Goats

We got 2 Alpine milk goats on January 24th.  We are sharing them with our neighbors who come up here about every 3 weeks.  So when they are here they will milk them, and the rest of the time we will milk them.  The first day I got to milk them because Dave was subbing at the school.  I got the kids and myself all bundled up and we went out in the 18 degree weather.  It took me about an hour just to do one goat!  By the time I was done my toes were frozen and my hands were shaking because they were so tired!  Then I still had to milk the other goat.  She was much easier, she took me about 5 minutes.  Now, after a few weeks of practice, I can milk the hard goat in about 40 minutes and the other in about 3 minutes. Dave is a lot faster, it only takes him 30 minutes total.  We are thinking we will get rid of the hard goat and get another easier goat.

Their names are Angie and Heidi.

 We sure like having the fresh, yummy milk! We have made butter and icecream so far, but plan on making some other stuff like cheese, yogurt, and soap.