Kinder Goat Breeders Association

KGBA

Kinder Goat Breeders Association

Good Morning! It’s February!

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Hello everyone!

I am Jan Hodges and I am blogging this month about my Kinder goat adventure. I live in central New Mexico, about 30 miles south of Albuquerque.

I discovered kinder goats in the 90s, I moved out of the city to two acres in the country in 1993, and a neighbor had a goat for awhile. I liked her. Goats seemed to me to be by far the most interesting livestock. I was working, though, and it didn’t take much research to figure out that I couldn’t manage an 11 hour workday (including a pretty long commute) and also take decent care of goats. I’m pretty lazy, really.

In 2000 I rescued a great dane, Duke, who had terrible airborne allergies, which started a long hunt for relief for them. I tried shots, but he got tired of that and we couldn’t do it without his cooperation. I tried raw honey, but that requires a huge dose, it was too much sugar, and expensive. I found local milk that wasn’t processed much. There was a dairy that sold it, but they got bought out and that milk disappeared. So the only way to get milk for him was to have my own. But it was still too early. I got milk from my vet, who has a herd of dairy goats, for a few years. Duke’s troubles with allergies completely disappeared for the rest of his life.

I got my two nubian doe kids a year before I retired, but milking them and working was going to be beyond me. I retired (finally, the first day I possibly could), bred one of them to my lovely Silver, and had my first kinders, both were male. I decided I didn’t want the characteristics of the other doe in my kinder herd, and don’t have her anymore.

In the spring of 2007 a friend went with me on a road trip to Missouri, where I got two doe kids from Sue Huston. They are my lovely Madame and Triscuit. I feel like I was very lucky to get them, and it was great to meet Sue.

I’m going to stop now and post this and try to figure out how to post pictures.

Have a wonderful rest of the day!

Jan

Recipe Tuesday……….

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I had to think really hard to come up with a recipe for my final Recipe Tuesday blog post and have decided to share my favorite pancake recipe with you.  I hope you enjoy it. 

Goodwife Farm’s Apple Pancakes
  • 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cups goat milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 TBSP canola oil
  • 1/2 apple, cored and chopped but NOT peeled
Add dry ingredients to medium sized bowl.  Mix wet ingredients except apples in measuring cup.  Add wet to dry, stirring just till combined.  Gently fold in apples.
Heat cast iron griddle til so hot that water drops sizzle merrily.  Drop batter on skillet by 1/4 cupfuls.  Cook, flip, and serve!  Makes about 12 pancakes.
I eat these topped with banana butter and they are delicious!  Very good, healthy, and filling!  Because I’m on Weight Watchers I put 3/4 cup of whole milk in my measuring cup, then add water to make 1 1/2 cup total.  If prepared this way they are 2.5 Weight Watchers points for 2 pancakes.
Till next time…………..GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM!

Kidding Season………..

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In a few short weeks, this little girl will be checking in to Chateau de Maternity Ward ala Goodwife Farm. Her name is Star and she is an unregistered Kinder goat. She is the first kid born here at Goodwife Farm and I love her dearly. She is so sweet and shy and beautiful and I can’t wait for the kids she is going to give me! She already has her room reserved here.
Housekeeping doesn’t have it all bedded and totally ready for her yet, but the week before her confinement arrives it will be deeply bedded and and sparkling clean!
She has a heated kid box, that the babies very quickly figure out is the happenin’ place to be. It usually only takes a couple hours for them to figure out that it’s nice and toasty in there. They are generally found snuggled in a pile in the corner and will pop out for refreshment once in awhile and then go back inside. They also have the home away from home in the Igloo dog house, but it is mostly reserved for jumping up onto and knocking each other off!
The maternity suite offers it’s own hay rack (can you see the chicken peeking out of it? They like to lay eggs in there during the off season!), and it’s own heated water bucket.
After a few days Star and her child/children will check out so that this little lady can check in.
This is Naomi and she is a registered Kinder bred to a registered buck. Star and family will be moved to this less fancy but equally nice suite here at Chateau de Goodwife Farm.
Then about 3 weeks after the arrival of the children, Star will be introduced to this lovely contraption…….THE MILK STAND.

This will be Star’s first freshening so I’ll be training her to the stand and pail. I always train my doe kids to the stand from a very early age, that way it isn’t such a shock when the time comes. I give them a little grain and let them put their heads in the stanchion to eat. I lock them in, brush them, and rub their udders. That way they know what it’s about before the time comes.

Well that’s about how things go here at Goodwife Farm.  Hope your kidding season goes fabulous and you have mostly doelings! 

Till next time…………GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM!

Recipe Tuesday………

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Blueberry Nutty Yogurt

  • 1/2 cup goat milk yogurt
  • 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
  • 1/4 cup grapenuts
  • 1 TBSP banana butter (or you can use 2 tsp sugar)

Heat blueberries till gently warm, top with yogurt, then add grape nuts and top with banana butter. Stir gently and enjoy.

This is soooo yummy! A sweet decadent treat and very good for you. For anybody else that’s on Weight Watchers it is 5.5 points per serving.

Recipe Tuesday……..

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Today’s recipe is Chocolate Pudding. This recipe is from Goats Produce Too (Volume II) by Mary Jane Toth
Chocolate Pudding
  • 2 cups goat milk
  • 1 egg slightly beaten
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 3 TBSP baking cocoa
  • 3 TBSP corn starch
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Combine sugar, cornstarch, and cocoa in saucepan. Gradually add goat milk and beaten egg. Cook, stirring constantly over medium heat, til thick and bubbly. Remove from heat, add butter and vanilla. Beat until creamy. Chill or serve warm.

This is so very very yummy! Since I’m on Weight Watchers, I leave the butter out. You really can’t tell the difference and it make it 4 points for 1/2 cup of pudding. It’s well worth the points for an occasional treat!

Till next time……………….GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM!

Why EVERYBODY needs a Kinder goat…………

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The reason I think everybody needs a Kinder goat is simple………rich, creamy, delicious milk! I can’t talk enough about the quality of milk that a Kinder goat gives. My doe Tulip has been dry since November, and nobody is due to kid until March. That means we’ve been “good milk” less since November and it’s sorely missed around my house. We’ve had to buy whole milk from the store and *eeek, gasp, swoon* we had to buy ice cream on our last trip to Aldi. My husband remarked that it actually tasted like it was “bad” or something! You sure do get spoiled with the good stuff! I haven’t eaten yogurt since I dried Tulip off! I tried eating the plain Dannon yogurt that I use for my starter culture to get my homemade yogurt going. I couldn’t even choke it down! It tasted so………gelatinous, for lack of a better word! Yuck, and double yuck! I wanted a glass of milk so bad last evening, so I poured myself an itty bitty glass of “store” milk. Ugh………it just didn’t even seem to have any flavor. I’m so spoiled on my rich creamy milk! I very much enjoy knowing where my food comes from and nothing brings a smile to my face faster than enjoying a cold glass of milk that was still inside a goat 2 hours ago!
Now I won’t go into all the other reasons that people need to have Kinders…………they are so lovable, smart, sassy, cute, sweet…………………….oops, there I go again! 😉
Till next time……………..GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM!