Anne told us that her goats respond in many ways that dogs do. The girls know their names, they know the milking order so that when Anne calls one Diva, the next Diva knows it will be her turn soon, & she said they love to be pet! Here’s my attempt at petting a goat and taking a picture at the same time. Guess my glove tasted good!
Goats always need a “guardian” and Dozer the Llama was the Latte Da Dairy guardian. What a unique looking fellow! Some goat owners use donkeys & others choose llamas as Goat Guardians. I asked Anne’s husband why they chose a llama & I found out some very useful information for our future goat herd! If a predator entered the goat pen, a donkey would stomp the predator to death if possible & Anne was afraid that if her own dogs ever got into the pen, the donkey would kill the dogs. On the other hand, a llama will gather the goats in a corner of the pen & stand guard against the predator. Llamas are tall, spit far, & are very brave, so they are ideal guardians. That information greatly impacts our decisions in the future!
Anne took us into the barn to show everyone how the milking process begins. I just liked the silhouette picture of Reese & a friend in the barn….
We went into the milking room & when Anne said “The milking machine is a little loud….” everyone covered their ears as she turned it on.
All the kids got to feel the suction tubes (that attach to the teats) on their hands. Reese really, really, really liked the sensation & kept asking Anne if he could to do it again & again. Silly boy 😉As I said before, the Latte Da Dairy divas are really well cared for. Most of the girls will gladly give lots of milk to the milking machine, but Anne noticed that three of her divas drastically reduced their milk production when hooked up to the machine vs milking by hand. For these goats, they needed the “human touch” to let their milk down, so Anne milks these three girls by hand (twice a day, every day, no matter what!). Truly a farmer who cares for her animals, don’t you think?
In the milking barn, Anne also showed us the pasteurizer & explained the process a bit more.
Here’s our motely crew gathered outside the milking barn. Check out how bundled up we are!
After the pasteurization process, the whey is leftover & is unusable in the cheese making process. These divas know what to do with it though! As Anne poured they whey into the trough, you could hear the “slurp slurp” of the girls loving their treat. The whey helps keep their fur nice & shiny too…
One of the Happy Divas who just finished her whey.
After visiting the milking barn, Anne invited us all into her cheese making kitchen. Brave woman. Seven children & six mothers gathered in her commercial kitchen! She graciously explained her cheese making process. The white basket is where Anne’s cheese is made & it gives the finished product a pretty basket weave design.
Finished chevre cheese on the left, basket on the right. See the similarity in pattern?
Tammy was SO kind & purchased a cheese for each family to take home. We chose the “plain” Chevre, but it was definitely not “plain old cheese”! I ate it three different times yesterday & could have easily eaten the entire cheese in one sitting.
Come see what else Heather is up to at Reese's View of the World.
The Primetimers of Christ United Methodist Church in Farmers Branch take monthly trips on Fridays to fun, unusual places. Yesterday we went to the Dallas Arboretum in South Dallas and next month will go to a lavender farm in Gainesville. I know you have an annual open house in kidding season, but do you offer tours througout the year to groups like ours?
Please e-mail me with details.
Pam – thanks for the information!
They are having an open house on 3/21 at 10am. Normally, they’re not open to the “drop in” public.
That was so much fun. I often buy that cheese at Central Market. It is so much better than the other goat cheeses I have tried in the past.