My first dam , ‘babies’, is a sweetheart , but she hasn’t been the most generous goat . Not at the feeding trough with her kid , or on the milking stand . It was time to do something proactive with the milking situation as she had had a ‘free ride’ long enough and I was getting envious of those individuals I kept reading about with their sweet and tasty goat products ! So , I bought a hand milker . I still don’t know which of the following statements is correct : ‘Babies” is a ‘hard milker ‘, or, I suck at hand milking , but I was very excited to see milk flowing down the milking tube into my sealed collection jar . It took a little while for Babies to get used to it , but she settled in and each time has gotten better . I think it’s my singing of the jazz standard , My One and Only Love that puts her at ease . Maybe not , but it is awesome when a plan comes together . She gladly walks to the garage with me , knowing she’ll get some of that bitchin’ sweet corn , steps up onto the stand flawlessly now like it’s her job , and sticks her head through the stanchion , her nose searching out her sweet target like a guided missile !
Our first taste of goat milk was disappointing . It tasted like goat , or , as some people say , ‘bucky’ . Everything I’ve read about goat milk informs me that this is diet and season related , and ,some claim , from pasteurizing . Guilty . My family had reservations about drinking it raw and as I haven’t personally had her tested yet , I was agreeable to pasteurizing . Time will tell if it is an occasional thing . In the meantime we have very nutritional milk that we can use in smoothies and such where the flavor is not as critical . And , one more part of the ‘vision’ has fallen into place : a jar of our own farmstead produced milk sits on the shelf in our refrigerator . We got milk ! !
Adams Family Farmstead 