Who would steal milk from this adorable little goat? This innocent, hungry love muffin who bats her tail around, gets on her knees, and oh so cutely sucks from her mama's breast?
Lately, me.
On Monday I started a weaning program that will go on for almost two months. At night I lock the little ones into a dog crate near where Bebe and Bilbo sleep. In the morning, Bebe's udders are full and the little ones make these heart-breaking bleating noises. Before they get their milk, I put Bebe on this stanchion (jankity construction by moi) and milk her. The first day was a total bust, I felt like such an ass, and I couldn't get any milk to come out. I mean, Bebe is a dwarf goat, she has small little teats!
Tuesday my friend W came over and gave me some moral support. Although she hasn't milked a goat either, she encouraged me to keep trying. What's the worst thing that can happen W asked--Bebe will tell Bilbo I'm a total creep? So I kept on and finally got a few sprays of milk out of one of her teats. Yippee!! Today I got them both to work. Tomorrow I'm going to milk her dry. The idea is that when the babies go in for milk, her udders will refill and supply the demand.
I still feel bad for stealing from the little ones, but as you can see I only took a little bit. Here's the bounty.
After filtering it, I gave it a taste. It's very sweet and mild. Nourishing.
P.S. I wrote a profile in Monday's SFGate.com that earned me a lot of hate mail. If my inbox is any reflection, we hate the rich more than the poor here in America.
9 comments:
Yer sfgate link is busted, missing the http://
I second Nat. SFgate story is at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/a/2008/04/07/moneytales.DTL
I find the comment threads at sfgate.com more and more vicious and filled with hate these days. I thought it was just Michael Bauer's blog, but it seems to be more widespread. :P
What are you going to do with the goat milk? Cheese? :) So awesome.
OH, I am so jealous of your farm in the city set up. I think what you're doing is awesome.
I'm trying to convince my husband that chickens and rabbits would be a good addition to our backyard.
http://tinyurl.com/64j8ha for article
Ya know, I found an excellent milking tutorial online, but for the life of me can't remember where. It was excellent. Hmmm?
congrats on the milking! If the little 'uns have their cud, you can steal as much as you can get. Plus, her supply will increase with the demand. We've lived so long with milk that we don't ever want to live without it!
Interesting profile too.
thanks cg!
they seem less interested in the milk than me these days.
when i milk, they hang out and nibble on my clothes, and yesterday one tried to suck my elbow. i think they've confused--am i mom or sister?
I've started doing this with my goats this year as well. They can have all the milk they want during the day and sleep in a separate pen at night. They seem to be just fine with it now that they are used to the routine. I've read that goats produce a lot of milk right after they are milked dry, so the babies will have plenty of milk even if you milk her completely dry in the mornings. Cute kids!
It's amazing how many blogs are out there these days. I recently mentioned to my girlfriend that we should buy a piece of land in the country together and she got really excited about the prospect of owning land and animals.
It's a few years in the making yet, but the prospect of some land just a few miles away from the city limits is what we're both working towards now...
If my inbox is any reflection, we hate the rich more than the poor here in America.
You always hate what you envy.
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