoyed it so much! Even on those frigid days, leaning up against Buttercup’s warm goatie side to harvest our creamy milk has been downright cozy. 

Sometimes I sing…even a self-conscious singer like me can be comfortable singing for a barnful of goats. They are a forgiving audience.

Our barn cat, Simpkin, makes a habit of joining me. He waits patiently while I wash Buttercup’s udder and strip the first few pulls. He knows he can have those first couple of shots. The rest belongs to us.

Larry built us a milk stand. We referenced info from Fiasco Farm at https://fiascofarm.com/goats/milkstand.html. Fiasco Farm has lots of good info for beginner goatherds. We have been using their Molly’s Herbal products for several months and are so far very pleased with the results. The goats love it.

I have been drinking the milk for several weeks and now cow’s milk tastes rather flat. Buttercup’s milk is rich and sweet and creamy. Larry gets a latte in his thermos on Mondays and Fridays as a treat and these days it is made with goat’s milk.

Many people say that when the buck and does live together, the milk tastes off. That hasn’t been an issue here at all and Mr. Gibbs so enjoys the company of his herd. We love watching their herd behavior.

Looking forward to having a couple of does in milk in the future now that I know we like it so much. It doesn’t last long in the fridge.

Hopefully we’ll have some kids out of Isadora and Mr. Gibbs this spring.

Next year her daughter, Marigold, will be old enough for a family of her own.

Looking forward to more milk and some adorable registered Nigerian dwarf kids to sell in the spring!