Ohiofarmgirl'sAdventuresinTheGoodLand-where ya been? whatcha been doin

[savingdogs]

Have we stopped having fun here yet?

 

[AL]

As usual, I missed all the fun shenanigans

at least that way there is no "guilt by association"

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

WOW what a milk!!!

so we separated all the babies last nite - Debbies Milk Stealers and Nib's Niblets all went to live in the newly remodeled half of the turkey house. noted events since then are:

* Debbie milked 12 cups this morning!!! she was so full she could hardly walk!i took one look at her and ran for the bucket.
* Sunny also milked 12 cups!! but thats 'normal' for her
* Nibs milked under a quart

and yes i'm making cheese today!

then we marched over to stuff a bottle in the Niblets mouths... and...and.....

they took it.

am i doing something WRONG? i thought this was hard so i must not be doing something right. they took a total of about 4 oz. this morning but considering they are still the size of Chihuahuas.... i'm thinking that's not bad.

the Good Neighbors gave us lambing bottles and nipples. they cut a small opening and the milk just runs out. they told us it was supposed to be this way until the babies figured out that the bottle was where the yums are..... then we can move them to a "sucky" bottle/nipple.

so the little boy latched and and drank a lot. when he started to shake his head we took the bottle away and he licked his chops.

Porter wasnt as 'sold out' on the whole idea. but she got a good drink and a milk mustache.

Stout is probably going to be our challenge and got more milk all over her - and all over me- than in her belly. she took the least. she is also the littlest.

they were all as quiet as church mice last nite with no screaming or bellyachin'. not even a peep. not even a squeak. and so when i spied on them they were all in cute little goat heaps.

we may or may not have severe storms today so we were gonna keep everyone in their new house and will evaluate the situation at noon when we go out and feed the Niblets again.

by then we will either take debbie over and let her babies drink off her. or just take them back to be with the Milkers. Deb's Milks Stealers are actively eating hay and think that the grain is interesting. the neighbors said they can take the babies any time but i still think they need milk before we move them over. they are now about a month old.

the Niblets need to be on the bottle as we have a home for 1 and possible the other two. we want them to be good bottle babies before we send them on their way.

so thats the goings on here today.

 

[savingdogs]

So many goats in your barn!

Wow, that is a lot of cheese.......you must have a big stock of cheesemaking supplies!

I meant to ask you, where do you like to purchase your cheesecloth? I wasn't too happy with the cheesecloth I tried for my first go-round. It was so narrow, and I made a tiny batch.

Also, can cheesecloth be reused? I tossed mine because I couldn't figure out how to get the cheese out and finally gave up. I guess it is a one-time use thing? The package talked about using them as rags and such so I was picturing possibly doing that at least, but the cheese was all stuck in it.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

yep! i can be reused no problem

the trick is to get good, cheese-quality cloth. i get mine whenever i order anything from Caprine Supple, Hoeggers, Lehmens, or New England Cheese Co. so i always get new stuff no matter what i actually need.

the stuff from the grocery store does NOT work. sometimes you see it as "butter muslin" which is the good stuff. the cheesecloth i get from the cheese places is in big squares and i just fold it up to fit in my colander.

i think different people clean to reuse it different ways. i usually rinse it out, and after i milk i have a bucket of soap and bleach - so then i 'wash' it in there.. and then i pop in with a load of clothes (put in a lingerie bag or whatever).

and yes we are bustin' at the seams with goats! whooot! its a goatapalooza!

 

[freemotion]

What is commonly sold as cheesecloth is really gauze and useless for anything but straining fruit for jelly and such.

Yup, invest in real cheesecloth from a cheesemaking supply place (I like The Dairy Connection) or a restaurant supply place. It will look kinda like muslin. I used a fine weave muslin for a long time. I rinse it well and throw it in with my bleached whites laundry. I have several. It often comes in a three-yard piece that you can cut into squares. When you get into making hard cheeses, you will want a couple spare pieces since you need to take the cheese out of the mold, unwrap it, turn it, re-wrap it, and put it back into the press. Usually you can use the same cloth, but sometimes it sticks a little and you'll want a fresh cloth.

It is easy to scrape stuck cheese off real cheesecloth with a butter knife.

OFG, you must be doing something wrong! Woohoo! Of course, my babies screamed because they were singles with no one to snuggle with. Three would be much easier, just more bottle washing! When you sell them, wow, you will be able to make cheese every day if you want! I would if I had the time.....oooooo, to have cheddar in unlimited supply! We can eat a LOT of cheddar.

 

[glenolam]

yep! i can be reused no problem

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So....Where do I find reusable OFG at, then?

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

yep! i can be reused no problem

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So....Where do I find reusable OFG at, then?

*snort*

baby i'm VERY used.....believe me.

ha!

 

[Javamama]

I'll take one too! Imagine what a re-useable OFG could do around here...

 

[glenolam]

So...do I pick you up at farmer's markets or the corner store?

And, on the label does it say "OFG - Just like cheese, only gets better with age"?