The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[RedRidge]

Raw milk cheeses are only legal if they are classified as a hard cheese, are aged more than 60, and of course if you have a license.
For raw milk here we use cow (A2/A2 only) and sheep... not fond of goats or goat's milk, but to each his own.
Sheep's milk is actually our preference, but I no longer own a commercial sheep dairy and cheese processing facility, so I just milk a few for our own use (which is a LOT less stress than 150 I used to milk twice a day

). Although I do miss it sometimes.

 

[RedRidge]

I couldn't resist sharing this pic... the pups are 5 weeks old now and are dividing their time between the sheep and chickens since certain ones will be guarding different types of livestock.
This little girl is likely the one going to TX where she will be guarding sheep on a ranch there... with all brothers she has had to be a go getter, she's going to make an awesome guardian and already loves her sheepies.

 

[Sally8]

I couldn't resist sharing this pic... the pups are 5 weeks old now and are dividing their time between the sheep and chickens since certain ones will be guarding different types of livestock. This little girl is likely the one going to TX where she will be guarding sheep on a ranch there... with all brothers she has had to be a go getter, she's going to make an awesome guardian and already loves her sheepies.

That is a very cute pic! Thanks for sharing.

 

[armorfirelady]

For raw milk here we use cow (A2/A2 only) and sheep... not fond of goats or goat's milk, but to each his own.
Sheep's milk is actually our preference, but I no longer own a commercial sheep dairy and cheese processing facility, so I just milk a few for our own use (which is a LOT less stress than 150 I used to milk twice a day

). Although I do miss it sometimes.

What do you mean by A2/A2? I have seen you mention it before.........

I couldn't resist sharing this pic... the pups are 5 weeks old now and are dividing their time between the sheep and chickens since certain ones will be guarding different types of livestock.
This little girl is likely the one going to TX where she will be guarding sheep on a ranch there... with all brothers she has had to be a go getter, she's going to make an awesome guardian and already loves her sheepies.

She is such a cutie

 

[Leahs Mom]

I've been considering an A2 A2 family cow for way too long! In short, it is the type of Beta Casein that the cow produces. There is some research that indicates that milk with A1 Beta Casein can cause or contribute to several diseases. Much (really most) of the milk sold in the US contains the A1 Beta Casein.

That's a VERY SHORT answer. There are whole volumes you can read and LOTS of controversy that is very much seated in financial loss if this research is ever embraced in a wide-spread manner.

 

[RedRidge]

What do you mean by A2/A2? I have seen you mention it before.........

Most milk in the US comes from Holsteins... most Holsteins (if not all) produce milk which is genetically classified as A1/A1.
This "pair" of genes determines the type of protein found in the milk.
So, dairy animals can be A1/A1, A2/A1, or A2/A2.
There is research that has determined that many dairy allergies and potentially many health problems from ADD to autism have been caused by the wrong kind of protein in milk. It is believe by some that this was the result of a mutation years ago and affects the proteins in dairy cattle world wide.

There is a good read called "The Devil in the Milk" which explains all of this in great detail.
It has become commonplace to test dairy cattle now to determine their classification.
The breed of dairy animal with the highest percentage of homozygous A2 (A2/A2) is Guernsey at close to 90%, jersey is about 60% I believe, Holsteins it is rare.
I am not certain what the percentage is in dexters, but do know that many dexter owners now test.
It is required that dexter bulls be genotyped to be registered anyway, so many folks during this same test will test for other factors such as polled, chondro, and/or color, in addition to A2 status. The homozygous A2 animals are in high demand right now and bring a premium.

Basic genetics is in play here... it's not a complicated punit square like color can be.... it's simply 2 pairs.
For instance an A2/A2 cow, bred to an A2/A1 bull will produce A2/A2 offspring 50% of the time and A2/A1 offspring the other 50% of the time.

So... rather a long answer to your question, but... all sheep are A2/A2... and all of my cows are A2/A2.
I do have one bull I use who is heterozygous A2 (A2/A1)... he is a great bull and wonderful in every other way.
When he has offspring that are heterozygous A2 I simply sell them to someone who isn't planning on milking and only uses their cattle for beef.

Here's a link for an overview for those who are curious and want more information...
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/07/09/the-devil-in-the-milk.aspx

 

[Leahs Mom]

Here's a link on the A2 issue if anyone is interested in getting an overview:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/07/09/The-Devil-in-the-Milk.aspx

 

[Leahs Mom]

HA Ha...we both posted the same link at the same time!

 

[aoxa]

AFL - the only reason I locked them in the pen was because of the 4 week olds. Otherwise I wouldn't have locked anyone in. The elders are capable on their own the but the little guys are too little and otherwise they'd have to be locked into a very small area of the coop w/mom.

Goats Milk - 4h is a really good start - good advide Del!. In our state they can sell it outright if they it is labeled "for pet consumption". What someone does with it after they leave the property isn't in the hands of the people that bought it. A whole lot of folks just sell it by word of mouth, however, from friend to friend.


Yay!!!! Goat Cheese, Aoxa!!!

And now you have whey for the chickens!!!!

How do I give the whey to them? Just in a large dish? Mix it in the feed?

Susan tossed it while I was outside doing chores without thinking. I was not happy :|

Raw milk cheeses are only legal if they are classified as a hard cheese, are aged more than 60, and of course if you have a license.
For raw milk here we use cow (A2/A2 only) and sheep... not fond of goats or goat's milk, but to each his own.
Sheep's milk is actually our preference, but I no longer own a commercial sheep dairy and cheese processing facility, so I just milk a few for our own use (which is a LOT less stress than 150 I used to milk twice a day

). Although I do miss it sometimes.

To be honest, I can't tell a difference in taste between raw goats milk and homogenized cows milk. Other than it just tastes fresher.. How else do I explain that?

I want to make butter. Next up is cream cheese

 

[RedRidge]

Quote:
Raw milk of any kind is better than anything homogenized or pasteurized.

Butter is easy, I do mine in 1/2 gal wide mouth canning jars... I like to add a little MM culture, let sit for about 24 hrs at room temp, them just toss it in the food processor for 2-4 minutes and ta-da... butter and buttermilk.
Make sure to pat and rinse the butter well while running it under cold, cold water... the more buttermilk you get out the longer the butter will last.
I make all of my butter in the spring and freeze it for the entire year in 1/2 lb balls.
Save your buttermilk, it is SO good for biscuits and pancakes!