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Y’all had some interesting guesses about what new critter is living at Smockity Acres. I believe my favorite was “a snail”.
A few of you guessed that it is a horse, but you clearly do not know my conditional love for animals.
I love animals in a utilitarian way, as in I LOVE the eggs our chickens give us. If it is an animal that can’t give me anything, then I’m pretty ambivalent about it. (Hate me if you want to, love me if you can.)
Okay, I know we have a toy poodle, but pretend you aren’t aware of that for the remainder of this post, okay?
My point is that a horse can’t give me anything except a pain in the pocketbook, so it’s not a horse.
Facebook fans of Smockity know that we were considering a milk cow and we very nearly purchased two separate bovines, but one thing or another kept us from it and we finally concluded that we don’t have the facilities at this time to house or milk a cow and adding those would be a big expense.
So we decided to “downsize”.
Meet “Dovie”.
Don’t be afraid. That was my reaction at first too. Beauty is fleeting and it’s what’s on the inside that counts, right?
It’s a Lamancha dairy goat in case you couldn’t tell, and what’s on the inside is a gallon of milk each day!
We have her living with 2 goaty companions to keep her company and she is due to give birth in less than a month! Since she is a registered dairy goat, we should be able to sell her babies for enough to more than make up for her purchase price.
We have no experience with dairy goats, but have done lots of research and have even participated in a dairy goat forum to get lots of advice on how to proceed.
We have also been reading these “Goat 101” posts (among other sites) and studying this “How to Milk a Goat” video. (By the way, I think Jill is about the cutest thing ever and I’m pretty sure we could be pretend best friends. My 7yo proclaimed that she didn’t look like a farmer lady because she wears earrings and pretty shirts.)
Be on the lookout for baby goat pictures and some “See Smockity Milk a Farm Animal” webisodes coming soon!
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome! Be sure to take out your earrings and wear an ugly shirt so you can be official.
How fun! I see the Smockity Farm tours materializing.
Fantastic! We have four Lamancha does, and they provide abundant, wonderful milk! Good luck, it is a whole lot easier than it seems at first. When we got ours, I had never milked an animal before in my life.
I think she is lovely. Congratulations. There are few things cuter in the WHOLE world than a baby goat.
That’s wonderful! We too would like to get a dairy goat. I’m not sure what I’d do with a gallon of milk a day though. But we thinking about it heavily. Good luck to you and I look forward to reading your adventures.
She is just totally a beautiful ! Plus just think of the yummy goat cheese!!!Congrats !
First off, congrats on your first goat!! She’s a beauty!
But, I though I’d “dress-up” for the video. Such is the glamorous life of a homesteader, lol!
Secondly, thank you for sharing my blog link/video in your post. I seriously laughed out loud when I read your 7yo’s comment- earrings and nice shirts are usually somewhat of a rarity for me- I’m usually covered in various forms of flour, hay bits, and manure, ha!
But anyway, thanks for your sweet mention and best of luck in your goat adventures. You’re gonna have a blast!!
We had a Lamancha wether. He was the most affectionate goat ever. Congratulations on Dovie. I love her name
Oh and a very important thing about goats milk is chill it fast! So right after you strain it put it in the freezer for an hour. Don’t forget it in there though
Yay! Dovie is a pretty little goat, I think. We raised milk goats when I was a teen. It doesn’t take long to learn how to milk them. Keep her away from little billy goats (until breeding time) and her milk will stay sweet smelling and tasting.
Y’all are going to fall in love with her kids. They are such fun to watch and play with!
I am so excited for you and your family! Baby goats are about the cutest babies ever! My sister in law raised goats for years. They quit buying cows milk and would drink the goats milk themselves. You can make soap from it and of course cheese! I learned to milk them due to a baby goat that was rejected by its mother. I loved feeding the kids! You are all going to have so much fun!
Oh how fun! We would love to get a goat someday too. I can’t wait to see your future posts on how it is going!
How cute! I’d love to have one……not allowed in my townhouse community. HA!
Congratulations on your new addition! Sounds like you’ll be having some fun adventures.
Wandering Aengus has always told me that he would love to own goats one day. He said they are better than cows for the same reasons you said!
I love your webisodes. Your facial expressions crack my up! Seeing you milk a goat for the first time should be entertaining! Your kids are going to have to much fun with that sweet little goat, enjoy!
Keep hanging around on the Homesteading Today goat forum, and we’ll have you addicted in no time!
Pity you couldn’t afford a goat with ears, though… Oh, well. That Alpine cross you’re getting should do until you can get a Nubian.
BTW – A buck will not affect the flavor of your doe’s milk – unless, of course, you run your hands all over his body and then swish them in the milk bucket…
Just follow good milking practice and chill the milk as soon as you can, and your lovely goat milk will be wonderful (unless you feed Dovie onions, I mean, you know… )
Pony has got it right about a buck making your milk taste bad. Most people will swear that’s what is going to happen, and rather than argue with them, I’ll just say that that is not true for us!
)
I usually have 1 or 2 of the stinky fellows around and our goat milk tastes FABULOUS. Strain it fast, chill it fast. In the freezer for an hour works great!
I think Dovie is beautiful! Not weird or scary at all. LOL
Be prepared for strangers to ask you why you cut her ears off. Just tell them you made soup with her ears and they will leave you alone after that!!
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