Do you sell raw milk products?

As a licensed facility in BC, we are not permitted to sell or give away raw milk or products. This includes milk that is for pet consumption.

Our milk is gently pasteurized using a low and slow method that ensures that harmful bacteria and potential viruses in the milk are neutralized and that the milk is safe for human consumption. Using this method ensures that the milk is not damaged in the pasteurization process - this preserves the natural taste of the milk. Pasteurizing goat milk at a high temperature (similar to the method used with cow milk) damages the milk and affects the taste, giving it an after-taste which some people object to.

Our milk is not homogenized, so the cream does rise to the surface.

Questions regarding consistency or taste of natural yogurt:

Yogurt made from goat milk is naturally not as thick as yogurt made from other types of milk due to the difference in the fat cells and percentage. The fat cells in goat milk are 1/5 the size of cow's milk, which means they tend to not "hang together" in the same way. The fat content of goat's milk is often lower than cow's milk as well. The size of the fat cells is one reason why goat milk is more digestible for humans than cow's milk.

The "set" in natural yogurt is fragile. Product that has been shaken or vigorously jostled in transport can have a broken "set" which causes the yogurt to be more liquid. Other producers use additives to protect against this. We do not. This does not change the consumability of the product, only the consistency. We still think natural is better.

The thickness of our yogurt varies throughout the year because the goat's activity level varies throughout the year. Our goats have free range access to pasture anytime they want - day, night, sun, rain, snow. They tend to dislike rain and snow very much so spend a lot of time lazing around the barn in the winter which produces a thicker yogurt. In the summer it is more pourable. We do not add thickeners or fillers to balance this out. Our product is 100% natural all year round.

Natural yogurt can have a tart or sour taste. Goat's milk does have different lactose (natural milk sugars) than cow's milk. We do not add sugar to our unflavoured yogurt, and add only a small amount of organic sugarcane to our flavoured yogurts. Some commercial manufacturers add starches and sweeteners to cover the natural taste of yogurt that comes from the probiotic bacterial culture used. This also allows them to get a thicker product in a shorter amount of time - but these shortcuts are also reflected in the probiotic count. We think natural is better, so Goat's Pride yogurt is incubated for a full 12 hours giving you the most probiotics possible.

When the yogurt has been sitting, it is normal for small amounts of milk solids to come to the surface. These can be stirred back into the product.

I’ve had goat milk before and it had an aftertaste. What makes yours different?

There are lots of things that affect the taste of goat milk. We try our best to ensure we are giving you the best tasting goat milk possible.

1. Breed - did you know that LaMancha’s have the best tasting milk? (Those are the breed of goats that look like they have no ears!) Nubian milk is also fantastic.

2. Diet - Our goats are never locked in the barn. They have free range access to their pasture 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. In addition to blackberry bushes and cedar trees they love to chew on in the fields, they are also fed organic bread, vegetables, fruit, hay, brewer’s grain, sunflower seeds, flax, and vitamin and mineral supplements. This varied diet helps them to stay healthy and happy and produce great tasting milk.

3. Machine milking - milking by machine ensures that the natural oils from the skin on the goat’s udder is not going into the milk. These oils account for the slightly “furry” taste of hand milked goat milk!

4. Pasteurization method - goat milk is sensitive to heat. We pasteurize using a vat pasteurization method, at a low temperature for a longer period of time. This process takes longer, but we think it’s worth it to provide a better quality product.

Do the goats like to be milked?

Twice a day our ladies get excited to take their turn in the milking parlour, pushing each other out of the way to get in faster! In the milking parlour, they stand in stalls where they get treats like sunflower seeds while we sanitize their udders and place the gentle suction on their udders that takes the milk from them to the holding tank. Goat’s produce about 1/2 - 1 litre of milk per milking so they are only in the milking parlour for about 10-15 minutes before they are sent back out to play.

What happens to the goats who can’t be milked anymore

No animals are ever slaughtered on our farm for meat.  We also do not slaughter animals for the reason of no longer producing milk.  We do not believe in the taking of life for no reason, and have chosen to take extraordinary measures to preserve life when it is within our capability to make those choices.  For instance choosing to have a vet perform a c-section on a doe who might otherwise have died in labour along with her kids.  The majority of our female goats live out their full natural lives on our farm.

What happens to the male babies?

We do not keep most of our male baby goats.  Male goats tend to be very resourceful in finding a way to breed female goats when they aren't supposed to.  They can breed an entire pen full of females in 15 minutes.  At the sight or smell of female goats in heat, they will break fences, traverse distances and generally make themselves a grand nuisance to a carefully planned out breeding plan.  In addition, the male goats born on the farm are related to the herd, and would cause interbreeding difficulties if they were allowed to grow up on the farm.  Goats do not care if they breed their grandmother, mother or their sister but allowing this would cause genetic issues. We keep detailed records of the relationships between our herd to ensure that a male goat does not breed his daughter, but this becomes very complicated with males that are born on the farm as all of our babies would have one of 3 fathers!  For these reasons it is just not possible for us to keep all the baby boys. 

We do sell to private buyers who mostly want them for pets, as breeding bucks, 4H project animals or as weed control (Goat's love to eat blackberry bushes and other bush habit plants so are especially useful for that purpose!) Other farms have much more room to raise male goats than what we have on our small family farm.