Tag: raising goats

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GKP Writing News

Plotting Goat Shows

People seem to love showing off things and animals. Goats are no exception which means there are goat shows.

These events occur in Dora’s Story. Emily’s mother wants the recognition of winning them. The girls want to take part as members of their 4-H club. There are two big shows close to them and they attend both.

using goat shows for plotting goat shows
This is an old picture from the first Arkansas state goat show in 1981. The class is for Nubian doelings. Note the whites then the official wear for those showing goats.

Why Have Goat Shows?

I only took my goats to the local county shows. I led a couple of 4-H goat Projects and the shows were part of this.

We held the shows for several reasons. One was for the members to show off their goats. More importantly the judges could help them recognize the strong and weak points of their goats.

The public was the other big reason for holding these little shows. Many people know little about goats and many times what they know is wrong.

This isn’t their fault. Goats are fun to make fun of. Brush goats do tend to have long goatees and big horns. Goats do butt each other and other things. Horns are a great way to tear delicious bark off of trees.

Buck goats (male goats in the dairy goat world) do reek during mating season. Does (female goats in the dairy goat world) do not.

If produced properly, goat milk tastes good. It is also better balanced for human consumption than cow’s milk.

Phelps County Fair goat show
Phelps County Fair has a goat show. Back around 2006 most of the goats shown were dairy goats. This is an Oberhasli sometimes called a Swiss Alpine. Note the show clip and how the goat is set up with front feet across from each other, back feet set directly under the tail and the collar used to keep the goat’s head up, but not straining.

Dora’s Story Goat Shows

The shows in this novel are much bigger shows. I have attended several of these bigger shows as a spectator.

These shows have several goat breeds and several classes for each breed. There are showmanship classes for young goat owners.

In plotting these shows for the novel, I had to list all of the classes, all of the goats in each of the classes and the names and ages of the owners of these goats. This took at least a page of notes.

To complicate this, the same shows occur annually. They show up more than once in the novel. That meant aging the owners and their goats, adding some new owners and goats.

Much of this material was not used in the novel. Emily and her sister showed Nubians and grades only. But they did talk to many of the other owners.

Novel background notes are like that. The notes make writing the novel easier and the result better. But that doesn’t mean all of the notes appear in the novel.

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Latest From High Reaches

Making Feta Goat Cheese

Making feta goat cheese hasn’t been on my list of things to do for years. It wasn’t supposed to be on the list now.

There has been a special request. I went hunting for my recipe and dredging my memory for how to make this cheese.

Special Supplies

I’ve made several changes in the regular feta recipes I’ve read. The set curds do need to have the whey pressed out. This can be with a cheese press. I use my hands and a colander.

There is a special feta cheese starter. I’ve never used it. Instead I will use buttermilk from the market. It works well for making feta goat cheese, although it changes the flavor a little.

The other supplies are the same as for other cheeses I make: a whisk, a long spatula, a stirring spoon, a stainless steel pot, stainless steel colander, vegetable rennet. Canning salt is used too, but as a brine. I dump a couple of cups of salt into a gallon jug and fill it with water. This is enough for two or three batches of cheese.

My Recipe

My pot holds about a gallon and a half of milk, so that is how much I use. This can be fresh or from the day before. Either way, the milk is warmed to 86 degrees. The heat is turned off.

Then a quarter cup of buttermilk is whisked into the milk. The lid is put on and the mixture is allowed to sit for an hour.

Rennet is whisked in. The curd is allowed to set up and should take about half an hour.

The curd is cut as for mozzarella: across both ways and diagonal both ways, and allowed to set for five minutes. Now the curd is gently stirred for fifteen minutes. After the first five, time really drags.

This stirring is important as it separates the curds and whey. You will see the curds shrink in size.

Now the colander comes into play to drain the whey from the curds. The curds should be firm enough to roll the colander to drain the whey as much as possible. Press the curds into a cake.

making feta goat cheese takes time
It takes some time to cut the feta into cubes, but the cubes soak up the brine better than a big piece. However, the cubes like being in one lump and will stick together while sitting in the brine. They are broken apart again while running cold water over them to wash off the brine. They will continue to ooze whey and brine even after being washed and drained. Just dump the liquid out of the container you put the cheese into.

Salting the Cheese

Turn the curd mass out onto a plate. The mass is cut into roughly half inch cubes. These are put into a bowl. More whey will come out. Keep dumping it to avoid a flooded counter.

Pour brine over the pile of cubes. Set the plate on top of the bowl. Place the bowl in the refrigerator for several hours.

Supposedly the time spent in the brine doesn’t matter. I prefer to get the cubes out after three to four hours.

Dump the cubes into the colander. Rinse them with cold water. Drain the water and refrigerate the cubes of feta, ready to use.

Making feta goat cheese isn’t hard. It is time consuming. I find it too salty for my taste which is why I don’t usually make it.

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GKP Writing News

Dora’s Story Characters

It was September and I wanted a story line to write in November when the idea came. The plot would revolve around a dairy goat moving between several different owners. Then I began creating the Dora’s Story characters.

cover for "Dora's Story" by Karen GoatKeeper
After writing a number of straight plotline novels, this was very different. There was the novel plotline. Yet each of the six parts had a plotline for itself and as part of the novel one. It involved several goat shows and each of these changed as the participants got older. It took over a year to get all of it right.

Who Are They?

From the time my first goat, Jennifer, was born, I’ve met many people with goats. Others I’ve heard of. These were the beginnings of my Dora’s Story characters.

The goat would come from a small time breeder. Her first owner would be Emily. Why would this young girl get a goat? Why would she give up her goat?

This brought in her mother and sister. For the girls, the goats were 4-H projects and pets. The mother wanted the prestige of purebred goats and Dora was a grade goat.

Once sold, Dora went through several owners. Each was a composite of people. One was a bad owner. Another was ill. Finally Dora ends up with a young boy.

Going In Circles

Emily was devastated when Dora was sold. Her dream was to find Dora again. In the original draft, she does.

As years pass, people change. Emily grew up. So did Dora.

Emily wanted to get Dora back as though this would make everything like it was. Long ago I learned you can’t go back except in memories. Such an ending would not be at all realistic.

Yet, Emily did need to find Dora again. But she needed to find her beloved goat in a new time, under the new conditions.

Dora’s Story Characters

Each step of the way, Dora is a possible way to the future for each owner. Some take advantage of this. Some don’t.

We are often blind to or afraid of opportunities that come our way. They pass us by. When it is too late, we realize we went past them, now regretting it.

Carpe Diem.

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Time For Cheese Again

Three kids are sold and gone. The two wethers and two bucks are left and still gorging on milk. But there is enough leftover now and it’s time for cheese again.

As with so many things, I no longer do a lot of cheese or kinds of cheese. Every Monday I do a small batch of a mozzarella type. Occasionally I do the vinegar set ricotta

Milk Is the Beginning

Most cheese directions begin in the kitchen. I prefer to start in the milk room as cheese actually begins with milk.

Ozark summers bring warm mornings. These in turn sour milk. This does not make good cheese or table milk for that matter.

Some years back I tried to come up with a way for cool my milk before it even made it into the kitchen. This matters as warm milk takes a long time to cool down in the refrigerator and makes it work harder, not a good thing with older refrigerators in a hot kitchen.

My solution was to freeze a juice bottle of water. This is placed in the milk tote when I go out. The warm milk cools a lot as the ice melts inside the bottle.

When you try this, remember water expands about ten percent when it freezes, so leave room in the bottle. Use a thicker plastic juice bottle, 20 ounce. Tighten the lid securely.

goats are milking, time for cheese again
It’s easy to think cheese recipes only matter in the kitchen. Cheese actually begins in the barn. My hard working (Ha!) Nubian does come in at milking time to gobble up their grain and other treats. Pieces of apple, corn husks, lettuce leaves and other things are appreciated. Pumpkin and squash pieces are big favorites. In return I get milk from which I can make cheese.

Pasteurizing

I made this mistake once. My cheese never set. If you do pasteurize, you will need starters for the milk to replace what the heat killed.

My cheese is made from raw milk. Yes, raw milk can carry diseases. However, I know my goats and don’t use milk from goats feeling ill.

Another check is how long the milk stays good in the refrigerator. Mine stays good for over a week. I keep my equipment clean, my glass bottles clean and put the milk up as soon as I get in from the milk room.

Now It’s Time for Cheese Again

Next week I’ll post about making fresh milk ricotta. I don’t make big batches any more so I’ll start with three quarts of fresh milk, just in from the milk room.

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GKP Writing News

Writing Goat Puzzles

Pencil puzzles are probably not the best use of my time, true. However, these are fun to do now and then. Except none of the regular pencil puzzles are about goats. That started me writing goat puzzles.

My new computer sat on the desk begging to be used. These goat puzzles were a great way to find out new ways of using my computer.

Now What?

There were sixty-four goat puzzles on my computer. It took a lot of time to create all of these. What was I to do with all of these goat puzzles?

Checking around I found I was the only one writing goat puzzles. Evidently people thought horse, dog and cat puzzles were much more interesting. There were books of these kinds of puzzles.

cover for "Goat Games" by Karen GoatKeeper
Learn about goats through interviews with goat owners, pencil puzzles, trivia and more.

Creating a Book

These other puzzle books had more in them than just puzzles. If I was going to have a book, I needed to have other things in the book besides the puzzles.

My goats are all Nubian dairy goats. There are lots of kinds of goats, hundreds of kinds around the world. These are not just dairy goats, but meat goats and fiber goats too. And there were people around my area with some of these goats.

Fifteen kinds of goats have pages in my book. Recipes for meat, milk and cheese were added. And the goat associations got a page.

So There Is a Book

I asked a publisher about my book. It seems goats aren’t as popular as other animals, so my book was rejected. The editor liked the book, but didn’t think enough people would buy one to pay for printing it.

The publisher was right. I self published “Goat Games” and found few people wanted to buy a copy.

But that’s all right. I had a good time writing goat puzzles, met a lot of other goat owners and learned a lot of new things about my goats.

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Latest From High Reaches

Nubian Buck Bonanza

It’s supposed to be fifty fifty, the ratio of boys to girls. My Nubian does didn’t get the memo and gave me a Nubian buck bonanza this year.

When High Reaches Pamela had twin bucks, that was all right. Then High Reaches Valerie delivered two buck and a doe. Finally High Reaches Lydia and High Reaches Rose added a buck each. That made six bucks and a doe.

Nubian doe kid
Smallest of Nubian doe High Reaches Valerie’s triplets and the only doe out of seven kids, this bottle baby doe kid keeps up. Even so, a nap is nice until everyone moves on. then it’s time to stretch and run to catch up.

Six Bucks!

In the livestock world, girls rule. Hens lay eggs, not roosters. Cows have calves and a herd only needs one bull. Likewise for goats.

Extra stallions can be gelded and make good saddle mounts. Extra bull calves get fixed and become steers that end up as hamburger and steak. What about extra buck goats?

polled buck part of Nubian buck bonanza
Nubian doe High Reaches Rose is very proud and very attached to this little polled buck kid. She will even let the herd leave her behind to stay with him. He takes full advantage of this as he stops to explore any and every thing that looks interesting and totally ignores her calls to hurry up and join her.

Looking Back

When I started raising goats, there was no market for extra buck goats. Many goat owners destroyed their extra buck kids.

This seemed strange to me as the U.S. imported goat meat for Jewish and Muslim communities. Gradually domestic goat raisers invaded this market. The big barrier was the type of goat.

In the U.S. then most people raised dairy goats. Like with dairy cattle, these are not as good as meat animals. Once meat goats became popular, goat meat had a market.

What About My Nubian Buck Bonanza?

I have a small herd. My goats never go to shows. They don’t have any famous pedigrees. Although I have kept a wether (a fixed buck) and raised him for meat in the past, I no longer do.

Most of my extra bucks will be sold in the meat market. That makes me a bit sad, but I have few other choices.

Spotted Nubian buck kid part of Nubian buck bonanza
Nubian doe High Reaches Lydia is a casual mother assuming her spotted buck kid is busy amusing himself playing with the other kids. He finds this great until he gets hungry. Then Lydia better be around.

Other Choices

High Reaches Rose’s buck is polled, born without horns. This makes him special. Perhaps someone wants a lovely polled American Nubian polled buck.

High Reaches Lydia’s buck is now disbudded so his horns shouldn’t grow. He is black with lots of spots. Perhaps someone wants a showy spotted American Nuban buck.

And I was asked about a wether as a companion for a buck. My bottle baby buck will do nicely, although I am normally hesitant about being in the pet market as so many people know nothing about goats. Goats are not like dogs.

Perhaps some members of my Nubian buck bonanza will live long lives. I hope so.

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Square Hay Bales

Almost everyone puts up round bales now. That makes finding square hay bales difficult.

Round bales have advantages. Since they are moved by tractor, no hay crew is needed. They shed rain and can be left outside.

These big bales have one major flaw for me. They are too big to move without equipment I don’t have. Square hay bales are manageable for me. And, with a small herd of wasteful goats, they waste less as less is put out at a time.

My Hay

For years I bought my hay. Now I have people come and custom bale my fields. For a bit more they even put it in my barn for me.

Watching someone else put hay in my barn is hard. I picked up, unloaded, and stacked my own hay for decades. Age catches up with everyone and moving hay is one of my casualties.

Even harder is trying to explain how I want the hay bales stacked. My ancient barn is difficult to stack in. The stacks fit best in one way. And that way makes getting them back out easier too.

square hay bales being made
The tractor growls its way across the field as the claws rake in dry windrow grasses. The baler clunks and chugs pressing the grasses into bales, wraps them in twine and drops them onto the field. This is a urprisingly fast operation as dry grass becomes square hay bales.

Will My Goats Eat the Hay?

I can’t answer this question. The herd goes out and eats the grass plus weed assortment out in the fields. That doesn’t mean they will eat the same stuff dried.

Every fall this turns into a debate. I put hay out in the troughs. The goats check it out. They go out and scrounge in the fields.

Winter sets in. The fields are unavailable due to rain or ice or snow. Suddenly the hay tastes good to the goats.

Winter is coming. The first taste of fall with warm days and cool nights has set in giving warning. The goats may not be impressed with stacks of square hay bales in the barn while the fields are still green and lush.

I am.

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New Little Goats

Five months have rolled by since my girls entertained Augustus. Doe goats have little use for buck goats unless they are in season much to his disappointment. Now is the time for new little goats.

Getting Ready for Kids

The does get ready by eating well and getting fat. Their udders swell with colostrum. The kids settle leaving space under backbones and tailbones.

I get ready by having old towels, clean kidding pen, clipped fingernails and plain soap. A bottle with nipple is waiting. Although I don’t normally bottle raise kids, it’s so much easier to milk colostrum into the bottle and feed the kid than to try to get them on a teat.

Then We Wait

Spring, Juliette and Natasha waddled out to pasture and back in. They laid around chewing their cuds. They showed all the signs their kids were due any time.

The new little goats were in no hurry. Days went by. We continued to wait on these already spoiled brats.

first of new little goats
High Reaches Spring had this adorable little Nubian doe kid early in the morning. By the time I was done milking, this little kid was out enjoying the sunshine.

New Little Goats Arrive

Spring’s kid came first. Surprisingly, she had a single doe kid. I’d expected twins. We accept what arrives.

This new mother, although she’s had kids before, is a nervous doe. She was not going to stand still to nurse her kid or let me milk into a bottle. At least she didn’t bite me as one did once. Milk stands insist on obedience.

One is Not Enough

This little doe is up and walking around. She eats well and will have nursing down pat by her second night. Spring has settled down and is enjoying motherhood.

But one kid has no one to play with.

Juliette indicates she is willing to add some new little goats to the play group. Are they? We’re all waiting. And the little doe has a little buck kid as a playmate.

Bittersweet Time

Those new little goats are so cute. They grow up so fast. For years I would look them over deciding which ones to keep.

Now I watch them grow, pet them, play with them. And let them go. Age catches up with everyone including me. No new goats will join my herd. But I will still enjoy those little spoiled brats for a few months.

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New Year Planning

Beginning a new year in January is an arbitrary thing. Still, coming in the middle of winter makes new year planning easier as fewer distractions are happening.

Resolutions are self-defeating for me. I miss a few days and give up on what may be a very good idea. I prefer setting goals with a looser timetable.

Garden Planning

My new year planning begins with the garden. Usually the garden is mulched and waiting by the end of December. I’m looking forward to next spring.

Garden planning has changed a lot in the last few years. I love growing potatoes, but can’t now. The springs are too cold and summer comes too suddenly leaving my potato plants frozen, then cooked.

Still, seeds will be ordered in January. Seedlings will get started in March. I do need more room for the winter squash and don’t know where to find it yet.

Livestock Planning

February is time to order baby chicks. Last year I raised Columbian Wyandottes. Which breed will I order this year? Chick catalogs are fun to browse through.

New year planning for goat kids is in October
Nubian does are getting fat. There are five bred for March kids and all look like they will have twins. Their new year planning now is centered on eating enough food to keep both them and their kids healthy and warm. My planning is in having the barn ready and kid friendly by the beginning of March.

Goat kids will arrive in March. Even though I don’t keep any new kids now, they are still special. In a few years there will be no kids to enjoy, so I will make the most of these before they are sold.

One aspect of my new year planning stays much like last year. I will go hiking and taking plant pictures. This has been a good year. I’ve added over 30 new plants to the Dent County Flora.

As usual, there are many I found, but didn’t get back for those last pictures. And the stash of unidentified plants remains long.

In many ways, the new year will look a lot like the old year. In one respect it will be very different. A health scare has made my new year planning special as I want to make the most of it.

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Keeping Kids Warm

Lately I’ve been asked about keeping kids warm when they are born in very cold weather. Living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan gave a whole new meaning to this problem.

First Dry the Kids

When a goat kid is first born, it is covered with fluids. Its fur is sopping wet. Wet fur loses heat fast. The first problem is to get that kid dry, really dry.

I’ve seen recommendations for wiping kids off with newspapers. I tried it. The paper did scrape off any membranes and squeegeed off some liquid. The kid was left wet.

Old towels are my choice for drying off newborn kids. They clean the kid off like newspapers. Towels are made to absorb liquid. Rubbing off a kid leaves it damp.

goat kid goat coat
Goat kids do fine in their coats. How long the coats stay on depends on the kid and the temperatures. It’s best to take them off in the morning so the kid can get used to not wearing one before a cold night moves in.

This is not good enough. Up north, we had no electricity. Heat lamps were not an option. Here in the Ozarks the barn is a hundred years old and a tinderbox. We brought the kids in and stashed them by the wood stove. It didn’t take long for the kids to be dry.

Dry kids can take a lot of cold, if they have protection. I have two approaches to keeping kids warm.

Second Get Kids Warm

The easy one is a goat coat. My big goats have sweatshirts. My kids get coats made from the sleeves I cut off. These work very well in the Ozarks.

goat coats keeping kids warm
My Nubian doe High Reaches Drucilla is totally unconcerned about the goat coats on her kids. This is typical. The kids don’t seem to mind them either continuing to run and play the same as always.

Up north coats help, but are not enough. In really cold weather we kept the kids in by the wood stove taking them out every so often to nurse. In a week, these kids were ready to stay out in the barn even at zero or below.

My other solution is a cubby hole. I place a line of three hay bales, two high against a wall. Two more bales are placed in front of these with a gap slightly smaller than the length of a bale between them. Another bale is placed over the hole. Using a board under this bale is a good idea.

In no time the cubby hole is keeping kids warm as they pile in.