Extra Special Post Written by Lily, our oldest daughter, 2/24/18

posted on

February 28, 2018

I can blame my goat dairy business on horses.  I got goats so I could sell milk and start saving money to get a horse.  It was my dad’s idea. I was 7 when I got my first three:   a normal Nubian, an Alpine with a crooked nose and Dwarfy, a Nigerian Dwarf who also happened to be a terrific escape artist.  They cost $500 and I paid back my dad as I sold milk.  I fed them no grain, used no chemical’s on them and fed them a little alfalfa pellets and all the browse and pasture they could eat,
which for three goats was quite a lot.  Long story short I liked the Nubian the most and decided to get rid of Nosey and Dwarfy and just milk Nubian’s.  Then the Nubian disaster started.  I bought any Nubian in sight off Craigslist and paid ridiculous amounts of money for goats that were not worth it.  I was still not feeding grain at the time and I had a lot of problems and quite a few deaths.  It got to the point where I had about 25 goats and nothing but trouble. Sure, some of them were very
good goats and I sold a lot of very good milk in that time but I also remember thinking “there’s got to be a better way”.  So I sold a bunch of them and sadly some also died.  The main problem was worms and I spent hours putting copper in capsules and then putting the capsules down their throats with a bolus gun.  It just didn’t work.  When I had three Nubian’s left I sent them off to a friend’s place and then they died of some strange disease.  After that everyone here was pretty much sick of goats and I didn’t have any goats for a year.  I was about 13 (and had gotten my horse by this time).  

At the age of 14 I decided to get Kiko’s which are hardy and parasite resistant and (some of them) are dual purpose.   I bought 5, 1 buck and 4 does.  And they were great!  I didn’t have nearly as many problems with them but they were just “ok” milkers because they would only milk well for about 6 months and then dry up.  I got about 1 quart and sometimes more from each doe.  I bought a few more Kikos from an older man who had a very large herd and wanted to downsize.  I was able to select the ones that I thought looked like good milkers, which was really nice. 

Finally, I decided I wanted longer lactations so I could have milk all year round.  I thought a cross between a dairy breed of goat, for longer lactations, and a Kiko for hardiness would be a great combination.   My search for good milking goats led me to a wonderful English lady on
Craigslist (surprisingly).  Cristina lives in the suburbs of St. Augustine and has 1/4th of an acre that her goats live on (she only breeds a few per year because of limited space).  Oberhasli’s are her specialty and she has some wonderful milkers with long lactations.  I bought 3 bucklings and 2 does from her. 

I then bought 2 Lamancha does off of Craigslist as well, from another English man (if the person you buy goats from is English they’re bound to be good! lol).  They are the best goats I have.  They have both had triplets for me and they have perfect udders and are so sweet.  I have been milking them for a year and a half and they show no sign of decreasing their milk production as each one gives 3/4th of a gallon a day.

When I bought my second round of goats I decided to try feeding them Pat Colby’s recommended feed ration as I needed an easier and more effective way of giving them their minerals (by the way I highly recommend her book: Natural goat and Alpaca Care, a lot of what I do has come from her).  The ration was Chaff Hay, wheat bran and soaked barley which were the closest things I could find to what Pat said in her book.  It was so much better except that I was still having some problems with worms.  It just didn’t seem like they were getting the copper that I soaked with the barley.  After doing some research I found out that goats cannot assimilate copper the way they should if
Molybdenum is 3 ppm or higher in their diet.  So I emailed the company that I was getting the Chaff Hay from and guess what they said, “We keep the Molybdenum at 3 ppm or higher”.  I switched to Triple Crown chopped alfalfa and did tons more research on copper, copper poisoning and other minerals.  The Triple Crown was much better but still seemed like they weren’t getting as much copper as they needed even though I was keeping it at a pretty high level.  I tried talking to the company but they had no idea what I was talking about.  After a lot of different experiments I tried cutting out the wheat bran and chopped alfalfa and just feeding the barley and so far that has worked wonderful.  I give the milking goats 2 cups each twice a day as well as Standlee alfalfa and all the lush rye grass they can eat.  The barley gets soaked with Apple Cider Vinegar and copper sulfate (the only kind to use), then I add Dolomite (to offset any copper toxicity) and sulfer for the amino
acids.    

One of the Oberhasli does, Honeysuckle, whom I bought from Cristina was a 4 year old and had never had female babies before for whatever reason (I think it was lack of kelp, which I feed free choice.  Never underestimate the powers of kelp and Apple Cider Vinegar!).   This year, about 3 weeks ago, after milking for two years Honey had triplets! Her first 2 girls and a boy!

Each year has gotten better but this has been the best yet and I’m so excited about everything there is still to learn and improve.  There is something magical about getting up early in the morning and milking your own doe, being intimately connected to our food and Creation.  Its spring, goat babies are bouncing and playing all around and everything is beautiful.  If you would like some delicious goat milk, kefir or yogurt now is the time to get it! If you have any questions about goat care I would be happy to help if I can!     

Update from Ben, the Pork Producer at FCF

I will be leaving full circle farm, to intern at another farm. I am so grateful for the opportunities I have had here, and have enjoyed raising pork for you all, I will miss the Stoltzfoos and Durmaz families
here and the friends I have made . I have accepted an internship position at Whiffletree farm
in VA, where I will learn more about pastured chicken and beef production. I will be around for another month still, and then leave in late March for my April 1st internship start date. Thanks for all your support of the pork business here at Full Circle Farm since I took it over from Brian and Angela 2
years ago. Josh and Murphy were interns here at FCF a year ago, and they are returning to take over the pork business. The remaining pork from my final group of pigs is in the freezer and available for purchase. Consider stocking up on your favorites now, as their may be a few months
when we are out of stock in pork, between my last group and their first group, which wouldn't be butchered until August at the earliest.

Thanks again, and much love. 

Thanks for supporting a small, family farm and contributing to a more REGENERATIVE future,

Dennis, Alicia, children and Ben


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