Wednesday, October 1, 2014

New Goat Collars

 
Call me crazy but I love our goats;  Milkdud and Skittles (and yes, I know they are named after candy - their mother was Kit Kat)
 
We had our first successful breeding this June, when Milkdud became a momma to two healthy kids; a doe named Hershey and a buck named Starburst.  I am not sure we will continue on with the candy names, but it's probably better than some of our chickens who are named after family members.
 
 




The doe went to a dairy farm about an hour from us.  Now, after waiting for another two months to pass the buck onto his new home, our milking twice daily has just begun.  It has been an uphill learning curve, including learning to get her on the milk stand, teaching her to stand still, teaching her not to kick the bucket, and learning about additional feeding and watering issues.

Since milking, I have had to learn (and quite quickly) what to do with all of this extra milk, besides drinking it.  So, we start with the really yummy stuff first - ice cream.  We bought a new ice cream maker and several batches later, the kids have decided that goat milk makes the absolute best milkshake.  I have also experimented with yogurt, chevre cheese, kefir, goat soap and lotion and soaking grains for bread.

Since we love our goats, I was so excited when I saw these collars on a blog that I read called, "Goat Milk Stuff."  PJ told me that she got the collars from a company called Hot Dog Collars.  They are personalized so that anyone visiting One Blessed Acre can now identify each of our goats by their name (what animal doesn't like to hear their name called?).

Here is Skittles sporting her new collar.....
 
 
And Milkdud sporting hers. . . . .


 
 

We just love our goats!  They have been a great addition to our farm, One Blessed Acre.