Battling Staph

[D and L Meadows]

We have around 80 does plus kids and the bucks makes it around 100. Yes, they produce a ton of heat! Yes we pasture them as much as we can, but with it being muddy and wet, they don't go outside. They'd rather stay comfortably inside eating hay...spoiled things. Lol.
We sell our milk to a artisan cheese maker in Cincinnati and also do herdshare. We are not set up to sell direct yet...hoping to be this year. We need a separate room for pasturizing and bottling. So even then we will still do herdshare so people can have raw milk.
We mainly have the Nigerian Dwarf because they have high quality milk that tastes very good and high butterfat. (Perfect for cheese making) We have a few Mini Nubians, but are hoping to get more. They have high butterfat as well but not as high quality milk. We were thinking maybe go with 25% of the herd Mini Nubians. They produce more milk which is nice.

 

[babsbag]

Selling direct is A LOT of work. I really wish I had someone to sell milk to and not have to deal with the rest.

 

[D and L Meadows]

What kind of regulations do you have?
We want to sell direct because we can get $10 per gallon instead of $0.93 per pound. At the store goats milk is around $16 per gallon. You may want to look into herdshare. No regulations with that. Just make sure you become a member of farmers to consumer so they get you a good contract.
You don't have a artisan type cheese maker around your area? A lot of times those are the ones most interested in goat milk.
On another note..just being super curious...do you have registered Nigerians? What lines do you have?

 

[Mini Horses]

Yep, each state has regs to follow. At least you HAVE an outlet. In my area -- Virginia -- well, it would be hugely out of cost/income ratio to be certified. We do get by with herd shares without "a lot" of interference. But, there are the limits of people interested. You may get 5-8 customers, over time.

We do have a few cow herd shares in close proximity to me but, the only goat one I knew of stopped a while back -- retired. The ND butterfat is huge for cheeses. We have no cheese makers, other than a few for selves, in home, around. LOL there are several brewers!! I should get them to serve cheese!

The "scare" factor for milk is out there and the cost is another issue for many. Couple that with a "run to Wally World and get a gal for under $3" plays into it all. Like eggs -- prices, tastes, people choices.

I use Saanen, Nubian & crosses. The volume is great and their milk is really outstandingly good. Butterfat? It's good but not as high as ND. Still, I get good enough volume for my cheeses, cream, butter. It's just a love, for me. I'm not going commercial! But I have a couple herd share people.

YES -- rain & wet -- dairy goats don't do!!

 

[D and L Meadows]

Ok wow. Yeah, in our area herdshare is a huge thing. Probably living close to Cincinnati helps since a lot of city people that can't have their own goats come here. We have quite a few customers with health issues that can't take cows milk. Because like you said, most people that can drink cows milk would rather get the $3 milk. I'd say we probably ship 30-40 gallons per week to the cheese maker and then 20-25 gallons per week for herdshare.
Hey, you never know! Maybe the brewers would sell goat cheese! 🙂 They'd probably sell quite a bit.
What kind of cheese do you make? I just started making cheese for herdshare and our selves. We never got butter to keep...how do you do it?