VT Cheese on Chronicle

Here links to the video segments posted on wcbv.com (Channel 5 in Boston).  They aired live last night, May 15, 2012.

Segment1: (Intro, Crowley, Woodcock)
http://www.wcvb.com/chronicle/Vermont-s-Cheese-Trail-Part-1/-/12523032/13392120/-/ute169/-/index.html

Segment 2:  (Consider Bardwell, Twig Farm)
http://www.wcvb.com/chronicle/Vermont-s-Cheese-Trail-Part-2/-/12523032/13392160/-/yu8hmb/-/index.html

Segment 3: (Von Trapp, , Scholton,  Jasper Hill)
http://www.wcvb.com/chronicle/Vermont-s-Cheese-Trail-Part-3/-/12523032/13392188/-/13v2y1t/-/index.html

Segment 4: (Springbrook, Hunger Mountain Coop)
http://www.wcvb.com/chronicle/Vermont-s-Cheese-Trail-Part-4/-/12523032/13392196/-/13u6pb5z/-/index.html

Prudence All Grown up

The favorite kid from last spring, Prudence is looking so grown up.  Here she is pictured on the right:

Goat Kid Care Basics

There are many excellent books and web resources for how to raise goat kids.  Here's what we do.

Every year we consult with our vet regarding the latest recommendations for immunization and apply the best practice. Twig Farm goat kids are all CAE free (we test our goats yearly and our herd is CAE free). All of our goats are ADGA alpine dairy goats. We dehorn our dairy goats after the first 1-2 weeks. We are able to castrate males for folks looking for wethers.  Typically we castrate within the first 1-2 weeks.

Week-old kids can be available for adoption.  Kids will require bottle feeding for the first 9-11 weeks.  We introduce hay on the 2nd day.   Kid's get their mother's colostrum during the first 5-7 days, afterwards we transition the kids to cow's milk.  You can choose to bottle feed your kids goat milk-replacer or cow's milk.   Introduce your kids to hay by the 2nd day.  Keep kids in a clean, well-ventilated and dry area with opportunity for exercise, shade, sunshine, and shelter.   If it is below 50, you will likely need to keep them warm somehow (heating lamps, sweaters, we know of one family who kept their new goat kids in their bathtub on cool nights...) Clean pens daily.  Put down fresh bedding daily. We usually use wood shavings.  Grain should be available by the 2nd week. 

Here's the milk feeding schedule:
Days 0-5 - Hand bottle feed the kid its mother's colostrum for the first 5 days (3 times a day feedings), introduce hay
Days 5-7 - Hand bottle feed the kids 3 times a day cow's milk. (10 oz / 3 times a day)
Weeks 2-4 Hand Bottle feed the kids 3 times a day (10 oz / 3 times a day), introduce grain (lamb + kid grower).   Ensure kids have access to fresh air and opportunities to play in a dry area. 
Weeks 5-9 Bottle feed 18-20 oz 2x a day.
Weeks 9-11 Begin to wean.

Here are a few web resources I found Google searching:
http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8160.pdf
http://www.dairygoatjournal.com/issues/86/86-1/Nancy_Nickel.html

We consult quite a few books:
La Chevre (Jean-Christophe Corcy)... in french but very helpful
Natural Goat Care (Pat Coleby)
Raising Milk Goats Sucessfuly (Gail Luttmann)
Nutrient Requirements of Small Ruminants (National Research Council)

We also chat with our vet.  We love our vet Dr. Alan Clarisse of Vergennes Large Animal Associates.

Goat Kids for Sale Mid-March

Our first phone inquiry for goat kids came yesterday from a mother looking for a few kids for a 4H project.  We welcome your inquiries!

We will have kid goats for sale starting March 1.   All of our goats are registered Alpine dairy goats. Goat kids with papers are $50.  One-week old Castrated bucks are $10 + $1/day after one week. 

Please email or call to arrange for a visit!
twigfarm@shoreham.net
(802) 462-3363

The Big Cheese

There are still a few opportunities to catch appearances of Twig Farm on the television show, The Big Cheese showing on the cable tv station, The Cooking Channel! 
Here's a link to the show listing: http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/the-big-cheese/homecoming/index.html

And here are the scheduled times!

• December 22, 2011 9:30 PM
• December 22, 2011 1:30 AM
• December 24, 2011 6:00 PM
• January 05, 2012 9:30 PM
• January 05, 2012 1:30 AM
• January 07, 2012 6:00 PM

Twig Farm in Bon Appetit

Twig Farm is one of the featured farms in the story, A Slice of Vermont by Nathalie Jordi in the Bon Appetit April 2011 issue!  A nice picture of Michael and the goats and another of the Twig Farm Square Cheese is included in the accompanied Andrew Heatherington photo slide show.

Fuzzy Wheel

The Culture Cheese Library has a new write up for Fuzzy Wheel!
http://www.culturecheesemag.com/Fuzzy_Wheel

Prudence

Prudence is the first doe of Priscilla who has had 14 bucks in the last 5 years.  Her first year she had twin bucks.  All the rest were triplets.  In the previous post of Megan feeding to kids, she is 2nd from the left.  Priscilla is currently making 10 pounds a milk a day (about a gallon plus a quart).

Here are a few more pics.

Feeding Baby Goats

Here is Michael's assistant Megan Sanchez feeding baby goats.  Megan helps with the kid care, milking, cheese aging, and cheese-making activities.  At first all kids are fed 3x a day by hand for about 2 weeks.  Buck kids transition to 2x a day gang feeders (3 nipples on a bucket) after they are 2 weeks old.  The older does transition to 2x a day but still by bottle at two weeks.  After 3 weeks some doe kids are also transitioned to gang (3 nipples a bucket) feeders.

Bunch of pregnant goats

at night...