Raising goats for milk, have you considered it? Have you noticed a rise in goat milk products available in the last several years? Why raising goats for milk might be the wisest decision you could make this year.
Back in the time BG (that’s before goats) I never really imagined wanting goats for milk.
Everyone I knew was talking about jersey cows, that was the dream a jersey cow, (those big beautiful eyes).
But I didn’t see that being a reality for me and our small-acre homestead. After learning there are many alternatives to cow milk options, we jumped at the chance to snatch up a breeding pair of Nubian goats, and we were off.
Now several years have passed and those 2 goats have turned into a herd.
Milk Goats Facts
Goats have a few quarks about them, don’t believe me buy me a drink and I tell you the stories. Most of these quarks tend to get most people wanting to avoid goats altogether. However, goats have many redeeming qualities about themselves, that often get overlooked.
Goats are not picky
When it comes to livestock you might want to consider for milk many of which can be a little on the picky side as to what they like to eat. Yeah, if you have those lush green pastures, cows and sheep are amazing. But goats, well they aren’t so picky. Goats will eat, of course, eat those lush green pastures, but also the lush green weeds, that others like sheep and cows don’t like as much. But that’s not where it stops for goats. They will also eat the kitchen scrap & potato peels, garden scraps, bush trimmings, and bark from fallen trees. Really almost anything.
Of course, there are a few things they shouldn’t eat, and unless they are locked up with those things only they will likely avoid them.
That being said feeding a goat and keeping them fat and happy is much easier done.
Less space required
Goats don’t require nearly as much space as say a cow. And in many situations, suburbanites-style homesteaders are even keeping goats for milk in a city-sized lot.
Goats need a pen, a healthy fence, food and water, and maybe some entertainment (goats are active and don’t like the be bored).
If you are looking at goats on a small piece of land there is a plethora of articles out there to find out all those details.
You might like reading this:
Getting started with Homestead Goats
How to treat Mastitis in Goats Naturally
Goat milk benefits
Goat milk has many benefits, especially over the most highly produced cow milk (at least here in America). If you have ever thought you might be intolerant to milk, you very well be intolerant to the A1 casein present in the majority of cow breeds.
Goat milk can be much easier to digest due to the A2 casein (which just so happens to be the same kind present in human breastmilk), which makes A2 milk much more similar to our own.
Raw Goats Milk
The interest in raw milk is higher than it has ever been, which is great because studies show the far superiority of vitamins and minerals present in raw milk.
However, in many places, (including my state) buying raw milk is hard to do if not illegal.
For these reasons, many people with even a little bit of land are finding it more suitable to have a few goats for raw milk than to drive several hours one way just for milk.
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If you have ever worried about food security, can I say hello to these last two years? Or if you are looking to take your or your family’s food production into your own hands (then you are in the right place, that’s my passion). Or perhaps you want access to healthy raw grass-fed milk, then just maybe adding dairy goats to your list of to-do’s is a must. Besides, the overabundance of personality goats are versatile, small-space friendly, non-picky eating, loving, milk-making pets. And who doesn’t want that in their life?
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From our family to yours, thanks for stopping by
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Beth is a mother of 6 living on a handful of acres in an old farmhouse in central Kansas. Beth has a background in the military and health and fitness however her passions come from her homestead life. Beth is an enthusiastic homeschooling mom, avid organic gardener, chicken & goat wrangler, who is obsessed with herbs and natural remedies and maintaining an all-around Do-It-Yourself lifestyle. Beth loves to share all she has learned about and sustainable living. While striving for a healthy, natural life, family-centered life.