Still Learning NT

I hate to say it, but I can't believe my last entry was in SEPTEMBER? 5 months can pass by like such a flash. It was a whirlwind.

On the NT front, I tried a new kind of sauerkraut, Sally's Latin American Sauerkraut. I didn't want to chance the whey making it taste goaty, so I used twice the salt. It was good, but so salty.

In October we tested our does' milk separately and found that two of them have subclinical mastitis. I thought perhaps the extra bacteria could cause the whey to go goaty, and so I tried a second batch of LA Sauerkraut with only kefir whey from our doe with clean milk. Same results. Goaty flavored sauerkraut. What a disappointment.

Five of our does are bred and we are confident four of the five are settled. The fifth one we are not so sure, but fairly so. We expect our first kids in March, and the last to be born end of May. The fifth doe is a 75% American recorded grade, bred to a purebred buck. Her kids can be registered as full American.

We bought a new milker to help us through the dry period. My sister is very grateful as her young son has developed a rash from drinking cow's milk when at school. The new milker is quite talkative, as she was bottle raised. She is just one year old. She aborted due to the family moving about 1.5 hours away, but came into milk. Her owner hoped we could increase her lactation to over 4 pounds daily, but so far she's staying steady at about 2 pounds. Every little bit helps.

We finally harvested one of our wethers. The meat is wonderful. It took months to finally do the deed, and now we are glad we did. Unfortunately, that probably won't make the next harvesting any easier. The meat probably costs $20/lb due to our procrastination. At least we know we can grow and eat our own meat. Some people absolutely will not eat their own goats. I can see their position, it is a difficult hurdle to jump. Mentally challenging.

The most significant thing is once again the path the Lord has led us down. I was thinking last night, how awesome that we were led to buy a dairy goat. So impulsive of us, but such a strong feeling. We are raising some dairy calves, but it is going to be quite a feat to process them. Goats grow faster, are ready for harvest sooner, are smaller and much easier to process. I can't quite put into words. I guess it boils down to being another miraculous blessing. The feeling of being cared for and loved is huge.

Until next time.