Changing of Seasons

It is a changing of seasons with the selling of the goat kids...but also a changing of seasons from Summer to Fall!

The first official day of fall was last week.  But with stifling heat and suffocating humidity, autumn wasn't anywhere to be found then.  What a surprise to wake up to 65 degree temperatures this morning and a coolness in the air!  Truly a reason to celebrate!

I am also grateful for the inch of rain we received a few days ago.  The fields are so lush that I have to check the calendar to remind me it isn't Spring!

Beautiful sunrise...

Edna and Charlotte are best friends and worst enemies now that they are the only two goats left to the herd!

Edna's udder has been quite full the past few days.  I am discovering that Edna had been producing a lot of milk and Hurray (her kid that I sold) had been drinking it!

Edna is really fun to milk!  I like her udder shape!

I am getting about 2 1/2 quarts of milk from both Charlotte and Edna.  Often, it is more milk than I can use so Blue Bell benefits from the surplus!

I've been trying to work on the goats hooves more regularly.  It is easiest to trim in the morning while their hooves are spongy from the dew.

These little bearded goats are sure a pleasure to enjoy!  I am thankful for the motivation they provide to get outside each morning and enjoy my Creator's beautiful creation!

And I hope that Fall is here to stay...!

The Effects of Weaning

I mentioned in my last post that I have been weaning Elly May.  It is amazing how this affects Charlotte!

Without Elly May stealing milk, Charlotte's milk production is skyrocketing!  Yesterday, she produced 10 1/2 total pounds of milk.  That is 5 quarts of milk!  I feel like Charlotte is resolving in her goat brain that she doesn't need to hold back milk for Elly May, so she is letting me have it!  Hurray! In fact, Charlotte is even getting reluctant to even let Elly May nurse.  The down side is that Charlotte is producing so much milk that she is getting a bit thin.

Also, the freezer is getting waaaayyy too full of milk jars!  I have scrounged around the kitchen cupboards and filled every single glass jar.

So, I am planning to turn much of the milk into this:

 Chèvre

My first two batches of Chèvre were flops.  The first batch I had a surge of impatience and I squeezed the cheese to drain the whey instead of letting it drip.   It completely messed up the texture (although it smelled great)!  I won't do that again!  The second batch did not form a curd for some reason.  This is the third trial pictured above.  It is "dripping" this morning, so I hope it turns out!

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!

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!

CMT

Mastitis is a dreaded word in the dairy-animal world.  It is often associated with discomfort for the animal as well as for the owner.  From what I understand, it is a disease that works to destroy the milk ducts, causing inflammation in the udder.  Many cases of mastitis can be prevented through keeping sanitary milking conditions.  Mastitis can be treated much easier if it is caught in the early stages.  The California Mastitis Test is an excellent tool for  detecting mastitis.  I recently ordered my kit from Hoegger Supply and I tried it this week for the first time!

I filled the cups with a little bit of milk.  Because the test was designed for use with cows, it has four cups.  I just filled the back two.

 I filled the cups with a little bit of the CMT concentrate (see the top picture).  If the liquid gels, it is a sign of mastitis.  Thankfully, it stayed liquid!  Hurray!  I will probably repeat the test in a couple of weeks to check again, unless I find reason to do so sooner.

I also tested our well water to make sure that would not interfere with the test results.  According to the instructions, if the water remained purple, it was good to go.

Until next time!

Rain, Rain, Rain

It has been pouring down rain for the past two days!  This was the first time it has rained since purchasing the goats.  Unfortunately, the shelter didn't stay the driest but it offered adequate protection.  It was quite funny to see all five of the four-legged creatures huddled together out of the rain.  Blue Bell is under the milking stand, Charlotte is on top of it, Brazos is next to it, Elly May is on top of the crate, and Edna is against the other side!

After the rain, there was a beautiful rainbow!

And a beautiful sunset!

The clouds have now cleared.  The full rain gauge reminds me of the blessing of rain "poured" out on our land!

"I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing."

Ezekiel 34:26

I finally received my Caprine order in the mail!  It contained my long awaited milk filters!

I like the old-fashioned catalog Caprine Supply produces!

The filters make it easy to filter the milk.

It is nice to filter out those flecks of dirt that seem to creep into the milk.

Goodnight!  (It seems that Charlotte often offers me a "goodnight" at the end of the day!)

Milking for the First Time

Having a full-grown goat for the first time brings with it a long line of "firsts."  Maybe most importantly is the "first" milking.  Although I know I can milk, I woke up yesterday morning with a knot in my stomach.  It was anticipation all rolled up in a tight ball.

What a beautiful morning!

I don't have all of the supplies needed for milking yet--like a nice milk pail or strainers--but I collected what I could from the kitchen.  I mixed up an iodine/water solution in a small cup.  It was mostly water with a few squirts of iodine.  I also grabbed a metal mixing bowl and some rags.  Then I headed out the front door.

Charlotte has been spooked by almost everything, and getting her on the milk stand was no exception!  We chased her around the goat pen, grabbed her collar, hugged her, pulled, and coaxed.  We offered some grain and led her to the milking stand.  She was NOT going to hop up on it.  With no other options, I lifted her front legs onto the milk stand.  But I was only halfway there!  I also had to lift up her back legs.  Goats are heavy, not to mention determined to have their own selfish way!

Charlotte's head was safely secured in the milk stand and soon began munching away at the grain.  There were a few large rocks placed in the feed box to cause her to manipulate the grain thus make the grain "last" longer.

Charlotte's udder was not quite full in this picture, but it gives a good idea!

I gently wiped off Charlotte's udders with a rag dipped in the iodine solution.  Her udder was really tight, like it might pop.  I placed my fists around the teats and started squeezing.  I tried several different methods, squeezing both teats at one time, squeezing alternately, squeezing fast, and squeezing slow.  It was fun!  I leaned into Charlotte's side.  My arm muscles ached, but it was good.

The goat did well.  I estimated that the whole process took around 10 minutes.  Charlotte got a little antsy and somehow her foot got in the bowl.  There was milk on me and milk all over the stand.  Uh-oh!  But my goal was just to get the milk out, not necessary get it ready to drink.   I'll work on precision later.  I didn't milk Charlotte until she was dry because I wanted to leave a little milk for Elly May to drink later.

 Getting a sip!

After milking time, I weighed the milk.  She milked 3lbs. 9oz. which is about a half gallon!  She probably milked more than this because I didn't get it all in the bowl!  

I poured the milk into two quart mason jars and put it in the freezer to cool it down.  I will eventually feed this milk to Edna.  Those two full glass jars made me feel like a real milkmaid.  I had successfully milked my goat for the first time, and the satisfaction that came with it was wonderful.

Mission Accomplished...