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Friday, May 29, 2009

Taste Great Less Filling

My daughter milking on our homemade milk station
As a prepper stockpiling foods is just part of our lives. On my farm we have slowly built up animals that will provide us with our basic needs. As I prepare the majority of foods from scratch, I use milk in my baking daily. Funny until recently I believed that a cow would be the answer to my family's milking needs. Then we began to research the cost of feed, and how we could get away with raising animals that are foragers. Goats are the answer as they cost so little and they forage so well.

We did not begin the farm looking to raise exclusive breeds as I believe the time is past to be selective. We instead, began with a pair of mixed La Mancha goats. La Mancha's have very small ears, and I thought when I first saw them that they were deformed. Since our first La Mancha's we began to barter or trade for more goats. On Craig's*List we found that the barter option is pretty big!

This is one of four goats(bonus=one was pregnant with triplets!)that we traded a 1/4 of a cord of wood

Our pens for the goats are very simple, as we began this lifestyle with the mantra 'Low cost, no cost', and have never wavered. Pallets are the easiest thing to use, and are free at so many locations. We built simple A frame shelters for pairs of goats, and the bonus is that they love to jump up on the pitch of the barns!

Our troughs were made out of salvaged wood from construction sites. Our buckets for drinking water are from a local fast food place- they give us 5- 10 buckets every two weeks, as we use these for many other things(they are food safe with lids)
This is one of the triplets born on the farm this year

Raising goats is such an incredibly easy thing to do. If I can raise goats in the middle of the desert anyone can raise goats. When you consider what is in our milk today this becomes a no brainer, and the bonus is that a doe is a three fold animal- she provides milk, young, and then meat- you can't go wrong with that!

If you are able to as a prepper acquiring a milking goat or a buck and a doe will make all the difference in your comfort level if and when things go bad.
Links:
Wikipedia
World's Healthiest Foods
Goat's milk Benefits
Goat's milk, cheese, soap
(c) Double Nickel Farm
Jennifer

10 comments:

kymber said...

stop teasing those of us who don't yet live on a farm!!! but i tell you - one day soon we will have our little piece of land and i will prove that your advice has not fallen on deaf ears!
(and thanks for confirming something that i have been hearing a lot about lately re: cows vs. goats!)

APN said...

We're new to goats and my wife is all over this milking...That's the only milk that's in the fridge...Cant wait to try homemade cheese

Humble wife said...

Kymber - my dream farm(which is a real loose term currently) has taken 19 years in the making(mentally)! Oh and goats v cows is a no brainer on space, food, oh and poo...

American prepper- life is good isn't it?

Anonymous said...

I like the idea of having goats. Good post.

matthiasj
Kentucky Preppers Network

ErinAndBrad said...

Adorable!!! Still pondering the goat thing...

Been really thinking about it a lot latley 'cause we drink so much milk.

How long does it take to milk them??

Ernie

Humble wife said...

Matthiasj- well I decided to post about my life and how it works as a prepper, so thank you:)

Erniesjourney-it takes about 45 minutes to milk four goats- and we milk twice a day. We average about 2.5 gallons a day...and we feed some to the wee goats, and some to the chicks- they love it.

ErinAndBrad said...

Thanks Jen!

Candace said...

I love fresh goats' milk. I hope we can always keep dairy goats.
Do you make much cheese? I'm still trying to figure out how to use chevre.

Candace said...

And next year, I am surely going to bottle feed!

MangoManDan said...

We started raising goats recently too. As many have said, they are addictive. You can't stop at two. Our Lamancha does are mellow and sweet, and give great milk. The Nigerian Dwarf goats are nice too--I'm not sure we will try milking them, as the doe is a bit skittish.

Could you describe (or post photo of) the sheds you have made from pallets?
Thanks.
Dan
Venus, FL

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