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A
New Adventure!
Maggidan's Minis
Dairy
Generations:
The first picture is
my grandmother, Ree.
The second picture
is of me and our
herd queen, Hebe.
Over the many years
of owning, breeding,
and showing pygmy
goats, one question
kept coming up,
"What do you do
with
them?".
Fair goers,
co-workers, and
prospective goat
owners have asked
this question of us
many times.
The American Goat
Society, the first
registry to
recognize the pygmy
goat in America,
defined the pygmy as
a miniature dairy
goat. Several
long time breeders
and founders of the
National Pygmy Goat
Association tout the
milk quality and
milking ability of
pygmy goats.
This aside, we still
toyed with the idea
of getting a dairy
goat for the
milk. But
why? Are
pygmies good milk
goats or aren't
they?
During the summer of
2001, we decided to
give it a try.
Here's my set up in
our portable
garage. We use
the System One from
Caprine
Supply. On
nice days the stand
is just outside the
door to catch a
breeze.
In the past I had
messed around with
hand milking our
tiny teated darlings
and had gotten
pretty good at
it. We had  sampled
yogurt, cream cheese
and ice cream made
with our pygmies'
milk. But with
those "itty
bitty titties"
(see picture at
right) my hands,
more specifically,
my thumbs and first
two fingers would
get worn out by the
third or fourth
doe. So I
decided to buy a
milking
machine. With
the popularity of
the Nigerian Dwarf I
knew that it was
possible to get
inflations (the part
that goes on the
teat) sized to fit
miniature goats.
This is Unadilla and
me. It is her
"itty bitty
titties" that
are pictured above
We set up the
"milking
parlor" in the
front of a portable
garage next to the
doe's barn and chose
three does to begin
with: Hebe,
our opinionated herd
queen; Passion, a
first time freshener
with a very
capacious but
lopsided udder; and
Myrrah, a shy first
timer with a small
but beautiful
udder. These
does had recently
been weaned from
their kids and would
have usually been
allowed to dry
off. They were
not in peak
lactation and I
wasn't expecting
much but they would
be good
practice.
Later we added
Unadilla, a late
season freshener to
see how much we
could expect to get
from a doe who was
nursing a kid.
You can see here
that Hebe's teats
are much longer than
the average pygmy
doe's. These
inflations fit her
teats and the tiny
ones just fine.
The results were
amazing! The
girls took to it
like old pros.
Hebe never batted an
eye. Passion
was soon meeting us
at the gate and
putting herself on
the stand.
Myrrah took some
convincing and
gentle
persuasion.
She didn't care for
udder washing
("You're
getting me
wet!") but
stood quietly for
milking,
Unadilla insisted on
having her baby held
in front of her for
the first three
weeks. We
banked a bounty of
Unadilla's extra
colostrum, more than
I've ever gotten by
hand milking a newly
freshened doe.
I use an asparagus
cooking pot for my
milk pail.
It's the perfect
size, all stainless
steel and fits
easily into a large
stock pot for
pasteurization.
I have made vinegar
cheese, feta,
ricotta and yogurt
until it came out of
my ears. We
have fed a few
bottle babies with
the milk. Dan
has it on his
breakfast cereal and
I love to drink it
straight.
We've made pudding
and I want to try
fudge, but I hear it
is so good it's
addicting!
Next year I hope to
make colby, monterey
jack, brie and
cheddar cheese when
we have about 20
does fresh.
The kids
"practicing"
their milking doe
stance
We have no delusions
of "going
commercial"
with our pygmy goat
dairy. We plan
on using a once a
day milking schedule
so our does will be
able to raise their
own kids, as pygmies
should. But we
have already
realized some nice
benefits of having
"working
girls".
We will have
all the colostrum we
can use and some to
spare for the local
Veterinary
College. We
will have plenty of
real pygmy milk for
kids needing to be
bottle raised.
We can fine tune our
feeding program with
individual attention
and take care of
quite a few
husbandry chores
during daily
milking. But
most of all is the
special bond formed
between human and
animal. It is
a willing, working
partnership. The
does and I get to
know each other on a
personal trusting
level as never
before. I get
to know each girl's
quirks, habits, the
softness of her fur,
and the hardness of
her hooves!
She learns to
completely trust me
to handle her with
respect and
gentleness.
When the does
freshen next spring
I will begin keeping
production records
for each one.
I feel confident
they will exceed my
expectations and
open a few eyes when
I share that
information on this
website. And I
also feel sure I
will finally have a
great answer for
that famous
question,
"What
do you do with a
Pygmy Goat?"
"Why,
Milk them, of
course!"
Spring
2002, And the Story
Continues.....
The girls started
kidding the latter
part of
February. So I
cranked up the
milking machine and
put those gals to
work! The
first timers have
been the easiest to
milk, usually taking
only one or two
times to get the
hang of
"sharing the
wealth", but
even my shyest
touchiest doe is
coming around to my
way of
thinking. All
but one of the does
are raising their
own kids, Olympia
unfortunately lost
both her
bucklings. It
looks like we will
freshen 18 does this
spring.
I am not currently
measuring individual
doe's milk output,
I'll start doing
that as the kids are
weaned.
Instead I am keeping
records on who I
milk each day and
the total
output. I do
keep notes on how
much I seem to be
getting from each
doe. The does with
twins of course
don't give very much
right now with the
kids growing so fast
and with their dams
all the time.
But I consider the
few drops I'm
getting now to be
good training for
the future when the
kids are less
dependent, and after
weaning. The
does with single
kids seem to be
reliably giving
about a half a pound
each day in a single
milking and their
udders are staying
nice and evenly
balanced.
Production seems to
be increasing little
by little. I
bought a large
Safegard Pastuerizer
so now even that
step is easier.
I'm looking forward
to seeing how this
all works out.
My sister has
started to grow
herbs for all the
cheese I will be
making, and the
bottle babies are
getting just what
nature intended with
real pygmy goat
milk. I truly
understand what
other goat keepers
love about their
dairy goats.
This is a very
special relationship
with your does, I
urge all pygmy goat
breeders to try it!
Early
Summer Update
Let the cheesemaking
begin! The
babies are reaching
weaning age so that
means I don't have
to share the bounty
as much! I
have yogurt by the
pound and a nice
herbed goat cheese
in the works right
now. I am
getting about a
gallon of milk a day
in one milking, from
9 milkers right
now. All but 2
are still nursing a
kid. I will be
starting to keep
individual
production records
on the kidless does
this week. My
sister in Florida
has sent the first
batch of herbs, I'm
looking forward to
sending her a batch
of
cheese.
The does are so lead
broke I know that
showing them will be
much easier and I
can touch them
anywhere and they
don't flinch.
Dan recently took
one of the milkers
to a big show in
Georgia. She's
a nice doe, maybe
not the last word in
pygmies but her
outstanding udder
got her placed high
in the milking doe
class. I have
never seen such
pretty udders so
late in the kid
season. I
promise I will get a
good "udder
shot" soon.
End
Of the Year Update
The first winter
storm has come and
mostly gone.
Most of the does are
dry now and bred for
spring kids. I
still have three
recently kidded does
milking, but I am
letting the kids do
the work for
now. My
freezer is stocked
with about 40 pounds
of goat cheese
spread for Christmas
presents. I
never got around to
measuring each
goat's output, but I
got an average of
nearly a pound from
each doe, at peak,
on a once a day
milking
schedule.
Definitely more milk
than I knew what to
do with! I did
try my hand at
making cheddar
cheese with not much
success, so next
year I will
concentrate on feta
cheese in herbed oil
and several
different flavors of
chevre spread.
Both of these were
very easy and a big
hit with friends and
family.
Using the plain
chevre I made a
couple of stupendous
cheesecakes,
too. My family
is expecting one for
the buffet at
Christmas.
My
recommendation?
Drink pygmy goat
milk! You'll
feel like a little
kid again!
Lastly,
I promised an udder
shot of some of my
pretty girls and
here it is:
I
put this on the
backs of a couple of
sweatshirts for my
sister and me to
wear while showing
at the North
Carolina State Fair
this year. It
was quite a hit!
And
the Milk Keeps
Flowing...
We
never really stopped
kidding from the
2002 season.
Hebe freshened in
September, and
Gingerale in
November. I
started milking them
again in late
January.
Several does
freshened in January
and we were off and
running again.
Hebe did her part
and I recently dried
her off after a very
good 7 month
lactation. Her
daughter and grand
daughter, Firefly
and Candy Kisses,
carry on for her
very nicely! I
am currently milking
7. I am making
lots of feta and
soft goat cheese,
big hits with the
new chefs at work (I
work in a corporate
dining facility) and
of course my family
and friends.
Looks like milking
chores have become
part of the daily
routine.
Most
of the first timers
from last year have
freshened again this
year and they are
showing their dairy
goat characteristics
of improved
production in
subsequent
lactations.
Kisses is
amazing! Now
if she would just
give me a doe
kid.....Classy is
still nursing two
big doelings and
still has a
contribution every
evening, Bailey
too! Camilla
recently kidded with
her first, a 4 pound
buckling, and is
getting the hang of
milking.
I
realized another
nice side benefit
from this routine,
well trained
goats! White
Diamond, who
freshened last year
for her first time,
had been extremely
difficult to handle
in the ring.
She hated being on a
leash and
particularly hated
being touched under
there, she would
pitch a fit.
She got over it,
because I was
determined to milk
her, she produced
like a milk
cow! She has
really turned out to
be a spectacular 3
year old doe.
We recently took her
to a show and
because she was so
relaxed with being
led and handled she
placed very well and
took a Reserve
Senior
Championship.
I don't think she
would have done as
well if she hadn't
been one of my
"working
girls" last
summer. Fellow
breeders, you really
need to give milking
a try! Now I
understand why those
dairy goats are so
well behaved.
Some of my shyest
goats have really
come around.
No amount of
leading, scratching
or treats have
produced these kind
of results.
Now if you could
only
"milk"
bucks.......
And
we are STILL milking
in 2012!
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