Feeling myself again

Now that I have a refrigerator full of fresh goat milk and am getting back into the routine of bottle feeding babies and milking the goats I’m feeling right. These girls are producing, let me tell you. Even with 11 kids bottle feeding three times a day there is still tons of milk left over. Unfortunately it still has the flavor of colostrum so it’s not quite up to cheese or a big glass quite yet. It takes about a two full weeks for the colostrum to run through their system, I will be feeding four gallons to the chickens this morning. Each goat is producing about a gallon a piece. We’re only milking 6 right now so we are just under 6 gallons a day. The next set will kid mid March, and then again early April.

The kids are just beautiful this year. We used a buck that a friend gave us and in spite of him being quite a handful he truly helped to produce some of the most beautiful and largest kids we have ever had. So far we have 4 girls I plan on keeping but soon I’ll need to find homes for the boys. Sooner rather than later cause I tend to get attached.

If feels good to milk the girls again. It’s the time I get with them to really establish and affirm our relationship. For me milking has always been an affirmation of my commitment to providing my goats with the best life possible. I treat them with respect and I understand their personalities and I feel like in spite of it being against their better judgment they treat me with respect right back. I’m really grateful for them.

This is the time of year things get really busy. I’m racing against the clock trying to get the garden ready. Rain is forecasted for Friday so its on! I’ve been really trying hard to stay focused and organized and that’s been a challenge too but trying to keep things in perspective.