Читать книгу Raising Goats For Dummies - Cheryl K. Smith - Страница 16

Imagine never having to buy milk or cheese again. If you raise dairy goats you can achieve that goal. Your goats need to have kids to give you milk, and then you can milk them throughout the year for up to five years without rebreeding, if you want. Or you can stagger the kidding each year so that you have a milk supply year-round. (They need a break from milking during the last two months of their pregnancy to put their energy into growing kids.)

You need only a few goats to keep a small family in milk and other dairy products. Just one standard-size dairy goat can give you an average of 6 to 8 pounds (3 to 4 quarts) of milk each day. And, depending on the butterfat content of the milk, you can get up to a pound of cheese for every gallon of milk.

With your own milk supply, you won’t need to worry about additives to the milk you drink or the cheese or yogurt you eat. Goat milk is easier to digest than cow milk, and so it is prized by people who can’t drink cow milk. Depending on the state you live in, you can sell milk to supplement your income or offset the goats’ feed costs.

You find out about raising goats for milk in Chapter 15.