Raw Milk

As some of you know, I have a few animals roaming around. I have a small tribe of goat, mostly boys after this season's kidding but I do have a couple of senior does that I milk each year. I haven't always had goats, in fact they are relatively new to me. A couple of years ago, a friend of ours asked if we had room for some new critters. Asking my partner if she would like a new critter is like asking Hound Dog if she smells anything. SO...we adopted a tribe of six goats. We didn't know a thing about them. We assumed that they would make great weed eaters so we stuck them over at the mother-in-law's house and sort of forgot about them for a couple of months. Then the mother-in-law called and insisted that we come get them as they had eaten her trees. I thought she was nuts but they did in fact eat her trees, as far up as their lips could reach. So we hauled them home, (it's only across the street) and put them in a nice pasture with a big bale of hay. In two months they hadn't touched the bale and all of the bushes in the pasture were gone. Goats aren't really weed eaters, they aren't grazers like sheep. They are browsers, they like bushes and trees better than grasses. We also didn't think about reproduction. We knew that only one male was intact, the other was a wether (fixed male.) We didn't know gestation periods, breeding periods, birthing positions....nothing, we knew nothing. I did notice that the buck was getting rather stinky and had this odd behavior of peeing on his face. As it turns out goats, like most animals have babies if you don't do something to stop it. My partner came in after feeding one day and asked me what a pregnant goat looked like. I was guessing that they would look fat. Well the next day we ended with two babies on the ground and does in milk. It was an unexpected rush into the world of raw milk.

Never in my life did I think that I would be trekking down to the barn twice a day to milk goats. Here I am though, the milking queen. I have always been a milk drinker. I like it more than Pepsi. Since making the decision to milk my girls I have become a quiet advocate for raw milk. I tell my friends and family what wonderful stuff raw milk is. Some of them tell me that I'm becoming too pushy on the subject and that pasteurization was started for a reason. I agree with them on both points. I am pushy but just because someone sees that aspect of my character doesn't mean that I should change. And....pasteurization was started for a reason, it is still used for good reason however, sometimes those reasons are not good for everyone. I also believe that I should have the right to choose between pasteurized milk and raw milk. Here in Colorado it is not that clear cut. I can not go to the grocery and buy raw milk. In fact the goat's milk that I find in the store is nothing like what comes out of my goats. It is illegal to sell raw milk in Colorado, instead many ranchers have to sell "shares" of their herd to provide others with raw milk. I find it disturbing that I can buy heroin here in my county easier than raw milk. Several years ago the kiddo's father and I noticed that whenever she ate ice cream or had more than one glass of milk with a meal, she always ended up "not feeling good." Ever since using raw milk she has been feeling great! Maybe raw milk is not for everyone, but it is for me an my family. Each year I wait in eager anticipation for my does to kid so I can again enjoy the benefits of milk on my own ranch. Here is a link to a website that lists the benefits of raw milk, http://www.raw-milk-facts.com/raw_milk_health_benefits.html. Maybe one of you will be a quiet advocate with me! Actually I just wanted all of you to know about RAW MILK! Come by the ranch anytime, we can make cheese!