Larsen Poultry Ranch - homesteading journey

[Mini Horses]

I've resigned myself to buy, barter, beg, pick...
No time to wait for them to grow & produce. Goats have maliciously destroyed too many, already. I get more from selling kids than cost of apples. My balance. You buy milk.

Yeah, never gonna let you outta that farm commodity.
But we BOTH understand, make choices, enjoy and laugh

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

I want to learn about making cheese. But if I get good at making cheese, I'll need a lot of milk, so it would be logical to get milking sheep or goats. Just need to spin it so hubby will agree. I think two boys will go through a lot of milk, so it would be cheaper to have our own goat or two instead of buying several gallons of milk a week, right? Or maybe get a milk share in a cow?

 

[Ridgetop]

Having dairy goats for household milk consumption is great! Get full size dairy goats, Don't rush down to the local auction, do your homework and buy good standard size milk production does. You want does that will give a gallon per day - that will be minimum 4 lb. per milking am and same again in pm. Check milking productions records if possible. Milk production is determined by weight. High fat content weighs less but that varies during the miking cycle so you can figure that later weights will be heavier for same amount of milk. In your location there are a lot of 4-H kids with dairy goat projects. These kids grow up, graduate from 4-H, and sell out their goats. Some kids start with less than perfect show goats and as they improve their herds will sell these perfectly good milk production does in order to retain their offspring. (Some silly parents put a limit on the number of goats their children can have!) My favorite for household milk is Nubian, high in butterfat and volume. Second favorite are LaManchas, but you have to get used to the gopher ears.

Milk is not free, you need to figure the cost of hay, year-round, and grain during lactation. Grain is fed 1 lb. grain for every 1 lb. milk produced. In addition to feed you will have an investment in equipment. Milking equipment is normally stainless steel. At minimum you will need udder wash, teat dip, a milk bucket, strainer, strainer discs (you can substitute large coffee filters), storage containers (glass jars keep the best taste), and a mastitis test kit. And while you can tie the goat to a fence and crouch on the ground milking into a Cool Whip container, it is much more pleasant to have a stanchion and dedicated milking area. Preferably lighted for those early morning or late evening milkings.

You also need to remember the time spend feeding, watering, milking, washing and sanitizing udders and milk equipment. Since you will be producing new munchkin's milk yourself, and be time challenged for about a year, you might want to wait until second munchkin is older to obtain dairy goats.

Cheesemaking will require even more equipment, lots more work, and very large quantities of milk. With 2 children, you will need 4 lactating does to provide household milk, and enough milk for cheese production.

Not trying to discourage you from keeping dairy goats (our family favorite animal). Just trying to save you from yourself for a year or two! Then I will be cheering you on!

BTW, goats are closely related to deer so you may not have to worry about feeding them - you have a great garden and fruit trees . . . .

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Hmm, I should look up when munchkin 1 can start showing goats. If I'm going to have milk goats they might as well have multiple uses. I doubt we will be ready for goats for a few years though, which will probably work out to a year or so before he can showing. I definitely want a proper barn and milk zone setup before we get them. Definitely chutes or round up zones so we don't have to chase them all over if we need to handle them.

 

[Ridgetop]

For Fairs (where premium money is paid on placements) California State Fair Rules classify dairy goats as Large Livestock along with sheep, hogs, and cattle. Child has to turn 9 by January 1 of the show year - this is for all youth organizations, 4-H, FFA, Jr. Grange, etc. The different youth organizations may have their own rules on age, but the State Rules are stricter and will govern. In ADGA shows that are not affiliated with local or County Fairs, there are no age restrictions but they will be exhibiting against adults.

Children between 5 and 8 years of age can show rabbits and poultry (Small Livestock). If you are interested in joining 4-H, some clubs have junior projects for 5-year-olds. They can earn a white star for their hats. Until the child is 9 record books are not required but they are not eligible for the Awards Programs (or ost summer camps). No activities done under age 9 counts toward their ranks. However, 4-H is one of the best youth programs and the kids do a lot more than raising animals. They learn to do public speaking, keep a budget, do record keeping on projects, do presentations, and learn leadership.

If you start with a couple standard registered milk goats a few years before he turns 8 he will be accustomed to leading and working with them. DS2 learned to milk goats when he was 6. DD1 taught him how so she didn't have to do all the milking. She still had to help him carry the buckets of milk to the house. A gallon of mi weighs 8 lb. Get good milkers that are used to being milked and are well trained. Since you want house milk and cheese, stay away from minis and dwarf breeds and mixes. If you plan for this to be a later 4-H project for the munchkins, the goats need to be either registered or recorded. I recommended registered since very few shows have classes for recorded grades.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Looks like he can start showing small animals at 5 (in 2026) in 4H but not big animals until 9. FFA starts at 8. I guess we could get a Nigerian dwarf goat or two to go along with the full size so he could start with those and then move on to the bigger ones after a few years.

 

[Ridgetop]

Don't bother with Nigerian goats unless you want to clutter your feed bill up with pets. Just invest in good dairy goats in another year fr house milk. That way by the time he is old enough to show he will know all about them and can handle them. Remember that when showing, the youth exhibitor has to do all the work himself without parental help. That means he has to milk am and pm at the Fair, feed, groom, and clean the pen. Save your $$ (and effort) for a good, registered Nubian or two for house milk and eventual exhibiting. Instead get Munchkin a couple of chickens and he can exhibit eggs and learn record keeping on a small scale now. Then branch into rabbits and he can auction meat pens. Tiny exhibitors marching around the youth auction ring with a cute bunny in their arms get good prices!

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

One of the ladies at church has milk goats! I asked her if I could pick her brain within the next few years to do milk goats. And another does show chickens I think. Apparently the lady who has the goats actually accidentally entered the fair for eggs and didn't realize it, had to run home and just grabbed some eggs and ended up winning the category.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

I think I'll probably try to get bantam Polish for munchkin 1 to show, the last one I had was easy to handle and very sweet, probably because she couldn't see anything past her updo to get freaked out about. I could pick her up easily and she was so chill.

I had a bantam seabright rooster for a while but he was a bit flighty. Probably would have gotten better over time but I didn't need a bantam rooster and he was supposed to have been a hen.

 

[SageHill]

I think I'll probably try to get bantam Polish for munchkin 1 to show, the last one I had was easy to handle and very sweet, probably because she couldn't see anything past her updo to get freaked out about. I could pick her up easily and she was so chill.

I had a bantam seabright rooster for a while but he was a bit flighty. Probably would have gotten better over time but I didn't need a bantam rooster and he was supposed to have been a hen.

Loved the Polish I had. She was sweet- and her eggs were the perfect size for fried egg on toast. Named her Elvis. Had her for years, but lost her to coyotes that came through around noon one day.