Kidding Season

The gentle rustling from newbies in the barn and the sounds of ducks quacking ring in spring here at the Mountain Goat Lodge. The soft fur of the newborn kids is gentle to the touch and watching them learn to stand on their own four feet can make an afternoon here that much more rewarding. We are proud to announce the birth of three little ones here at the farm born in the past two weeks! Additionally we are expecting about 10 more kids this spring from the rest of our ladies! Both moms (known as Does) are doing well and the kids are happy and healthy. Here we focus on making sure our Does get the appropriate ratio of grains and greens. This makes nutritious milk for the kids while providing extra calories to keep up with them. Our Does and kids are routinely housed in a separate pen to ensure a healthy bonding right from the start. After a few days they are introduced into the herd to meet their extended family!  Here at the Lodge we focus on making sure that our goats are well taken care of from birth. Unlike a commercial dairy which will separate the kids from the mother about 24 hours after they have been born, we give the goats opportunity to develop and learn from their mothers. We also wait to milk the does until their kids are three weeks old and starting to wean off of milk. We wait to sell the kids until they are at least two-to-three months old – again assuring a healthy foundation and long life.  Unlike commercial dairies we never milk during pregnancy for two reasons: there are far too many hormones that the mother is developing and it is not something that we should be drinking, secondly, the Does really need all their energy to produce kids, not milk. Here at the Mountain Goat Lodge we work to make the lives of the goats happy, healthier and longer. On average they live to 15 years staying with us on the farm and we are happy to share our home with them and you.

Goat Milk:
The other white milk
By Daniel Peterson

Georgia Dairy Goat Breeders Association’s
Youth Representative

When most people think of goats, they think of the cute little pygmy goat they saw at the petting zoo or on some farm. What most people don’t know is that there are also dairy goats just the same as there are dairy cows. I live on a small family owned and operated dairy farm in Haddock, Georgia where we raise these fine animals.
I can imagine at this point quite a few people might ask "Who on earth would want to drink goat milk?" Well, this question is fairly simple to answer: more people consume goat milk than they do cow milk. As unbelievable as this may sound, it is true. Most third world countries and quite a few European countries prize goats and goat milk over cow milk. Dairy goats were also often present during the early years of our great country and helped many a settler’s family keep food on the table by supplying them with milk.
Often the dairy goat has been called the "poor man’s cow," because good dairy goats do not cost near as much as good dairy cows do. You can raise more goats on a smaller amount of pasture than you can cows. While it takes an acre for a cow/calf, you can successfully raise six goats on one acre. Cows usually have only one calf per year, while goats have two kids (that’s what you call a young goat) after their second year. Pound for pound a good dairy goat will produce more milk than a cow will. Unlike a cow, a good dairy goat can produce up to 10% of its body weight in milk.
The most common question I get asked is, "What does goat milk taste like?" It is a common misconception that goat milk tastes bad. People believe that it tastes "like a old billy-goat." This is not true. Milk that is properly handled and cared for will not have an off-taste. When folks first taste goat milk they are expecting it to taste different, but to their surprise it tastes just like cow milk. You could not tell a difference between the two types of milk no matter how hard you try.
Goat milk is also a healthier alternative to cow milk. Why? Cow milk has to be homogenized to be more easily digested, which is a process where the fat globules are broken down. However, this is not necessary with goat milk because it is naturally homogenized. Therefore goat milk is much more easily digested than cow milk is.
Goat milk has more of the essential vitamins that we need. Goat milk has 13% more calcium, 25% percent more B6, 47% percent more vitamin A, and 27% more selenium. It also has more chloride, copper, manganese, potassium, and niacin than cow milk. It also produces more silicon and fluorine than any other dairy animal. Silicon and fluorine can help prevent diabetes.
Scientist are not sure why, but people who are lactose intolerant can often drink goat milk without having to worry about side effects. Goat milk does not cause phlegm like cow milk does, so you can drink goat milk even when you have a cold or bad allergy problems.