A Yogurt Attempt

The weather is hot.  The goat is producing a LOT of milk!  A chilled glass of "drinkable" strawberry goat's milk yogurt satisfies my need to stay cool and use the milk!

Goat milk yogurt differs from "store-bought" yogurt as it is a challenge to get it thick!  I love the tangy taste of yogurt, so I don't mind the slightly soupy texture!

The first step is to heat about 3 pints of milk to 180 degrees.  At this temperature, all of the bacteria in the milk is killed so it doesn't compete with the yogurt bacteria.  I heated it in my make-shift double boiler which consisted of a pot of boiling water with a saucepan placed in it.  The double boiler keeps the milk from coming into direct contact with the heat source and thus burning.  After the milk reached 180 degrees, I poured it into a bowl and placed it in the freezer to bring it back to only 110 degrees!

After the milk reached 110 degrees, I added about two tablespoons of plain greek yogurt culture.  I poured a bit of the milk into the yogurt and mixed it up.  Then I added the mixture to the rest of the milk.  I had been warned by previous yogurt makers not to directly add the yogurt as it can get "gloop-y" and not fully mix into all of the milk.

Next, I poured the milk into my new "Yogotherm!"  The Yogotherm consists of a plastic bucket which perfectly nests in an insulated foam container.  The yogurt must be kept at a consistent 100 degrees (or so!) for about 12 hours.  The heat of the milk when it is poured into the bucket is not allowed to escape, so this consistent temperature is easy to keep!

I set the the Yogotherm aside and went to bed!  The "Do NOT Disturb" note I left could have functioned for both me and my yogurt!

When I woke up in the morning, I found a wonderful bucket full of yogurt!  It was tart, just the way I like it!

After I chilled the yogurt, I decided to flavor it!  I placed a handful of strawberries in the blender, along with a 1/4 cup of raw sugar and a little bit of vanilla.  I blended it all together and created an amazing drink!  

Absolutely delicious!  

Thank you, Charlotte-the-Goat for producing the tasty milk!

Consistent Record-Keeping

Inconsistent.  Consistent.  Life is INconsistent.  It brings surprises.  Goats are consistent (well...most of the time!).  They must be milked and fed twice a day, regardless of the inconsistencies of life!

Effectively raising goats goes hand-in-hand with effectively keeping clear records.  Being consistent with caring for the goats and consistent with recording it is an amazing tool for managing a herd!

 

This is a sample of the record sheet I created on Excel.  It has the date pre-printed, then a place to record the: morning milking time and amount, the evening milking time and amount, and any other daily notes.  I record things such as the kid's weight, when the goats receive any special browse, any funny behavior or milk taste, and odd weather patterns.

By looking at a whole month of records at a time, I can notice patterns in the goats' health and production.

I used to keep records in this little notebook.  However, the new system is working much better as it takes less space and enables me to see more information at once!

One thing I consistently record is when the goats get herbal wormer. They love wormer!!!  The following pictures give a sneak-peak of Charlotte's eagerness to ingest this obviously yummy treat.

Give me more!

Wonderful!

Milking Pail

In the course of a year, I will spend approximately 6,000 minutes milking.  That is a lot of minutes!  In order to make the milking experience as quick, fun, and efficient as possible, a good milking pail is essential!

Hoegger Stainless Steel Milk Pail

The Hoegger milk pail is making my milking routine great!  It comes with a "half-moon" lid which keeps debris (goat hair, etc.) out of the milk.  This lid also keeps the rim sanitary so I can pour out of it. Another added benefit is the stainless steel construction.  This makes the pail durable as well as ensures that the metal does not react with the milk.

I can also see my reflection in the lid while I am milking.  This reminds me of the passage in James which talks about "mirrors:"

"For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.  But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does."  James 1:23-25

When I see my face reflecting on the milk pail, I can remember to not live my life like the foolish man who forgets what he looks like after looking in a mirror (or a milk pail) and also forgets to live his life according to God's Word after hearing the truth.

The new milk pail is great!  However, it best serves its function when it is full of delicious goat milk!

A Goat Keeper's Birthday

Today is the aspiring goat-farmer's birthday!  I (the goat-keeper) found this little note from the goats when I went out to do the chores this morning!

What better way to celebrate than with a goat cake complete with jelly bean eyes?  A printed template of Elly May helped get the goat shape just perfect.

Celebrate Goats!

Celebrate Life!

Celebrate!

Soap Fun!

About a year or so ago, I learned to make soap.  It is great fun, makes a wonderful gift, and feels oh-so-good on the skin.  Better yet, it doesn't have any junk in it like sodium lauryl sulfate!  The soap-making method I am familiar with is "cold-process" lye soap.  The ingredients are only heated enough to melt them, then the soap takes about a month to "cure" before it is ready for use.  For an amazing book on learning to make this type of soap, refer to Basic Soap Making: All The Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started, by Elizabeth Letcavage.  This book has pictures of every single step and is perfect for beginners.

With the skills and ingredients collected over the past year, I am eager to transition into goat-milk soap now.  Goat milk soap is more "delicate" to make as the milk must be handled carefully.  Milk also reacts differently with the lye than the typical distilled water.  I used a recipe off of the Hoegger website as a guide: Simple Milk Soap Recipe

Here are all of the ingredients!  Notice it is vital to wear eye protection and rubber gloves when making soap.  Even a tiny grain of lye on the bare skin can sting really bad!

When lye interacts with water, it heats very quickly.  So the first step was to add the lye to the water so it could be cooling.  It was in a bucket of ice water to speed up this process.  (Notice the yellow color is from the goat's milk.  It was an unusual chemical reaction!)

The oils were all stirred together.  This recipe included olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, and castor oil.

 The lye solution and the oils were then blended together until they reached "trace."  Trace is where the mixture begins thickening and turns to a "pudding" texture.  It was at this point that the lemongrass essential oil was added.

 The soap was poured into molds.  The silicone baking molds work superb for soap!

 After setting the soap out of the way for 24 hours, the soap easily popped out of the molds!  The soap will now sit in a dark cabinet for a couple of weeks before being used.

Beautiful!

Disbudding Dilemma+Sweet Licks of Sweetlix

Elly May had an "outing" this past week. Although both Edna and Elly May were disbudded when they were little, they have developed "scurs" (little horns).  Edna's is already 1/2 inches long, so I am waiting until I wean her to address it.  However, Elly May's scur is just a little nub.  I decided that it was probably at a good point to "re-disbud" so I loaded her up in a doggie crate and took her to the vet...

When the vet saw the scur, he took some snippers and just snipped it off like a fingernail!  It will likely need to be trimmed regularly, but it beats having to go through the stress of "redisbudding" her.  The only drawback is scurs can bleed when snipped, so I will need to perform this task carefully.  (It made me feel funny taking her all the way to the vet only to have him clip it off!)   

Elly May sang the whole time in the car.  And it was a loud song too!  The only time she quieted down was when we turned on the radio!  That funny goat!

The goats are also getting a new loose mineral (Sweetlix Meat Maker 16:8).  I had previously used the MannaPro Goat Mineral.  However, I was suspecting that Charlotte was mineral deficient, so I decided to purchase a different type of minerals.  When I first put them out, she took a nice big lick!  I can't tell how much she is getting on a weekly basis, but I hope they will clear up any mineral issues.  The Sweetlix Meat Maker 16:8 minerals are formulated especially for goats.  They are high in copper and cobalt (crucial to a goat's health) as well as have the goat-specific phosphorus to calcium ratio (16% calcium to 8% phosphorus).

I couldn't resist posting a picture of a cute little guy named "Chocolate."  He was born last Thursday morning right out in the pasture!  He is really soft and loves following his mama around the field!  Seeing him be born makes me excited about the goats kidding next year!

Crying Over Spilled Milk!

Lest you think this "goat adventure" is all fun, be forewarned!  I have shed some tears over these silly goats lately!

First of all, the milk has spilled two days in a row.  Tuesday evening I set the full milk bucket on top of a fence post (as I could not find another sanitary place).  It fell off the post and I watched that hard-earned white liquid soak into the ground.  It was disheartening!  Wednesday evening Charlotte unintentionally kicked the milk bucket after she was finished being milked.  I wasn't in a position to move the bucket or her hoof.  After working so hard, it is no fun to have spilled milk!  It is a precious resource that cannot be renewed (at least until 12 hours later).

Additionally, Charlotte is showing signs that she has worms! (I won't go into details, but I think it is tapeworms!)  Although some tapeworms can be "waited out," I am going to give her a double dose of "Molly's Herbal Wormer Formula #2" for three days.  This should make it uncomfortable for the worms to live in Charlotte's intestine.

Another frustration was the ants that attacked the grain barrel!  Thankfully, I think most of them are gone by now!

Anyway, this week has definitely posed some challenges.  A verse that recently came up in my daily Bible reading seemed appropriate for this week:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:21)

The book of Job recounts how he glorified the Lord both when he was blessed and when he was cursed.  I have graciously accepted all of the "fun" the goats have brought, but I must also accept the challenges as well.  I am praising the Lord for this opportunity to bring Him glory and build character in me!

Goat Dress-Up

I was recently cleaning out my closet and realized I had a lot of "dress-up" things stowed away.  With a surge of mischief and imagination, I decided it was time to have a little fun and play dress-up with the goats!

 Tea Time with Elly May

Charlotte--in style!

Edna is ready to rodeo!

Miss Fashion

 

Love that chevron (and the tongue sticking out of Elly May's mouth)!

I think scarves look good on Edna...

Last picture: Little Goat on the Prairie

Along with the fun pictures, here are the "goat highlights" from the past week:

1) I made goat ice cream for the first time!  The flavor was delicious!  It had a really high melting point, so I need to perfect the recipe to get the ice cream to stay thick (it doesn't help that the temperatures are in the 90's)!

2) I made ricotta again.  This time it was the best time ever, despite the fact that I messed up the recipe!  I was using a different thermometer, so I added the vinegar before it was heated enough.  I realized it wasn't curdling after about 10 minutes, so I just heated it up to the right temperature and the vinegar did it's job then.  I added just a pinch of salt, which made it yummy.  For a gallon of milk, the yield was a little over a pound of cheese.

3) The goat kids are getting their third round of dimethox (coccidiosis prevention).  They get it for five consecutive days, and enjoy the dimethox/agave nectar concoction!