Cream Line Baby!

Not much of a post, just wanted to show off my lines......

Cream lines that is!

This is milk from Tulip....

Look at that cream line!

It's no wonder it's so rich, creamy, and delicious!

Happy milking, wherever you are!

Till next time....

God Bless,

Change in the Routine - Milking Tulip.....

So I don't usually begin milking until the kids are about 3 weeks old.  At that point, I lock them up separate from their dams in the evening, then milk Mamas in the morning and turn the kids back in with them.  They nurse all day long, so I don't have to milk in the evening, then I repeat the process.

However, this year Tulip had a single.  The is the first time she's ever done that.  I bought her as a bred 18 month old doe and she freshened for the first time at our place in IL, with twins.  Star was the doeling of that set of twins, and she had a brother we named Jesse that was sold to a little 4 year old girl for her first 4-H goat.

Star is on the left, with Jesse on the right....

And below I'm holding Jesse with Star standing in front...

Then her next kidding she had triplet bucklings....

And then triplets again, two doelings and a buckling...

The buckling, Lightning, and one of the doelings Carmen....

And the second doeling Maggie Faith....

And then she had triplets again, this time two doelings and a buckling again, I think.  This was the beginning of things getting crazy with The Man losing his job and us making the move to KY, so I don't remember...but I do know it was three babies....and I don't even have any pictures of them!

And then I sold Tulip and Star to Jennifer and she gave Jennifer multiple kids every time, with quads the last two times. 

So the point being, Tulip has never had a single until now!

 Tulip gives A LOT of milk.  In order to keep her production up where I'd like it to be, I've begun milking her already. 

Her milk isn't "sweet" yet, but that's ok.  I can use it for cooking and soap, and I'm freezing it to feed to pigs later .  It usually takes about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks for my girls to totally stop making colostrum in their milk.  I don't take it all, just enough to even her udder out and encourage her to produce more.  When Jen takes Tulip's doeling home, I'll milk Tulip twice a day to keep her producing.

Tulip is pretty funny with this baby.  I can only assume it's from having only one to worry about, but worry she does.  She doesn't want her to get too far away, and she "talks" to her all the time.  The doeling will be running amuck and bouncing around with Star's kids and Tulip is following her everywhere, softly bleating as if to say..

"Hey!  Be careful!  Watch your step!  Get away from there!  Don't play with those kids!  

Bless her heart, she's a good Momma and I love her.  She doesn't like kids that aren't her own, and she lets them know she isn't Momma.  She throws her head at them and if that doesn't work, she'll nip their tail, and if that doesn't work, she'll butt them, and if that doesn't work (which we seldom EVER get to this point) she'll knock them down.  They quickly learn she isn't their Momma and they avoid her.  She is pretty jealous of Merida and will come try to bully her when she's playing in my lap, but I don't let her do that.  I make a point to give her lots of love, so she knows she's still my baby too!

Tulip's baby is much more "filled out" than the other three, and this too comes from being a single.  She didn't have to compete in the womb and she doesn't have to compete now..

She's a pretty little doeling and should have a great future ahead as a milking doe, if she's anything like her Momma!

Till next time........

God Bless,

The Milky Way......

So since I got Tulip and Star back from Jen, I've been milking each evening.  Jen had recently stopped milking them, because she thought they were bred and due to kid in January (or was it December?)

Anywho, the day we went to pick them up they were in heat, so we knew they weren't bred and I started milking them again.  I started out getting about a quart between the two of them, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less.

About 2 weeks it had dwindled down to less than a pint between the two.

 During their peak production with me they were giving anywhere between 3.5 to 6 lbs a day (each) depending on if I was milking once or twice a day.

Now you may be asking yourself this question.....A PINT BETWEEN TWO GOATS??  WHY IN NAME OF CORN ON THE COB WERE YOU BOTHERING FOR A PINT BETWEEN TWO GOATS!!

Gee whizikins, calm down and I'll tell you!

It's because.........I truly love milking.....there I said it.

Some people who keep dairy animals may not particularly enjoy the day to day milking aspect of things, but they really enjoy the end product of fresh, raw milk.

I am one of those odd people who love milking.  I find it very relaxing and very calming, (unless I'm breaking a cantankerous new doe to the pail that is).  I especially enjoy milking in the winter time.  I love the steamy stream of the milk into the pail and I LOVE cuddling up next to that warm, goat-ish body when it's cold!

I used the last of the milk two Sunday mornings ago before church to make homemade ice cream and I immediately began having milk withdrawls, and milking pains.....

Never fear though, I'm pretty Star is k-knockened-up and will be kidding the end of March.  That means by the 2nd week of April I'll be back to milking!  For now I just have to enjoy sitting in the barn and scratching Tulip's hind end for hours......it's a fitting substitute for milking I think, and I know she does!

And please excuse the age of the pictures................since my girls aren't in milk, I don't have any current ones, but that will be remedied this spring!  :)

Until next time..............I remain yours in Christ,

How to Milk a Goat............or Goat Milking 101........

Ok kids............today's lesson is.........How to Milk a Goat..........

Here at Goodwife Farm, I prefer Kinders!

Let me have just a minute to take roll............Bueller...............Bueller................Bueller............

Ok ok, now that I've got that out of my system................on to our class!

First off you are going to need a goat..........any goat will do, any goat at all.Um............strike that...........it may be best if it were a FEMALE goat.


And it would probably be helpful if she were lactating.

Much like human women, you just can't get much milk out unless they are lactating!

There we go...........that's better.
Now we are ready to milk that goat!

First you need to get your girlie up on the milk stand.

My dad built me this handy dandy milk stand and he only charged me $975.00 not including labor. He's a funny guy my dad!

Ok now that you have bribed your sweet and tractable goat up on the stand with some yummy goatie granola............

You are ready to get started.

You have already gathered up all your milking supplies........your pail.........your bucket of booby wash............your lid to cover that foamy fresh milk.........paper towels........and eeeny weeny dixie cups!

The first thing you need to do is wash those hooters...........

Not yours silly...........the goat's! And please resist the urge to refer to your goat as "Boobs, or Pam". It makes her feel like an object and really is just plain rude!

Then you dry them really good.........nobody wants chapped hooters, not even your goat girl!

You are now READY TO MILK........

I know it's terribly exciting!

Give your girl her serving of goat granola.

She will act like she hasn't eaten in weeks......that's ok......she's a hungry girl, and you know what that's like!

Now you are going to massage those teats. It relaxes her and convinces her that it's ok to let you have her milk instead of trying to keep it for her kids!

Since this is a G-rated blog I'll refrain from showing a photograph of this step!

Sit down beside your goat, in whatever position is comfortable for you.

I like the hunched over, bent up old crone position, but you do whatever works for you!

Now don't be afraid, this is where lesser goodwives can get a little corn-fused, but you can do this!

Grasp the teat (at the top where it joins the udder) with your thumb and forefinger. Be sure to close the teat off completely or the milk will just go back up! Now close the rest of your fingers. Be prepared for the milk to come shooting out........much like it did when that one kid choked on his chocolate milk in Kindergarten! Don't pull down, you aren't pulling the bell chain for the servants! Now just point it down into the milk bucket and you are all set! Get a rhythm going alternating teats as you go. Milk till you can't milk no more and then milk some more. You can develop a bit of a hand cramp if this is your first milking, but you must persevere........you've got to get all that milk out! When the milk slows down, stop and massage that udder again. Don't feel like you are feeling her up........it's ok.......she needs you to do this so that she will let down all of the milk! Begin milking again and milk till no more milk will come out. And you're all done! Almost...........

Remember those little dixie cups? Go get one and dip it in the bucket of booby wash. Bring it over to your patiently waiting girl and dip each one of her teats in. Now you are done but for one final step!

Please forgive me as I spruced this picture up a bit cause it left a little to be desired, taking a photo of your own hand dipping a teat is harder than it sounds! Here is the most important part of milking............are you ready?

You must remember to UNLOCK YOUR GOAT'S HEAD FROM THE MILKING STAND! This is very very important. Just ask Tulip about the time that she had to stand patiently ALL FREAKIN' DAY LONG with her head stuck in that stanchion because her loser owner FORGOT TO LET HER OUT! Bad bad day here at Goodwife Farm, but luckily Tulip is a good girl and didn't break her neck. She was just very thirsty and had to pee really really bad!

Ok, now you've got a milk pail full of foamy, rich, warm milk.

Cover it with your lid to prevent any stray dust, hair, or bugs from landing in the foam! Take that yummy stuff to the house, strain it, and chill it in an ice bath to get it cold as quick as you can. Now pour yourself a big ole glass and enjoy!

Till next time............GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM!

I recycled this post for my first Farm Friend Friday.  It's fun, you should link up and also visit the other bloggers!