More about goats
Goats are genetically related to deer and elk. Part of their attraction is that they like to interact with humans and each other. An adult doe weighs about 160 pounds. Kids are born weighing between 4 1/2 and 10 pounds.
Because Haystack Mountain's goats are hand-raised, they bond easily with people. Like dogs, they're very curious and like to touch everything with their mouths. They are bright, playful and have a sense of humor. Watching a pen full of kids brings to mind the word "capricious," from the Latin root "capra," meaning goat.
In the dairy world, female goats are called does and male goats are called bucks. Like their cousins in the wild, goats naturally breed in the fall and winter. Haystack's farm manager decides which does to breed with which bucks to produce kids with the best conformation and milk production.
Coddling the babies
Our kidding season lasts from January to July. Each kidding season, a new naming scheme is selected to track the birth year of the kids. Kids are then named beginning with the first initial of their mother's name. In 1993, the kids were named for flowers, and in 1994 for herbs and spices. Other themes have included the periodic table, cities, artists and foods.
The naming of each goat is more than just sentiment -- it's critical to the health and productivity of the herd. It allows us to keep a watchful eye on each animal to spot illnesses before they spread and also to track each doe's productivity.
Care and feeding
Great goat cheese depends on the quality and taste of the milk. We strive for milk that has a clean, sweet taste, so we feed our goats a controlled diet of dairy-quality alfalfa and mixed grain (oats, minerals and corn).
Goats, like people, vary in how they use the feed. Some convert their food into energy, which means more milk, while others just get fat. We like to feed our highest producers a little extra feed.
The quality of milk is also determined by the health of the animals. Goats need plenty of room, fresh water, a clean bed and vaccinations against disease. To safeguard our herd's health, Haystack Mountain does not bring goats in from other herds.
To prevent the transmission of some diseases to kids from their mothers, we attend every birth and feed the kids only pasteurized milk. We also blood test our herd every year and have our milk tested monthly for quality.
