Jumping the Moon Dairy - the next chapter

[babsbag]

Goat Milk Stuff is a great site.

To be honest my biggest problem (and it is a big one) is marketing. I am really bad at it. I need to find someone that is in love with my dairy and my products that will spend mornings at the farmer's markets for me. They need to believe in what I do, not just sit behind a table. We have a market almost every day of the week, all within 20 miles of my place. Or I need to train someone to come and milk while I get out of my comfort zone and go to market. I am set up to do cheese and fluid milk but I honestly hope that I can sell it all as fluid milk on a subscription basis and skip the cheese this year. (and the markets). The first place I am going to advertise is Craigslist and then I am going to talk to a few specialty markets and see about selling it there. Any that I don't sell will go in the freezer for cheese milk or kid milk.

I am working on pricing for the milk and waiting on an insurance quote before I make the commitment to price. I am thinking $10.00 a half gallon. It is a little over $5 for a quart at the grocery store and that stuff is nasty. I would rather set my price high and come down instead of the other way around. Cheese I have not worked out pricing at all but at one time (when I got my loan) I think I had planned on $16 a pound for chevre but I may be wrong. I need to check prices at the store.

You are welcome to come and visit any time. I did the same to @Southern by choice. I had never met her, talked on the phone a bit, and invited myself to her place for a week so I could visit some dairies in NC. Best trip ever, I met a wonderful family, made new friends, and visited some inspiring dairies. I need to find another excuse to visit her.

 

[Wehner Homestead]

A gallon of goat milk here is $16! That's why we got our own goats instead of buying them. Just having caprine milk instead of bovine milk has helped DD2s digestive issues drastically. My goal is to replace all of her dairy with caprine. I'm learning and growing my herd at the same time. Who knows where this adventure will take me!!??

 

[babsbag]

Be careful, be very very careful. I started with 3 Alpine/Togg does in 2008. I told my husband I would like to milk them and if I enjoyed it I would continue and if not then I never had to breed them again. Took them back to the person we bought them from for breeding and the kids ended up all does, and I kept them all. Now look at me. It has gone on from there. Of the 26 Alpine does I own only 5 were not born here. They are like rabbits. If those 26 does give me 13 does (50/50 odds) I am in big trouble as I am keeping all Alpine does born here this year. YIKES!!!!

 

[Wehner Homestead]

Goat math!!!
I have three Does bred and waiting on one more to breed for Fall since she's my main milk producer. I plan to keep all doelings born here. I have reservations on five doelings, if they are produced. We will have our own three bucks. Of course I'll need to keep any doelings to see how they produce. We started in June with Nigees! I think we have goat math down really well! Lol

 

[Wehner Homestead]

Oh and I think @Southern by choice has me convinced on the MiniManchas!!

 

[farmerjan]

Thank goodness our cows mostly only have singles at birth....... and I am very critical of the calves and what heifers to keep..... NO WAY would I want to deal with multiple births like that. The males are easy for us. They get castrated and get sold for feeder steers.. none of this cute and cuddly stuff.. HA HA. Occasionally we will keep a bull intact out of a really good cow to see if he has potential for a replacement herd sire. It gets expensive when we spend an average of $2500 to $3500 per breeding bull. But we have to be careful to not get into inbreeding problems. Buying most of our breeding bulls helps to keep that to a minimum. We have bought several from the same farm though so have had to be a little more careful when we do get another.

 

[goatgurl]

be really careful, goat math is a real and dangerous thing. many, many years I started with 3 little goats who over the years became somewhere between 50-60 goats, all does except 2 and a semen tank full of "boys". after a divorce,(wonder why???) and a 1000+ mile move home I only have 6 does and 1 buck. the question of how much milk can one old woman drink brings me to the answer...not that much but I can't bring myself to whittle down more just yet. someday maybe, just not yet.
babs the picture of your goat with her head in the can reminded me that not just my goats do dumb things. I make a lot of scoops out of detergent bottles and had left this one laying in the goat yard, marco chewed it up and Felisha promptly got her head stuck in it. made me laugh at the silly girl.
if I ever decide to run away from home i'll come to your house and be your salesman or woman as the case would be. I love the craft fairs and or farmers markets and don't hesitate to run my mouth given half a chance. my mom was Cherokee and french and my dad was irish. guess who I take after, yup have that gift of gab thing going on. str#1 much more stoic, quiet and has a lot of artistic talent. me, nope, just like to run my mouth and grow things. i'll let youo know if I ever decide to hide from the world. big congrats on getting things complete. you've been working long and hard for this and i'm really happy for you.

 

[Southern by choice]

Yes, goat math can be challenging but IMO you do need to retain in order to narrow down the herd. I know it sounds contradictory but truth is we have gone up to over 50 goats, then back down. I want good udders, great producers, great growers, healthy hardy goats with the best feed conversion and most importantly- goats that want to forage, do forage and have great parasite resistance. I know the last part is a bit lost on you Babs because your area (unless irrigated) just doesn't have parasite issues. Be thankful!
I also like to see what a buck is producing, again, you have to retain.
My goal is-
5- Standard Lamancha does
5-7 miniature lamancha does
10-12 Nigerian does ???? Not sure as they are @Goat Whisperer 's breed... whatever she thinks she needs for her program...

7 bucks total

Way more milk than we can use but there is the other side... alot goes to the kids, we utilize a lot, then we can also feed our friend's pigs etc... they in turn can feed their family... we can't sell milk here for Human Consumption unless we are a licensed dairy and we do NOT ever bootleg. We can sell or give away for animals etc...We have helped others feed lambs who lost their dam... puppies that were struggling etc.... either we have to know the person so we know for sure they are NOT using it for Human Consumption or they have to be referred to us by our vet or extension etc. I would eventually like to be able to give to the shelters etc.

 

[Bruce]

I am working on pricing for the milk and waiting on an insurance quote before I make the commitment to price. I am thinking $10.00 a half gallon. It is a little over $5 for a quart at the grocery store and that stuff is nasty.

What does goat milk sell for at the Farmer's Markets? Sometimes it is best to start a bit low to drive interest and raise the price later. That is what Ray did with the Boar's Head uncured ham he brought in at my request. Started $0.50/lb lower that what he expected to charge if there was interest. It sold fast, to the point I couldn't get it unless I was there on Friday afternoon when his meat shipments come in. It was still cheaper than most of the other hams other than the really processed "water added" hams when he went up. That is unusual because "uncured" is "special" and always more expensive than "cured".

Then his wholesaler figured out people were buying it and jacked the price $1/lb so Ray had to follow. Supply and demand I guess but unless Boar's Head jacked the price to the wholesaler, he's just greedy scum.
It is still cheaper than some of the other hams.

 

[goatgurl]

ahhh Southern I so agree with you about retaining to see what you have and what you need to keep. I just over did it by a long shot. if you want milk for home use and don't need gallons and gallons it may be easier to find a good doe or 2 or 3 to purchase for that purpose instead of keeping so many of your own but if on the other hand you want to breed for not just show and sell but to improve your animals so that you can be the one that i'd buy that 2 or 3 does from then you almost have to retain the biggest part of your kids to see where the improvements have been made or are still needed. its a catch 22. each person has to decide what is best for themselves and their family. I for one am happy to let you breed great goats so i'll know where to go when I stop breeding