Category Archives: Goats Milk

The dairy

The kids are weaned, the goats are in full flow and the dairy re-opens

It’s been a busy few weeks here at the croft.  We separated the kids from their mums, earlier than anticipated due to sore and bleeding teats.  Those little beasts have sharp teeth.  For a while we hand milked the does and fed the kids with bottles, but they weren’t keen and were eating solid food and hay with great enthusiasm.

Once the mothers were healed up, we got out the machine and since then have been milking twice a day.  These two goats are not producing a lot compared with some breeds but we are getting around 21 litres a week.

Every day is a challenge, so far we have made yoghurt, ice cream and butter. With the waste product, buttermilk we have baked some beautiful baps.  The fridge is full of jars of cream and soon the cheese making will begin and we will be drowning under vats of whey.  It’s almost a full-time job!

In other news we have switched Fin’s medication from Atopica to a relatively new drug, Apoquel which is extremely difficult to get hold of.  It is not specifically for his particular problem but it seems to be keeping him stable and the difference in his overall demeanour is remarkable.  His appetite is back and he is far happier.  At nearly 15, we know we are not going to cure him of this awful disease, but we are doing the best we can to keep him comfortable and allow him to enjoy his life again.

The kids party

After lambing we are kidding

It’s been an exhausting couple of months, with long nights watching the CCTV cameras, on the lookout for ewes in the process of lambing.  Not so for kidding.  We knew the exact date when the goats had conceived so there was less speculation on when they would give birth.  Our window of watching was much narrower.

It turned out that both Betsy and Lulu had their twins one day earlier than expected but we were prepared and not taken unawares.  Betsy was first, easily giving birth to a boy and girl – Cocoa and Chanel.  Lulu followed up a few days later, with an equally painless (for us anyway!) birth of twin girls – Mitzi and Melody.

We decided to have them disbudded as we have found in the past that people are not keen on owning horned goats.  This would give us a better chance of selling them if we chose to do so.  The visit to the vet wasn’t very pleasant but they all came through it OK and had forgotten all about their traumatic experience by the following day.

They are delightful little creatures, very fluffy and full of fun and Lulu is a fantastic first time mother.  Betsy also a first-timer, loves Cocoa but is not at all keen on Chanel.  When Betsy is busy eating, Chanel sneaks in for quick drink, but to ensure she’s getting enough nourishment, we have to tether her mother to allow her to feed.

Every few days, we are separating the kids from their mothers overnight so that we can have our own fill of milk in the morning.  It’s lovely to have our regular supply back again and as the weeks go on, we can look forward once again to ice cream, butter and cheese!

Say cheese

Our goat’s cheese comes of age

We didn’t manage to find a billy for our girls last year so unfortunately our goat milk supply is dwindling.  However, in times when the white stuff was flowing plentifully, we set out to make our own cheddar.

According to the British Cheese Board, a mild cheddar is typically ready at about 3 months of age; medium matured cheddar at 5 to 6 months; mature cheddar at around 9 months, extra mature at around 15 months and vintage at 18 months or more.

So, a certain amount of patience is required for hard cheesemaking and also a leap of faith.  A cheese will not be tasted for quite some time  which leaves you open for a huge disappointment.  Using the same recipe which was untested, we decided to make a cheese every week for a couple of months.  It took 3-4 days from start to finish per cheese, which included pressing and coating and each one was labelled and stored in the fridge.

The first one we tasted after 3 months and it wasn’t anything special, rather bland.  After that we tried at 6 months and then 9 months.

They still weren’t very good, nothing like the commercial cheddars, so we lost interest and several of the cheeses have sat untouched in the fridge for over a year.

In fact the one we tried last week was made on 8/10/2012.

There was a little mould on the wax coating but we rubbed it off and cut into it.  The texture was slightly crumbly and it  was much more like you would expect cheddar to be.  Although far from perfect but it was creamy and full of flavour with just a little tang.  Certainly the best we have achieved so far. and I think we can definitely call it vintage!

Lambing live

Our most successful year, ever

Lambing is always a stressful time here at the croft and this year was no exception. It’s filled with sleepless nights watching restless sheep and anxious days peering at fragile looking lambs wondering if they’re feeding properly. This year was made a wee bit easier by the installation of our CCTV cameras. Instead of spending hours in a chilly shed, we could monitor all the activity from the warmth of the house, only needing to venture out when a lambing was actually in progress.

It all went much more smoothly than usual and of course we could see which lambs were feeding and which ones needed a bit of help. One particular boy (we named him Polka-dot, after we marked him with a blue spot so that we could recognise him instantly in the crowd), spent his time standing hunched in the corner. We eventually came to the conclusion that he wasn’t getting enough milk so with the aid of an obliging goat, we supplemented his mother’s milk. He is now fat and healthy.

Most of the births were straightforward, the ewes producing mainly twins but there were a couple of singles. No triplets this time which is good for the mothers as it’s easier to cope with two. However, we did have one first-timer that gave us cause for concern. After watching her all night on camera, she finally got started in the early hours, but the lamb was going nowhere. It was stuck fast. Thanks to the assistance of our obliging neighbour, an experienced sheep farmer, now retired, and some baling twine, we managed to heave the enourmous lamb out.

Despite the fact that it took quite a while and its tongue was blue, it survived and is now thriving. What a relief and we were so grateful for the help, you learn something new every year.

Only one left to lamb now and she is certainly taking her time. All the rest are ready to be vaccinated and move on out to pastures new.

In other news, Fin seems to be responding to the medications and is feeling a lot more comfortable now.

Utterly buttery

Finally, we get to grips with butter making

With two goats in milk, the twice daily routine was taking much longer and was tough on the hands, so when we were given an ancient Alfa Laval milking machine (just like the one on Wartime Farm, if anybody is watching it), we were delighted.  It needed quite a bit of work to restore it to full working order but once it got going, it made our lives so much easier and the goats don’t mind it either.

We have been busy making cheese, ice cream and have finally after many false starts, managed to make butter.  In the past when we’ve tried, we’ve ended up with a solid cream instead of the butterfat separating from the buttermilk.  Therefore, it was an exciting moment when we ended up with our first dish of home made goat’s butter!

Rather than the usual yellow colour we are all familiar with, goat’s butter is pure white but with a sprinkling of salt, it tastes delicious.  It also makes great pastry, even though it’s a little difficult to handle (can’t imagine anyone on the Great British Bake Off using goat’s butter pastry) and of course the buttermilk is perfect in scones or soda bread.

It takes a while to make it.  Firstly the cream needs to be separated from the milk and this needs to be collected for about 3 days before there is enough for a decent amount of butter.  The cream then has to be beaten until it separates and when drained is shaped using the antique butter pats that we bought especially.

Perfect on home made rolls, muffins and crumpets.

Say cheese!

Learning to make our own cheese

Since we weaned Albert the calf from our goat, we have been milking said goat twice a day every day.

Subsequently it has been some time since we’ve bought milk, and more recently we have ventured into the exciting world of cheesemaking! Our cheese press, fashioned from some scrap wood and other bits and pieces welded together, is ideal for hard cheeses, and we have some nice looking Dunlop (a traditional Scottish cheese) and Cheddar on the go. Unfortunately it will be quite a while before we know if they have been successful as they take time to mature.

On the other hand, soft cheeses are ready a little sooner. One of our latest is Feta, which is stored in brine (pictured). Delicious!

We also hope our other goat is in kid, although it’s very near to the end of the mating season and we probably won’t know for some time if she’s pregnant. If we’re lucky, we could double our production of milk!

Cow and goat

Baling, calving and a co-operative goat

Our delight at cutting the grass in July lasted about 24 hours, after which it rained and rained and rained (and rained). We expected rain of course, but not as much as we got!

Eventually we managed to bale it, but due to a number of factors we got only 100 bales – about a third of what we were hoping for (and need). At least we managed to do it all with our own equipment this time, and mechanically speaking, everything worked a treat!

Meanwhile, Rosie, one of our Dexters, delivered a calf for us a week earlier than expected. This was her first calf, and although the birth was fine, regrettably she didn’t seem too keen on feeding it! After quite a lot of fiddling about, we admitted defeat and separated mother and calf, and started feeding him from a bottle. He is called Albert.

One of our local dairies supplied colostrum, and another was happy to give us fresh milk for a couple of weeks, but unfortunately Albert just hasn’t taken to bottle feeding at all.

Luckily, the goat kids are already eating solid food, so the most sensible solution was to separate them from the goat and let Albert suckle it instead (pictured). Unusual perhaps, but working nonetheless. Kids, calf, and goat are all doing beautifully!