My first kid was born two days ago. Yesterday, a more experienced goatherd friend of mine came over and looked at her and the doe. He suggested milking the doe out, as the kid wasn't taking anywhere near her capacity. So I've got a pint of colostrum in the fridge, which I need to strain, pour into ice cube trays, and freeze. That way if I have an orphaned lamb or kid next year... Breezy may not get it, but I understood exactly what was being said. This is my first kid, and my goat's first kid too. The goat was my now ex-wife's idea. Yes, I've grabbed a goat tit before and tried to get milk out of it, and I've been shown the proper technique, but that doesn't mean I really know how to do it. What Rob showed me was that new goats will not accept a human milking them right off. The first few milkings are going to be troublesome. Don't get mad when she tries to use her back foot to push your hands away. Don't get mad if she dumps the milk. She's going to learn that it isn't so bad, and she'll get used to it. He said that one of his kicked with both back feet, and he caught her feet in the air and held them for a moment. She calmed right down. You can feed that first milk (probably contaminated with whatever's on her foot) to the dog, pigs, cats, whatever. Just don't plan on having it for yourself until she's trained to milk. I have a milking stand, but since my goat is out with the sheep on rotating pasture, it wasn't handy. We milked her in the shelter, which is stock pannel arches covered with carpet. Eventually I realized I could just attach her collar to the stock pannel, and keep her back end between me and the wall. Yes, this means I'm bent down to milk. We'll see how that goes. I may bring out the milking stand but still clip her collar to the wall. For the first milking, it was good to have two people there. It looks like the easiest way to do this is going to be to bring a few wide mouth quart mason jars out and milk directly into them, as they have tight lids and all. I'll also have to figure out an easy way to bring out some warm, ever so slightly soapy water and a cloth to clean her with before milking. For cheese, I really want to learn to make mozzarella. It's something my ex used to make, and it only takes about a half hour to make. It uses citric acid, salt, and maybe a flavoring culture. All the stuff is cheap and available through places like New England Cheesemakers Supply, by mail order. Dan

Lori, I've had many goats in the past and have throughly enjoyed every moment with them. They are just like puppies when it comes to following you around. I noticed that some of the folks warned you about the Buck tainting the flavor of the milk. This is true. During breeding season the Buck becomes very smelly. This comes from him urinating on his beard. This scent causes the does to become sexually attracted to him. I have had several bucks at one time and found that the easiest way to deal with the oder is to take a rag soaked in Pinesol and wipe the beard down. This will not totally eliminate the oder, but will make it easier to get around him with out gagging. Use the pinesol rag about once a week, except during breeding season, and everyone around you will be happy. If you can, keep the bucks seperated from the does until breeding time, then put the does in with the bucks, not the other way around. This will keep the bucks focused on what they are doing and not on investagating a new area. So far as the horns go, they can be "Budded" just after birth. This requires a "debudding iron" and some knowledge on how to use it. Ask the breeder that you get your goats from if they know how to debudd the kids and if they do, if they will show you how to do it when your does are kidding. My favorite breeds for milk production would be the Nubian and the La Mancha. Both of these are very docile and easy to handle. They are larger than other milk goats, but that will serve two purposes; 1) greater milk production, and 2) more meat at a younger age. Goat products are endless. You can drink the milk, make ice cream, cheese, soap, cream, meat, etc. The only thing that you have to remember is that you have to cool the milk as soon as possible and you MUST use CLEAN utinsils when milking. For these items, I recomend an outfit called Jeffer's. You can look them up on line and request one of their catalogs. Goat meat is the leading source of meat in almost two thirds of the world. It is very lean, much like venison. If you have male kids born to your does, it is best to casturate them within the first two weeks of life. I use an "elastricator". It is an insturment that looks like a pair of pliers that streches a very small rubber band which is slipped over the testicals and released between the testicals and the body. You can purchase this at your local co-op, along with other things that you will need for your "medicine chest". This will insure that the meat doesn't take on the "strong taste" that is associated with the Bucks. The casturated males are called Wethers. It is best to harvest the meat before they reach 6 months of age for tender meat. I feed mine a mixture of alfalfa and "sweet-feed" for about a month before I harvest them. I would recomend two does to start, depending on the amount of land you have for them to graze on. You also need to keep in mind that goats are browsers. Meaning that they would rather eat at their head level or above than graze with their heads down. They love to eat the leaves and young fruits off of trees. If you don't want them to do that, you'll have to protect the trees somehow. I use stiff wire fencing that keeps the goats out of reach of the trees. This doesn't mean that they won't eat up your garden if given a chance, they will. Goats also have an ability to squeeze themselves through the smallest holes in your fencing. To deal with this, I recomend the use of an electric wire placed about 16" and 32" off the ground with red ribbons tied to it as a warning signal to the goats. This will keep them in and any preditors out. I recomend that you find some good books on raising goats, (visit the ADGA.com site (American Dairy Goat Assoc.), and look at the Foxfire books for information on goats and making their products), and read them BEFORE you buy one, and have everything ready when you bring your first one home. It will seem like a lot of work to prepare for the goats, but believe me, for the enjoyment you will get out of it, it is worth every minute of it. Good Luck, Gray Bear

Well the other one seems to have disappeared (it's a glitch common on Houzz lately) so I'll answer here. Are you sure your daughter can eat goat cheese? I ask because while goat's milk is easier to digest, it has about the same amount of lactose as cow's milk.

Mine is in the freezer. I sliced into portioned rounds, parchment between slices. It thaws quickly and easier to 'crumble'. I've been using feta and blue cheese recently on salads and the goat log was nearing the sell-by date. You can also roll it in herbed parmesan to absorb the moisture. Easier to make smaller pieces. Less sticky. For a warm beet salad I like goat cheese rounds tapped into herbed parm bread crumbs and quickly seared in a hot skillet just one side served on the edge of the plate.