Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Dairy Farm News -Tail of the missing goat
We have been anxiously waiting the birth of our fall baby goats. Everything seems ready and we are watching closely all the mothers. No one seems to be ready to kidd tonight. Everything seems well and we head for bed as it is late.
The next morning to our surprize Risky Business has had triplets during the night. Two babies did not make it and the 3rd baby a doe is strong and healthly and wants some immediate attention. We scoop her up immediately and head for the house. She is strong and within 4 hours has had 2 feedings of mother colostrum. The next day she continues to improve and soon after her mid morning feeding I head for the cheese kitchen.
Upon returning to the house a few hours later to check on our baby goat she is no where to be found. We
could not locate her anywhere. She was not strong enough to go very far - we thought. She was not crying for food and the next 24 hours we could not find her anywhere. We thought the worst had happened and continued to look - upstairs where we thought she had to be because she could not possibly go down the stairs- two flights of stairs mind you for a 2 day baby goat that was not very strong. We did not hear a sound for over 24 hours. Surely she would be crying for attention, feed me, something! We continued to look upstairs with no avail in finding her.
Well the next morning after searching for her thinking the worst, I am heading to my computer which is on our lower level - 2 flight of stairs down from the kitchen and low and behold there is our baby goat. She was under my computer desk and had been sleeping there all night not making a sound. Our baby goat saw me started wagging her tail to say Hi! Good morning it is nice to see you, now can I have my bottle?
We have named her GHOST.......... She is still doing great and is starting her baby goat olympics.
The next morning to our surprize Risky Business has had triplets during the night. Two babies did not make it and the 3rd baby a doe is strong and healthly and wants some immediate attention. We scoop her up immediately and head for the house. She is strong and within 4 hours has had 2 feedings of mother colostrum. The next day she continues to improve and soon after her mid morning feeding I head for the cheese kitchen.
Upon returning to the house a few hours later to check on our baby goat she is no where to be found. We
could not locate her anywhere. She was not strong enough to go very far - we thought. She was not crying for food and the next 24 hours we could not find her anywhere. We thought the worst had happened and continued to look - upstairs where we thought she had to be because she could not possibly go down the stairs- two flights of stairs mind you for a 2 day baby goat that was not very strong. We did not hear a sound for over 24 hours. Surely she would be crying for attention, feed me, something! We continued to look upstairs with no avail in finding her.
Well the next morning after searching for her thinking the worst, I am heading to my computer which is on our lower level - 2 flight of stairs down from the kitchen and low and behold there is our baby goat. She was under my computer desk and had been sleeping there all night not making a sound. Our baby goat saw me started wagging her tail to say Hi! Good morning it is nice to see you, now can I have my bottle?
Monday, October 11, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Dairy Farm News
It was an un-usual day at the farm yesterday.
Our buck Tex decided that he did not like the gate to his pen. He does not seem to like gates for some reason. He is always butting them down no matter how strong we make them he always crashes them down.
Yesterday was no exception, the gate came down and this created a farm circus.
Meanwhile, Dennis (hubby) goes out to feed the animals and by this time the animals have been out of their gate for a while. Dennis is carrying a 50 lb bag of feed down to the animals when he stops in his tracks to see the gate down. He puts down the feed to begin fixing the situation when here comes Shiro the goat's guardian dog happy to see Dennis. So happy that he also decided to go right past him and try to tour the neighbor hood. Now up until this time Shiro was quite happy to stay with the goats. Why now did he decide that he needed a neighborhood tour? Only Shiro knows for sure.
Dennis is now going after Shiro to get him back with the goats. He caught Shiro in the front yard and took him back where he belonged. He now takes feed and all the loose goats in the pasture come right up to their feed bowls and go back to where they need to be.
Oh, I forgot to tell you - Tex the goat that busted the gate and let all the goats out, NEVER left his area.
He must have been smiling from ear to ear and the havoc he created as he watched Dennis bring in all the
does back to their area. Well Tex is getting a new area of the pasture as it is time for him to be seperated from the doe's. I think this time we will put up steel posts in concrete for the gate, he seems to only like gates to butt on so I wonder if he likes hearing the chain rattle as he butts.
Well back to my story..... Now the doe's and Shiro are nicely back in their area when Dennis notices that
the main gate was left open and Princess our horse has now decided that she too wants a neighborhood tour.
By this time Dennis is really frustrated - He circles ahead of Princess (who is eating grass) and points to her pasture and yells at her to "GET BACK WHERE YOU BELONG"! You know she did!
Whew! Now all the animals are where they belong and now we can get started on fixing that gate, AGAIN!
Until next time,
Julie
Our buck Tex decided that he did not like the gate to his pen. He does not seem to like gates for some reason. He is always butting them down no matter how strong we make them he always crashes them down.
Yesterday was no exception, the gate came down and this created a farm circus.
Meanwhile, Dennis (hubby) goes out to feed the animals and by this time the animals have been out of their gate for a while. Dennis is carrying a 50 lb bag of feed down to the animals when he stops in his tracks to see the gate down. He puts down the feed to begin fixing the situation when here comes Shiro the goat's guardian dog happy to see Dennis. So happy that he also decided to go right past him and try to tour the neighbor hood. Now up until this time Shiro was quite happy to stay with the goats. Why now did he decide that he needed a neighborhood tour? Only Shiro knows for sure.
Dennis is now going after Shiro to get him back with the goats. He caught Shiro in the front yard and took him back where he belonged. He now takes feed and all the loose goats in the pasture come right up to their feed bowls and go back to where they need to be.
Oh, I forgot to tell you - Tex the goat that busted the gate and let all the goats out, NEVER left his area.
He must have been smiling from ear to ear and the havoc he created as he watched Dennis bring in all the
does back to their area. Well Tex is getting a new area of the pasture as it is time for him to be seperated from the doe's. I think this time we will put up steel posts in concrete for the gate, he seems to only like gates to butt on so I wonder if he likes hearing the chain rattle as he butts.
Well back to my story..... Now the doe's and Shiro are nicely back in their area when Dennis notices that
the main gate was left open and Princess our horse has now decided that she too wants a neighborhood tour.
By this time Dennis is really frustrated - He circles ahead of Princess (who is eating grass) and points to her pasture and yells at her to "GET BACK WHERE YOU BELONG"! You know she did!
Whew! Now all the animals are where they belong and now we can get started on fixing that gate, AGAIN!
Until next time,
Julie
Cheese Tasting
It was a lovely day for the cheese tasting. The day could have not been better.
@St Fairsted had their lovely jellies and canned veggies there as well. Oh my, the jellies were wonderful!
I took particular interest to the rosemary jelly and the the basil jelly but could not resist taking home the peach jelly. I can't wait to try this on some of my cheese!
The event had a good turn out and we received excellent comments on our cheeses.
I can't wait until the next event to get more jelly - the herbal jelly's were wonderful!
Until next time,
Julie
@St Fairsted had their lovely jellies and canned veggies there as well. Oh my, the jellies were wonderful!
I took particular interest to the rosemary jelly and the the basil jelly but could not resist taking home the peach jelly. I can't wait to try this on some of my cheese!
The event had a good turn out and we received excellent comments on our cheeses.
I can't wait until the next event to get more jelly - the herbal jelly's were wonderful!
Until next time,
Julie
Monday, August 23, 2010
Cheese Tasting Sept 19th
St Fairsted Farm has graciously invited Hammond Farm (that's us) to have a cheese tasting at their farm.
They will be fresh fruit and herbal jellies there as well. Cheese will be there for tasting and selling.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Grangerland-TX/St-Fairsted-Farm/110648132315898?ref=search#!/event.php?eid=140346872666450&ref=mf
We are very excited about this event and look forward to seeing many of you there!
They will be fresh fruit and herbal jellies there as well. Cheese will be there for tasting and selling.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Grangerland-TX/St-Fairsted-Farm/110648132315898?ref=search#!/event.php?eid=140346872666450&ref=mf
We are very excited about this event and look forward to seeing many of you there!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Recipe
Texas is hot this time of year. Replenishing what our body looses in the heat is essential to good health.
Here is a recipe that you may find interesting and is all natural.
Whey from cheese making (can be found from your favorite cheese maker) is all natural and can help in replenishing vitamins lost from the extreme heat. Whey is full of protein.
Take a can of frozen lemonade (Minute Maid is really good) and add 3 cans of liquid whey from cheese making. Stir and serve cold.
Whey can be found at your Farmers Market by asking you favorite cheese maker if he has any. Usually cheesemakers have plenty of liquid whey on hand ready to be used for other purposes.
Whey can also be used in your breakfast pancakes and makes some FANTASTIC pancakes. Any type of
breadmaking or cake making try adding a little whey to the batch and see some surprizing results. Yummm!
Until next time.....Julie
Here is a recipe that you may find interesting and is all natural.
Whey from cheese making (can be found from your favorite cheese maker) is all natural and can help in replenishing vitamins lost from the extreme heat. Whey is full of protein.
Take a can of frozen lemonade (Minute Maid is really good) and add 3 cans of liquid whey from cheese making. Stir and serve cold.
Whey can be found at your Farmers Market by asking you favorite cheese maker if he has any. Usually cheesemakers have plenty of liquid whey on hand ready to be used for other purposes.
Whey can also be used in your breakfast pancakes and makes some FANTASTIC pancakes. Any type of
breadmaking or cake making try adding a little whey to the batch and see some surprizing results. Yummm!
Until next time.....Julie
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Dairy Farm News
We are making cheese for an upcoming Farmers Market. The cheeses are turning out nicely and it has been fun selecting flavors of the cheeses. We are making Chevre', Ricotta, and Feta.Sunday, August 1, 2010
Dairy Farm News
The market's were buzzing this week as shoppers gathered their local farm products. It is nice to see the local food movement come to life. Much of our cheese had only been packaged hours before
the market providing a very fresh product for the consumer.
Our cheese has been doing well at the markets and we have been real busy here at the farm producing different flavors and styles of cheese. Our soap stock continues to grow as the staff gets batches ready
to go into the molds and the number of bars increase on the shelves in anticipation of this years holiday season.
On the Dairy Side of the farm we are working towards Grade A status and hope to have that phase completed by Spring. The inspector has already approved our holding pen and that is already installed.
We have our milking barn on premises ready to erect and will begin on that in the coming months.
New shelters for the goats are getting installed as we prepare for Hurricane season and winter.
Some of our goats will be kidding this fall so we will have a new round of babies between October and November and need more shelter to house everyone.
I can hardly wait for the new babies as kidding season is my favorite time of year.
Until next time.....Julie
the market providing a very fresh product for the consumer.
Our cheese has been doing well at the markets and we have been real busy here at the farm producing different flavors and styles of cheese. Our soap stock continues to grow as the staff gets batches ready
to go into the molds and the number of bars increase on the shelves in anticipation of this years holiday season.
On the Dairy Side of the farm we are working towards Grade A status and hope to have that phase completed by Spring. The inspector has already approved our holding pen and that is already installed.
We have our milking barn on premises ready to erect and will begin on that in the coming months.
New shelters for the goats are getting installed as we prepare for Hurricane season and winter.
Some of our goats will be kidding this fall so we will have a new round of babies between October and November and need more shelter to house everyone.
I can hardly wait for the new babies as kidding season is my favorite time of year.
Until next time.....Julie
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Dairy Farm News
Cheese is already cooking this morning. Cooking FETA this am - Yummm!
The Ricotta I cooked earlier in the week sure was a nice snack when I felt I needed a little something.
I was impressed at how well it turned out. Ricotta is a nice cheese as you can also cook with it. Lasangna
comes to mind.
If you are making cheese at home don't throw out the Whey. The whey can be used for many things.
1) It can be used as a natural electrolite. Mix some of your whey into your frozen drink mix for added vitamins. Whey is high in protein.
2) Whey can also be used in bread making and is an nice secret ingredient that you will be pleased with.
3) Don't forget your furry friend, the dogs love it and when you are giving it to them you know you are giving them something that is good for them full of protein.
Until later.....Julie
The Ricotta I cooked earlier in the week sure was a nice snack when I felt I needed a little something.
I was impressed at how well it turned out. Ricotta is a nice cheese as you can also cook with it. Lasangna
comes to mind.
If you are making cheese at home don't throw out the Whey. The whey can be used for many things.
1) It can be used as a natural electrolite. Mix some of your whey into your frozen drink mix for added vitamins. Whey is high in protein.
2) Whey can also be used in bread making and is an nice secret ingredient that you will be pleased with.
3) Don't forget your furry friend, the dogs love it and when you are giving it to them you know you are giving them something that is good for them full of protein.
Until later.....Julie
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Dairy Farm News
Our cheese has been getting rave reviews. This is really exciting! Dr Zhang, I was a good student and paying attention in class. Yeah!
The 2010 girls are growing nicely and a farm visit yesterday from a lady had some nice compliments on our herd. That always makes one feel really nice especially when she is in the industry.
The farm here is busy as a bee with activity as there is not a day, minute or hour that something is not going on in the way of care for the animals, milking, or production of products. Not much sleep going on here.
We will have new fall babies again and we are looking forward to what the girls give us.
Until next time......
Julie
The 2010 girls are growing nicely and a farm visit yesterday from a lady had some nice compliments on our herd. That always makes one feel really nice especially when she is in the industry.
The farm here is busy as a bee with activity as there is not a day, minute or hour that something is not going on in the way of care for the animals, milking, or production of products. Not much sleep going on here.
We will have new fall babies again and we are looking forward to what the girls give us.
Until next time......
Julie
Monday, May 10, 2010
Mother's Day
One of my goat's decided to give me a lovely Mother's Day Present. A new baby goat. It's a girl! It won't be long and she will be producing milk for the dairy.Sunday, April 11, 2010
Dairy Farm News
They spent quite a long time bouncing on Shiro before giving up and taking a nap.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Spring is here!
It started sprinkling a very fine mist later in the day and we could not resist scooping up the girl and taking her in the house. After all she will be working in the dairy barn when she is old enough. She ate her bottle and off to sleep she went. Like all babies I am sure she will be up screaming at 05:00am for her next bottle. Wonder if we will get any sleep around here??
Dairy Farm News
Monday, March 29, 2010
Dairy Farm News
It's really crazy around here this spring. Soap is going in the mold like crazy!
Four batches made yesterday.
I am up at 3:30am today making soap, boxing soap.
Our girls are looking good that are due to kid in May and we are looking forward to that. These are our first time fresheners. Our other girls kidded in January, milking great and their babies look great! We did keep one of the bucks and hope he turns out to be a good producer. He should as he comes from a really nice line - Iron Owl.
We do need a milking machine as my hands are getting the corpul tunnel and this am I woke up with the
bad pains in my hands. That will have to wait until the business gets a little bigger.
Cheese making is around the corner as our kitchen gets closer to completion. The floor is getting installed today, sinks on sunday and I am really proud that my business has paid for everything to get this project completed. We have lots of customers who can not wait for our cheese. They have tasted samples and are
as excited as we are.
My mother gave me a really neat Welcome sign for the cheese kitchen. It's sooooo cute! I will see if I can get a pic posted soon.
Have a wonderful blessed day!
Four batches made yesterday.
I am up at 3:30am today making soap, boxing soap.
Our girls are looking good that are due to kid in May and we are looking forward to that. These are our first time fresheners. Our other girls kidded in January, milking great and their babies look great! We did keep one of the bucks and hope he turns out to be a good producer. He should as he comes from a really nice line - Iron Owl.
We do need a milking machine as my hands are getting the corpul tunnel and this am I woke up with the
bad pains in my hands. That will have to wait until the business gets a little bigger.
Cheese making is around the corner as our kitchen gets closer to completion. The floor is getting installed today, sinks on sunday and I am really proud that my business has paid for everything to get this project completed. We have lots of customers who can not wait for our cheese. They have tasted samples and are
as excited as we are.
My mother gave me a really neat Welcome sign for the cheese kitchen. It's sooooo cute! I will see if I can get a pic posted soon.
Have a wonderful blessed day!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Spring is finally here!
We have babies jumping around today like crazy! The babies are feeling good and even bouncing off me!
The morning milking was uneventful and all girls behaved really well. It has been a busy day as we get ready for market.
We are packaging Rosemary and Peppermint, Oatmeal and Texas Honey and Lemongrass and Rosemary for todays markets.
See you there!
Julie
The morning milking was uneventful and all girls behaved really well. It has been a busy day as we get ready for market.
We are packaging Rosemary and Peppermint, Oatmeal and Texas Honey and Lemongrass and Rosemary for todays markets.
See you there!
Julie
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Goat Milk Lotion
We are SO excited........ our natural preservative for our goat milk lotions is FDA approved. Tinosan SDC has meet FDA standards. Silver Based Antimicrobial for personal care applications.+ Formaldehyde Free + Paraben Free + Non-Halogenated + No Phenols + No Quaternary Ammonium Compounds. We wanted to use a safe, natural effective preservative. We are a leader in providing you natural products.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Silly Goat
Well I have a goofy goat... Radiant LOVES to eat Pampers baby wipes. Again today I am fishing down her throat to retrieve one. Then she is fighting me to keep it. Silly goat!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Farm News
I wanted to give an update on our milking does. All doe's are doing great and our mom who was in trouble is doing just fine. The babies are bouncing off the walls and turning flips.
As I was out bottle feeding the goats today I was laughing as one of the babies tried about 3 times to jump up in my lap and missed every time. She had already had her bottle but wanted some attention. I was busy bottle feeding another baby and she kept insisting to get my attention. It was so funny as each time she tried she missed and fell plop back on the ground. I finished feeding the other baby and picked her up to cuddle her. She already had her bottle, she just wanted in my lap. I couldn't resist to pet her a while. She relaxed and curled up just watching all the other babies chase themselves around the trees.
Watching the babies chase themselves around the trees is an hysterical, comical and truely awesome site.
It is really comical to see them play tag with each other and turn flips when they are caught by the other baby. Then the chase then turns the other direction and the chase is on again until they are tired and start to sleep.
This is a really neat time for us as babies are always really cute and fun to have around.
As I was out bottle feeding the goats today I was laughing as one of the babies tried about 3 times to jump up in my lap and missed every time. She had already had her bottle but wanted some attention. I was busy bottle feeding another baby and she kept insisting to get my attention. It was so funny as each time she tried she missed and fell plop back on the ground. I finished feeding the other baby and picked her up to cuddle her. She already had her bottle, she just wanted in my lap. I couldn't resist to pet her a while. She relaxed and curled up just watching all the other babies chase themselves around the trees.
Watching the babies chase themselves around the trees is an hysterical, comical and truely awesome site.
It is really comical to see them play tag with each other and turn flips when they are caught by the other baby. Then the chase then turns the other direction and the chase is on again until they are tired and start to sleep.
This is a really neat time for us as babies are always really cute and fun to have around.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Cheese Kitchen
We are moving along with our cheese kitchen. We now have water in the building. Whooo!
I never thought making a simple building would be so much work!
I will be painting the ceiling in the building tomorrow. I hate painting ceilings as I am such
as messey painter. Well at least it is a small ceiling....
I never thought making a simple building would be so much work!
I will be painting the ceiling in the building tomorrow. I hate painting ceilings as I am such
as messey painter. Well at least it is a small ceiling....
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Goat Babies!
This week has been a busy one at Hammond Farm. All of our does kidded during the same week. We now have 12 babies on the farm of which 10 are bucks and 2 are does. We have been really busy milking twice a day and bottle feeding each of the babies.
Only one doe (mom) is showing signs of trouble from the birthings and we are hoping she comes around in the next day or so. We have been to the vet and he gave us a pop shot for her to help her along.
We plan to keep the 2 does to increase our herds milk production. They are really cute!! The bucks will have new homes shortly.
Tonight I finished milking the does and prepared the babies bottles. I headed out to the pasture to start the bottle feeding. I had finished feeding a few of the babies when all of the sudden the sky let loose.
The rain was coming down hard a fast. It was in a quick minute that all the does came to join me in the shelter with all the babies. Since I have been sick since the middle of December I felt it best that I stay with the goats for a while. So, 7 does, 12 babies and myself in the shelter watching the rain come down hoping that it stops soon and no one gets too wet.
Well everyone ended up pretty dry and the rain did let up and that was the time that I decided that it was time for me to head to the house. Tomorrow the routine starts all over again.......
Only one doe (mom) is showing signs of trouble from the birthings and we are hoping she comes around in the next day or so. We have been to the vet and he gave us a pop shot for her to help her along.
We plan to keep the 2 does to increase our herds milk production. They are really cute!! The bucks will have new homes shortly.
Tonight I finished milking the does and prepared the babies bottles. I headed out to the pasture to start the bottle feeding. I had finished feeding a few of the babies when all of the sudden the sky let loose.
The rain was coming down hard a fast. It was in a quick minute that all the does came to join me in the shelter with all the babies. Since I have been sick since the middle of December I felt it best that I stay with the goats for a while. So, 7 does, 12 babies and myself in the shelter watching the rain come down hoping that it stops soon and no one gets too wet.
Well everyone ended up pretty dry and the rain did let up and that was the time that I decided that it was time for me to head to the house. Tomorrow the routine starts all over again.......
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Cold day at the Market
Today was a really COLD day at the market. I stayed home since I have bronchitis and Dennis (hubby) went to the market. It was really cold and brisk. He luckily found the hand warmers that my mother gave us and took them to the market with him. Thank Goodness!!
At the market he saw the guitar player playing and barely being able to play due to the cold. He pulled out his hand warmers and gave them to the guitar player so she could warm her hands. So sweet! He did have another pair of hand warmers with him and opened up the second pair for himself. It was a really COLD day for the market.
We do not have baby goats as yet and I am glad as the longer they stay in their moms the better off the babies are for surviving this bitter cold.
I think God is looking out for us right now!
At the market he saw the guitar player playing and barely being able to play due to the cold. He pulled out his hand warmers and gave them to the guitar player so she could warm her hands. So sweet! He did have another pair of hand warmers with him and opened up the second pair for himself. It was a really COLD day for the market.
We do not have baby goats as yet and I am glad as the longer they stay in their moms the better off the babies are for surviving this bitter cold.
I think God is looking out for us right now!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Texas Cold Blast
This evening we nailed up some tarps on the does shelter to give some added protection from the cold. More shavings were put down on top of rubber mats to give the goats some more warmth. They are due with babies in the next few days and I am holding my breath that they wait until this cold snap is a bit past us.
I also went to the buck pen and added more shavings to their pen to keep them off the wet ground. Jett (the buck) seem to enjoy my new added shavings to his pen. He didn't want to get out of my way so that I could get them down for him. It was like he was really excited! He kept checking the shavings out and didn't want to leave his covered shelter. It's not like he hasn't already had shavings in his shelter this winter as we keep them regularly in his pen. He was really funny this evening and if he could have danced I think he would have.
I now have all the goats fed and bedded down for the evening and now can go inside as I have bronchitis. Have had this stuff for a month now, heading in for the evening meal and a warm blanket. I will check on the goats early in the morning to see if we have had any new babies born during the night.
I can bet sometime this week we will have goat babies in the house..........
I also went to the buck pen and added more shavings to their pen to keep them off the wet ground. Jett (the buck) seem to enjoy my new added shavings to his pen. He didn't want to get out of my way so that I could get them down for him. It was like he was really excited! He kept checking the shavings out and didn't want to leave his covered shelter. It's not like he hasn't already had shavings in his shelter this winter as we keep them regularly in his pen. He was really funny this evening and if he could have danced I think he would have.
I now have all the goats fed and bedded down for the evening and now can go inside as I have bronchitis. Have had this stuff for a month now, heading in for the evening meal and a warm blanket. I will check on the goats early in the morning to see if we have had any new babies born during the night.
I can bet sometime this week we will have goat babies in the house..........
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