CheeseForum.org » Forum

Sorry for the slight hijack, but GortKlaatu, how much work are the goats and about how much land do you need?  I live in the country side in Japan and eventually I'm hoping to settle down a bit and buy a piece of land to retire on.  I could see myself looking after a couple of goats if it's not a full time job...

Quote from: Gregore on August 04, 2018, 12:28:17 PM
I think I will give this a try , my first year or so of making cheese I used raw and the curd was a delight to work with , but at $15 a gallon it became to much as I can get non raw organic for less than half of that .

I think I will try with adding raw cream in to the skim milk and see what the curd is like

It will be a nice experiment but I suspect that the cost might end up creeping back up close to the cost of raw again .

And there was nothing that compares to the subtle flavors of raw milk cheese . I still daydream about the grassy ,hay , countryside fragrance of my past cheeses .

Gregore, that description makes me want to have my own raw milk source.  Oh wait......I dooooooooooooo!
Lucky me.

Quote from: mikekchar on August 05, 2018, 12:46:12 AM
Sorry for the slight hijack, but GortKlaatu, how much work are the goats and about how much land do you need?  I live in the country side in Japan and eventually I'm hoping to settle down a bit and buy a piece of land to retire on.  I could see myself looking after a couple of goats if it's not a full time job...

Mike
I suppose that all depends on your description of what "much work" would be.
I don't think it's too bad at all....certainly worth the benefits. (I just made 9 Cheese Mac N Cheese-- tidbits from various cheeses I make all from the goat milk.  I have 27 cheeses in the cave now. (And the Mac N Cheese is in the oven. LOL). Also just froze homemade goat milk ice cream....tonights flavor...Cherry Cheesecake.


IF you bring all the grass to the goats you don't have to have a large area.  You need at LEAST two female goats....they can not be kept alone....they are very social animals and will not do well alone.  Plus you need access to a buck (or artificial insemination) But you do NOT want the buck close to the does or the milk with taste very very barnyard and goaty.  My girls' milk is so sweet and creamy--partly due to the breed, partly due to their diet, and partly due to the fact that there is no buck anywhere nearby. (We go for conjugal visits to the next farm over when the time is right.)


Basically, you have to devote a regular and set time to milk every morning.  You can milk twice daily and get more milk, but it is not double the amount and it is a killer having to always be home to milk at the same time every evening. So I don't advise it.  They need to be fed and but in their individual corrals at night (which need to be about 6x6 feet minimum) after being loose to play all day. 


I spend about 30-40 minutes every morning feeding and milking and checking everyone out. Less when there is only one or two milking.  More when there are three or four.  Then I spend only about 10 minutes in the evening. 


Of course, you have to figure out what to do with the babies when they arrive....they are so cute you'll never want to give them up, but if you don't you'll end up with 20-30 goats before you know it. LOL


I started with two does. I kept chosen doelings until I now have four. The bucklings and other doelings I sell. I try to keep two milking and two resting/pregnant. (But that can be a feat since their timing isn't always what mine is.)


When I have two milking I get about 2-3 gallons of milk a day depending on where they are in the lactation cycle....you can imagine when there are more.
There's so much more to tell, but maybe that will give you a quick initial idea.


One more thing:  There's an old saying that is very true about the fencing, corral etc you'll need for them. "If it will hold water, it MIGHT hold a goat."

Thanks!  That sounds completely doable for my lifestyle.  Land is not so expensive here so when we finally buy a house it will be something I will keep in mind.  I'll do some research in the meantime.  Work has me travelling occasionally at the moment (I'm a remote developer), so we've been living in an apartment.  Eventually I'm going to root myself to the spot, though.  I'm a serious homebody :-)  Convincing the wife may be trickier, though :-) 

I came across this 1994 paper that came to the same conclusion as me. I was just 24 years late...