Starry Sky Ranch

Lazy Woman's Ice Cream

Since adopting the starch free diet last year for the arthritis I have one major dietary weakness - ice cream. It is my big treat now that cookies (sigh...) and chips are out. I treat myself to Haagen-Das or Breyers once a week. I kept wondering how hard it would be to make ice cream from the goat's milk. We still haven't gotten an ice-cream maker, however, so it was just sort of random musing.

A couple weeks ago I googled some basic custard ice cream recipes. I noticed some comments mentioned just freezing it and stirring periodically. Last night I gave it a whirl with this recipe. I used straight goat's milk, versus the half milk, half cream. Since goat's milk is naturally homogenized its all in there already. Being maker-less, it went right into the freezer in tupperware and was stirred a couple times. Oh my! Ohmyohmyohmy! It was incredible. Forget cheese. I love my goats but hate goat cheese of any variety. But goat's milk ice cream..... Wow.

Ingredients
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream or whipping cream
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract (not imitation!)

Directions
1 Beat eggs very well with a mixer, gradually add sugar beat until thick and lemon colored.
2 Stir in milk and heat, stirring until thickened.
3 Remove from heat and cool mixture.
4 Add cream and vanilla, cover and chill mixture.
5 Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufactures directions.

the grass is always greener

...over the septic tank. So said Erma Bombeck. The goats have discovered this cosmic truth and we have let them out to the first green grass this week under Alannah's watchful eye. Yes, first green grass. Spring has come late to the high prairie.

Snow babies

It looks like this outside:

And it seems nothing says "Lets have a baby!" to our Sapphire like a spring storm. Last year she delivered during the big power outage and we were maneuvering with flashlights and bottled water. This time was pretty uneventful so far. (Agh. Did I actually just tempt fate that way?) She produced a buck and a doe in record time. Both were up and nursing right quick. Moira tells me they are Daisy and Dandelion - this year botany is the theme. : )

Pearl kidded a large single buckling on Friday. I have yet to get the pics of Basil. He is doing very well too. I love springtime babies. : )

he's gone

Our little buckling didn't make it.  Let me backtrack. I think I told you that the kids came earlier than we expected. This doe came to us bred and due 'sometime in February'.  Since we know does don't normally come into heat the second the buck gets to the farm we figured mid-month at least. When we went out to feed Thursday morning there they were.

It was 12 degrees that morning and the babies were cold and wet. One of the doeling's little ears was frosty at the tip already. We dried them off and they looked good. We set up the heat lamp and in the morning (Friday) the little doe was under it. The buck was off in the dark. We got him up but he was lethargic and wobbly so we brought him into the house. It was touch and go til the afternoon. We had been drenching him with electrolytes and he would just barely swallow. Then by afternoon he started to get up and wag his tail and wanted food so we switched to milk again and he was all over that.

We put him back in with mama and he looked like he was holding his own initially. Two hrs later he was down again so we scooped him up and brought him inside. This time he never really roused. I talked to the girls and explained that he wasn't holding his body temp and that usually was a sign it wasn't going to end well. Alannah wanted him in with us anyway. She said she was going to cry no matter what and that at least he would die with people who cared.  He did.

I set the clock and got up to drench him in the night. He was still swallowing at 230. At 6 I heard a raspy breath and had a bad feeling.  It was his last.

These things do happen.  We have been really lucky judging by the stories from our breeder friends. I just never did do very well with death, especially when it involves little critters. From the time I was little myself it always gave me that sick feeling inside to see baby birds fallen from the nest. My mother was indulgent and supported me when I fed an injured baby chipmunk for a full week when I was Moira's age. She let me bring home a bum lamb and a bale of straw and bottle feed him on our basement one spring. Did I mention she was indulgent? <g>  (that one did make it!) That instinct lives on.  We try. And we have to let go when it isn't meant to be. Still it's sad.

Babies!

We have our first kids of the year.  The doe we picked up this winter was apparently due earlier than we were told. Aidan went out to feed the calf and she had one kid on the ground. By the time he got us and we got back to the barn there was another - a buck and a doe.  Oh my GAWSH they are so cute! She was bred to a Nubian so they have floppy ears and Oberhasli coloring.  Pictures to follow : )

A Fancy for Ferments

  We are two for two this weekend and I am a happy camper.  We made a gallon of yogurt today. HUGE success. I had made a half gallon last year, soon after getting the goats. Not so good. The oven was too warm and the yogurt was very sour, chunky, and rather "goaty".  In a word -  inedible. I am not one for complicated directions or fiddling with food (ha! This from the woman who just took pork fat to make her own lard lol!) and just haven't tried it since. After the lard success we decided to dig out the yogurt maker and then also try some in the half gallon jars.

If you want to give this a whirl you can find directions here or any number of sites online.  We were starting with raw milk so I pasteurized first then cooled the milk to 115 degrees and added the plain yogurt and some sugar. (it mentioned online that this made for a less tangy yogurt) We poured into sterilized jars and put the small ones into the maker and the larger ones into the oven set to 'warm'.  Five hours later we had awesome yogurt.  A bit less firm than storebought, so we may try adding plain gelatin next time.  Incredibly good eating though.

You can find recipes at Stonyfield  One that is especially good is yogurt cheese - you drain 2qts of yogurt through a cheesecloth covered strainer overnight and it comes out the consistency of cream cheese.  I am told you can do more than eat it also.  Mixed half and half with honey it makes a good facial mask. Natural Beauty

Some health benefits are touted here: yogurt for health  and Dr Sears

Other dairy news to report is that we sold our Nubian cross doe and the last wether today. It was another wonderfully serendipitous situation. (thats a word right?) We had decided to sell the doe while I was pg and definitely needed to sell the wether but just hadn't advertised. I got a call a week ago from a woman looking for a family milk goat. Turned out she wanted a wether as well for the doe's companion.  Today she brought her family out and they bought both of ours. They are another homeschool family and the animals will be pets (vs bbq) so we are thrilled. The animals will have a good home and we get to help another family trying to do for themselves. Win win. My favorite!

Update on the kids - both kinds

We are advertising the wether kids (castrated bucks) this week in the local papers. I keep procrastinating because none of us can really picture someone coming and taking them away. Silly to think we could all get so attached to goats but boy are we!

The kids got their CDT shots a couple weeks ago. We give most routine vaccinations etc ourselves. This time Alannah helped.  For background we officially dropped 4H this spring. It was too much to meet those deadlines and requirements as well as do co-op and piano and our regular routine. Also we made a decision not to show the goats due to the possibility of contracting disease.  Goats can pass CAE - a type of uncurable arthritis that can be passed through the milk. They can also pick up all sorts of miscellaneous illnesses at shows so routine use of antibiotics after showing is necessary.  We felt this was stressful on the goats and was an unacceptable risk considering all the people who drink this milk. However we still want our children to get the full experience of animal husbandry and learn the types of things they would have covered in 4H. So this time Alannah jumped in.  After assisting with three of the goats she gave the last shot. We were so proud of her! She wrote narrated the procedure and defined the three types of injections that can be given here:

She may have won the debate over computer vs handwritten narrations however : o   Penmanship isnt our strong suit! 

Texas Ranch House - PBS

Asher, ever on top of the PBS schedule <g>, tipped me off that a new series starts this week - Texas Ranch House. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ranchhouse/  He knows all too well I tend to obsess over this series.  At least the Pioneer House, which I watched at least 3 times all through lol! Canadian public broadcasting also produced a similar excellent series with two couples who spent a year on the prairie.  I will reserve my judgement on this one til we see the first episode.  Colonial House was a bust.  Totally unrealistic and in fact scandalous, in part due to their inability to abide by Puritan beliefs and chain of command.  Victorian House was similarly less than stellar - lots of whining.  Ok so WWII House wasnt so hot either...... 

BUT hey, I saw the previews of this one and they have no trees, lots of dirt, baby goats, and a fly infestation come summer.  THIS I can relate to! ; D 

Speaking  of baby goats, we tried our hands at disbudding yesterday.  Words cannot describe this horrific job. Disbudding sounds so innocuous doesn't it?  Sorta gives one the image of pinching off flower buds from a stem.  Not so.  It's a euphamism for searing off the horn buds before they grow into lethal weapons. 

Fiascofarm.com tried to prepare us for the task. There is only so much that can be said however and reality was every bit as raw and unpleasant as their description.  First the kids get a haircut around the horn area. That was a piece of cake. We then wrapped them in a towel since we didnt have a kid-holding box. (yes they make these things)  and laid them on a table.  Two of us held the kid while Allen burned off the horns one at time.  All the while Fiasco's words about brain damage ran through our heads and we were terrified about *frying their brains*.  Never mind the 'what-in-the-name-of-all-that-is-good are you DOING to me' squeals they let out.  Wow!  A necessary evil perhaps, but hands down the worst job we have done on the ranch. 

One interesting observation in the whole thing was the difference in the way each of the kids responded.  The does have an awesome mamma and they fought like mad and made a huge fuss. They were appalled (and rightly so) and their mamma consoled them afterwards.  The bucks who came out of our yearling fussed less.  In fact the little guy, whom the mamma hasnt been too affectionate towards, made next to no noise and seemed to just close his eyes and give up.  His mamma didnt even look up when he came back to the pasture.  That was heart wrenching.  It did cause me to make connections with real children however.  I hope we are raising kids who will fight like mad when faced with injustice and who know they can always return to the fold of home for solace.

If you give a girl a goat…..

....she is going to need a milking stand. ($300) She will discover this the first night the goat is home, when it takes every man, woman, and child on the premises to convince the goat that milking on the ground is permissible.  The goat will remain unconvinced. You will hustle to jimmy-rig a stand.  You will gratefully purchase the real McCoy asap.

She will insist that the $14 stainless steel milk strainer is a luxury item and will attempt to do without for many months. She will try to fit her milk filters ($5 per 200) into her Tupperware funnel. Have mercy upon her. She will thank you profusely when she finds out how fast that part of the process goes with the right tools…..particularly if her funnel melts in the dishwasher.

She will need some glass canning jars ($2/piece) and reusable lids ($.50 ea) to store all that wonderful milk.  These will bring much satisfaction as she lines the fridge with them reminding all what a cool thing that goat really is.

She will want to order some minerals ($36) and wormer ($10-$20) right away after hearing the dire things that can beset her goat without them. While she is at it she will add the hoof trimmer kit to her order.  Those feet will be growing way faster than expected. She will likely order the $36 kit, but she will learn that you usually only use the $20 trimmer itself.  This is due in part to the fact that the goat will rarely stand still for this whole procedure. 

She is going to try to use whatever plastic buckets are on hand but do her a favor and invest in the heavy rubber ones ($14-40) from the feed store - especially if you live where it freezes in the winter.  While you are at it get her a heat lamp to hang over said bucket.  Again, she will thank you.

A digital thermometer ($8) will be invaluable in determining whether her goat is truly ill or not.  Even more invaluable will be your help in holding the goat while she inserts it. : o

If you give a girl a goat, you will want to be sure your fences are installed and sturdy.  Especially if she decides to buy a Nubian at some point.  Or if either of you are attached to your landscaping….    Enough said.

Lots of hay and goat chow go without saying.  A bale of alfalfa runs about $6 in the West.  The feed about $11/bag.  Her goat will go through about one of each every week.  This will be amazing at first.  You will become desensitized before long, so don’t panic.

Eventually she will want to take her goat to visit a buck.  She will be sure that transporting the goat in your 15 passenger van is an acceptable option. She will be wrong. This will become abundantly clear on the return trip when she will have to have the heat blasting and all the windows open to help cut the horrific smell the goat will be emitting after this visit.  You may well find yourself scouring the classified ads for a cheap horse trailer. (after you scour the van) You may wonder if you are really ever going to see a profit from this whole venture at this point.  Try not to think about this.  Why?

Because if you give a girl a goat she will work like a dog twice a day, 24/7, in all seasons.  She will never again sleep in. Your  breakfast will always be ready <g>   and there will never be an empty milk carton in your home again.  She will come to love the silly animal and embrace the routine.  Your children will become unbelievably attached to the time spent sitting on an upturned bucket telling their innermost secrets while she milks.  She wont be running around as much because she has to be home at those set times to do it.  This means the house will be cleaner.  (ok that last part is hypothetical……) You will both appreciate the improved health and the independence.

She will never regret a bit of it.  You will be her hero : )

This is for you, Laura, and I hope it helps you decide what to do.  This would outline the basic start up costs minus your shelter of course.  LOTS of work.  Lots of rewards.  Thanks for coming to see us yesterday! 

Seeing Double

Notice anything new about this picture? ; D   

We were so wiped out after mass today after the long weekend and night checks last night on the bucks.  Allen and I napped late this afternoon and at 5 I walked out to see the buck kids.  Allen had said look, the girls let the kids out to play.  I thought that was weird because we planned to keep them in the kidding pen for a few days.  I went to ck and saw no girls.  Was trying to get the kids to nurse and thinking how dirty they got and why did anyone let them outside anyway.  Then Allen yells from the fence "That's OPAL not Sapphire!"  Sure enough.  She kidded some time this afternoon with no fanfare or assistance.  All is well. We have two new does from her - Pearl and Amethyst.