Our Sweet, Funny Goats
"What did you do to their ears?" is a question you must learn to answer when you have LaMancha goats. Their breed trademark is indeed their tiny ears, but after tasting the high-fat creaminess of their milk, it is easy to overlook the PR pitfalls. Having been brought to the US from Spain during Spanish colonization, these goats first became registered as a breed in 1958.
Contrary to popular belief, goats do not eat everything; in
fact, some of them can be quite picky! Our girls eat alfalfa hay
and grain formulated for goats. They also enjoy lots of
attention, brushing now and then, and peanuts for treats.
We are not licensed to sell milk or edible milk products, but we
enjoy the milk for our own use and add liberal amounts to our
luxurious goat milk soap. If
you do ever have the opportunity to taste fresh and
well-cared-for goat's milk, give it a try. You might see a big
difference between your expectations and the real thing!
The girls are bred in the fall and give birth approximately five
months later in the spring. For approximately eight weeks we
bottle feed heat-treated colostrum and milk to our babies to
prevent any possible spread of goat diseases. Toward the end of
the eight weeks, we begin to have enough milk for family use,
and then the twice-a-day milking continues throughout the summer
until the girls are bred again in the fall and "dried off." Milk
production amounts can vary greatly from animal to animal and
breed to breed, but our goats usually provide us with 1 ½ to 2
gallons per day during the mid to late summer peak of the
season.
Meet the Herd
Fancy and Buddy were our first LaMancha goats, purchased from our
neighbor who has raised LaManchas for many years. They provided
us milk for several years, but they retired after this past
summer and are now destined to eat alfalfa and sleep in the sun
with no payback expected. Buddy is living on another farm now,
but Fancy is still in our barn and still my favorite!
This is the second milking season for April, and she should give plenty of milk for years to come. Her milk production was quite good as a second year milker, and she has been bred to a registered LaMancha buck for a May '08 kidding. April is the pusher of limits in the herd, or as I call her, my "high up goat" since she likes to wait her turn for milking on top of a three foot post in their pen. Although April puts her personality stamp on everything she does, I have yet to meet a goat lacking in character! April may be for sale in the spring.
Mariquita ("Quita") and April are currently for sale. Please see our Goats For Sale page, here.
The only daughter of her sire last spring, Maya's Comet has turned into a fine milker with beautiful conformation and a pleasant personality. She is not currently for sale..
Comet's dam, Rosa, is in her second very productive season of
milking. She is not currently for sale.
