At any given time, we have roughly 750 goats living on the farm. They are all French Alpines (sometimes interchangeably referred to as Alpine Dairy Goats) and descend from a line of 22 goats brought into the United States in 1922.
The vast majority of our herd are does. We have 19 bucks for breeding purposes and we kid throughout the year, with an average of 20-50 kids a month depending on the time of year (summer is the slow season). It is not uncommon for twins or triplets to be born, so we frequently have our hands full! At birth, kids are able to walk and weigh on average 6-8lbs. We keep bucks now and then, but most are sold to other breeders and farms as they have sought-after genetics. Unlike other breeds, French Alpines are not bound by color specifications, and subsequently we have many different colored goats on the farm.
Our goats are fed a diet of alfalfa, soybeans, and grains, all of which is grown locally. We fortify their food with vitamins and minerals and have worked diligently to design a blend that is unique to us and is healthiest for our goats.
We milk our goats twice a day, once at 4AM and again at 3PM. Roughly half of our does are actively milked; the others are too young or not lactating. Each goat produces approximately a gallon of milk a day in a total of 10 minutes of active milking. Our system is set up to milk 28 does at a time for a total of 125 does an hour. It takes just over a gallon of milk (1.16 gallons to be precise) to produce one pound of cheese.
Despite such high numbers of goats on the farm, we do take the time to name each one. For the sake of computer records, each goat is also given a number which is displayed on a badged necklace. Our goats however are sometimes cheeky, and have been known to nibble the badges off of other goats.
There is one last thing to know about French Alpine goats. We might be biased, but we think they have the cutest kids! How about you?
grt
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