Udderly Delightful

All six girls are now officially in the milking "crew."  I finally got over my own separation anxiety for Avalon, Opal and Mavis.  Those were the little doelings I had to bring indoors for a couple of the cold weeks and bring their mama in three times a day to feed them.  Avalon really is such a good mama, but that February day they were born outdoors was so warm, they were never in the shed and then wouldn't go when the weather turned cold . . . yet I digress with an old story.  Avalon was just so amazing through that time, and the bond was so strong, I didn't have the heart to wean them at 10 weeks, or even separate them through the day for a single milking.  They are now well past three months old.

Usually, the milk goats are separated from their young for just 8 to 10 daylight hours, then I milk in the evening and the babies are with their mamas til I separate them in the morning.  It's worked well for years, but this year everything changed.  YHWH told me to practically prepare!  A couple of my small milkers simply got too old to produce enough milk beyond feeding their babies, and then of course there was the loss of Stella.  So, the small goats went to pet farms and I began the search for large dairy does in milk, and that meant no kids.  For those who have followed the "training articles" it was truly a blessed time.  I had to be quite diligent to get the rules established, but it is simply amazing.  Of this crew of six, I only knew two of them before the first week of April and had only milked one, Avalon, last fall.  So all five that I've been milking had never entered the milking parlor before April.

Now here it is the first week of June and they've been coming in every evening, gather round the milking parlor and call to me through the kitchen window for over a month now.  I don't have to go round them up, I don't have to rattle a feed bucket, they just all come and gather at evening.  I've tried to load a video, but blogger just spins and can't find itself . . .  so here a few photos as I've tried to capture the girls gathered outside the milking parlor!

As each new girl joined the herd, she just found her place in the herd, or I should say, was shown, and it's truly been simple.  As I think of a community gathering, I have no problem realizing many folks will be able to do many things better than I and I will gladly step aside and become the assistant or just get out of the way offering great applause, but I know working with the goats is a gift my Abba has given me.  He's given me this blessing to enjoy and to share the abundance with others.