I’m going to recap some of the things we’ve learned and done in the past three whirlwind weeks of having goats! About three weeks ago and for more than a year, our goat herd consisted of eight Nigerian Dwarf goats (who are our darlings). Since then, we have acquired seven Nubian goats – 4 milking does and 3 doelings.

The last few days have been so up and down, with hardly any time at all for me to write anything. We brought home two more milking Nubians last week. You probably think we’re crazy. Well, we might be. But we want milk! But my daughters have had time to write. Lucky you! And they did a great job sharing about how we got Gingham and Paisley, two very beautiful, healthy, lovable Nubian milking goats.

We bought our second Nubian milking doe yesterday — her name is Honey — and she is such an easy milker. She didn’t come with her kid, so we can have all the milk. She loves us already, or at least we think it is love.

Last week, I posted an ad on Craig’s List asking for a raw-milk-raised milking doe. During that time, one person responded. It happened to be someone in our homeschooling community who was a potential source of raw milk for us, with whom I’d corresponded already. She put us in touch with her aunt, who has a milking doe available – naturally raised in general, and in specific, nursed on raw milk from her mom.

Ups and downs would about explain how the milking is going. On day three, Belle, the milking doe, decided that since we were being too timid, she might as well try to refuse milking. It worked. Naomi and I were too timid to force her. She was boss that day.