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| Madi and Lilly |
Madi Shaw is truly amazing.
She’s a homeschooling student in the seventh grade, but she has already accomplished as much, if not more than most adults.
She makes cheese, of course:
We love making mozzarella, muenster, cheddar, chevre, and farmstead. We like to add
our own herbs to some of the cheese from my brother’s garden, especially
basil. One of my favorite things is when my mom and I make the fresh
mozzarella, slice it, coat it with our own Italian breading, fry it a
bit in olive oil and then eat it! Yum! One of my favorites!
Scrump-dill-ie-ish-ous!
She also spins yarn and weaves, breeds rabbits, cans jams and jellies and raises her own herd of goats! She will soon be selling some of her products in her family’s new business:
I do have a bit of other news as well. Its very exciting and the rest of
why we’ve been so busy. My family has been looking to “grow” our
adventures into a business venture. My older sister is about to
graduate from college in the spring with an ag degree. My mom and nana
have a yarn shop that they are going to expand into a fiber mill. Our
neighbors are going to be moving (I will miss them) and we are going to
buy their place to put our business which will offer Pennsylvania
products that we will be producing! Guess what one of the items we will
be offering? CHEESE! I’m so very excited and can’t wait. So now,
I’ll really be milking out my 4-H projects won’t I?
We first met Madi (via e-mail) when she entered our 35th Anniversary Essay Contest last December. At that time, she had just begun to raise a few goats and they seemed to be her beloved pets. In the months since then, however, she has had to deal with some real challenges and now she is working very hard to maintain her herd.
I’ll just take this interview in chronological order so you can see for yourself what has transpired. It began with her essay:
Madi’s Essay
Why Did the Goat Cross the Road? To Make Cheese at My Farm.
So I wanted a way to milk out my 4H projects. I was udderly excited to start raising Nubian dairy goats. Ok – I know this all sounds very cheesy so let’s stretch our way through my real story.
I have been involved in 4H since I was five. I began as a Dauphin County Pennsylvania 4-H cloverbud and when I turned 8, I was finally able to participate as a full-fledged clover. I love all animals, but I can honestly say that, now at 12 years old, my favorite projects include my rabbits and my goats.
Before beginning my adventure in goats, my mom made me do lots of research on the different breeds. Every morning, she would arrive at her computer to yet a new research paper from me until I finally decided that my favorite breed was the Nubian. I then talked with my vet about the possibility and wouldn’t you know it, she had a client who was looking for a new home for several of her does.
The next morning, my mom, brother, and I went to go meet them. I was almost as excited as I would be on Christmas morning as we traveled to begin my new journey. When we arrived, a number of the goats were very shy, but one singled me out. We bonded instantly and then her owner told me her name. I couldn’t believe it, but my nickname is Madi and the goat’s registered name is also Maddy. She just had to be mine!
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| Clover |
Soon, I also discovered Roo. Both of them came home with me that day. Only Maddy was in milk, as Roo hadn’t been bred yet. So, we thought, how hard can it be for me to milk one little goat without a milking stand? Well, needless to say, my family spent that night building our own milking stand! We must have done a good job because three years later, we’re still using it. Thus began my milking and cheese making venture.
Over the last three years, my herd has grown a bit slowly, but that has worked for me to allow time for me to learn what to do with all the milk. I love making mozzarella cheese because we grow many of our own herbs and add that to the cheese which everyone loves. I’ve also made Muenster, cheddar, feta, and of course ricotta. My family is working really hard to start selling our products at local farmers markets. We’ve even been accepted into the PA Preferred Program which promotes local products produced by local farmers. I’d like to think that a lot of where I am today started because of my Nubian goat named Maddy who gives me lots of milk to make great cheese.
That was the situation in December, 2013. Then, in January, Madi went to the Pennsylvania Farm Show and School:
The PA Farm Show is actually
an event held at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Building. It is the
nation’s largest indoor agricultural event and it runs for a whole
week. It offers opportunities for people to exhibit all their farm
commodities, food contests, square dancing contests, educational
exhibits, livestock competitions for youth and adults, rodeos, and a
whole lot more.
During this event, I competed the first day in the rabbit show. I won best of
breed with my own line of satin angoras. The next day, I competed in
rabbit showmanship and I won first place. Later that day, I
demonstrated for Penn State’s agricultural stage about the many uses of
rabbits. In the evening, I competed in a fashion show wearing my own
designed wool poncho, hand spun & knit fingerless mitts (which
came from my rabbits), and a blouse & pants.
Sunday, Jan 5th, I sang in the talent show with my friends (our group was the
Wonderstruck 5). On Monday, I showed my market swine, then I
volunteered for 4-H in informational booths. Tuesday, I demonstrated
spinning & knitting on the rabbit stage.
Wednesday was my favorite day…. Sheep to Shawl day…. I served as a spinner on my team. My team took fleece from my family’s Leceister Longwool Sheep, washed it, processed it, dyed it, spun it into yarn, made a practice shawl, and
then the day of the event used another fleece from our sheep. We then
carded it, spun it and plied it into a 2ply yarn and our weaver wove a
shawl. We did it in 2 1/2 hours. Our shawl was then auctioned off and
we gave the money to our 4-H club Ronald McDonald House and raised over $1,400)! Wahoo! It’s a lot of work, but a lot of
fun.
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| Madi’s Sheep to Shawl team holding their finished shawl |
Thursday, I finally got to show two of my dairy goats. (We are only allowed to
show up to two per person.) They did very well. Later, on Thursday, I
helped my family bring animals to what is called an “Exceptional
Rodeo.” It is a private rodeo for kids from unfortunate situations. I
volunteered two of my goats, Aurora & Borealis, a few of my
bunnies, and my miniature horse named Journey for the event and I was
very proud to do it.
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, I participated in an equine showcase with my mini
horse Journey with 15 other girls and their mini’s. We set-up an
entire show ring with obstacles, jumps, and more where the horses show
their skills much like dog agility. I again showed my dairy goats on
Friday!
I forgot to mention that I also was awarded the Best In Show award for
4H Food & Nutrition Canned Foods for my jams & jellies.
I learned that when I saw them displayed on the hutch my brother made
for my mom. He was awarded Best in Show 4-H Engineering award for his
hutch. I’m including that picture too.
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| Madi’s brother made that amazing hutch |
Whew, I was very tired, but proud to have done all of this. We love the farm
show and being a big part of it from the opening ceremonies to the
closing, its a wonderful event filled with opportunities that I really
look forward to.
Then, at the beginning of February, she went to the PA State Rabbit Breeders
Convention:
I raise rabbits. I’ve been doing that since I was 5. I currently raise giant
angoras, English angoras, Satin angoras, and French angoras, American
fuzzy lops, and Crème D’Argents. The angoras I raise are for fiber
since I like to weave, knit, and spin. The fuzzy lops are for fun, and
the Creme’s are for showing and meat.
The state rabbit breeder’s convention is part of PA State Rabbit Breeders
Convention. It’s held every February. There are youth contests and
showing for youth & adults. In the youth contests, we must
first submit a written application (very long), compete in judging, a
breed identification contest, showmanship, a written test, and an
interview. They then announce the winners at a banquet.
They select a king & queen, duke & duchess, prince &
princess, lord & lady. Your category is based on your age. For
the last two years, I was fortunate enough to be chosen as princess,
but this year I aged up into the duchess category. Guess what? I
competed against 16 other girls & won. I was so excited, I
balled my eyes out, on stage, in front of everyone.
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| Madi is front left. |
After the convention she wrote:
I have a few dairy goats that I am expecting to kid any day now! I keep
checking, but they’re not here yet. I’m glad that they didn’t come yet
though because it has been very cold. Now we have a lot of snow and
more is coming tonight.
Feb 10th:
My goats still haven’t kidded and I’m not sure what they are waiting
for! Two of them, Precious & Clover, look like they are going to
burst! They’ve started bagging up during farm show a month ago! Maddie
(another of my goats – she came with that name if you remember from my
essay) is about to burst as well. The others aren’t quite as ready as
them.
Feb 25th:
Guess What!!!
Finally, one of my goats kidded! She had twins, one boy and one girl!
Their names are Lilly and Willy. Sadly their mom rejected them so now I
have two bottle babies that live in my own house. They are just
adorable. I’ve had to bottle feed them around the clock. At least
their mom is allowing me to milk her and she’s producing a lot of milk
which I am using to feed the “kids.”
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| Lilly and Willy |
I also had one of my angora goats kid. She had the most precious little girl and just loves her. In
fact, she didn’t lay down at all for hours because she stood there
watching the baby’s every move. When that baby nurses, the mom actually
squats a bit for the baby to reach better and she even lifts her leg
out of the way of the baby. Now, if only I could get her to teach
“Clover” how it’s supposed to be done!
I have more goats to kids and I’m not quite sure what they are waiting for. Two are showing signs of going very soon.
I was able to get pictures of the babies being born, but I’ll attach one of them all fluffed up and cute.
March 3rd:
Lilly and Willy drink about 15 oz. four times a day. All of my
other goats need to be milked twice a day, but right now they are dried up and
getting ready to kid! My one goat, Maddie, (came with the name) just
had her kid, but sadly he is very weak and can’t walk right. His front
leg tendons are loose, but should strengthen in the next few days. He
was quite large when he was born which contributed to this. I work with
him, massage his legs, make sure that he nurses- (his mommy, Maddie,
loves him). I made sure that he was given a shot of BoSe (selenium
booster for him) and he is getting better every day.
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| Spidey |
I had another angora goat finally have her baby. Her name is
Willow and she had the most precious little girl that I named Ella.
Willow has been a fantastic mommy. In fact right after Ella was born,
Willow wouldn’t take her eyes off her. She is now 4 days old and
bouncing everywhere. The best news is that I was able to put Lilly
& Willy in with Willow and Ella and they are making friends! They
are so adorable. I still give Lilly & Willy bottles 4 times a day,
but Willow is teaching them now how to be a goat. I just love Willow.
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| Ella |
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| Another view of Ella |
One other goat I have is named Whoopie Pie. Today I checked on everyone around when I fed Willy & Lilly and there were no signs of kidding. Two
hours later I went back to the barn to do another check and 15 minutes
later, Whoopie was giving birth to a beautiful little girl. I’m not
sure what I’ll name her yet, but her momma loves her too. I just will
keep checking on them to make sure that the baby nurses and stays warm.
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| Whoopie Pie and her baby, Maple |
I still have one more goat to go and her name is Precious. She
looks like she is going to pop any minute now! I feel so blessed to
have been able to see and help with all the deliveries of my goat’s
babies! What a wonderful life!
March 12th:
Right now I have sixteen goats (Four angora goats, four nubian goats, and seven kids). But the vet came last Friday and I asked her why three of my goats got lumps on their jaw-line right before kidding. She said that we would have to lance the lumps and test the fluid inside. Unfortunately, the tests just came back and I learned that they have CL (caseous lymphadenitis) and that is very contagious and not a good thing to have in your herd. We think that it came from the last goat I added to my herd. She was to be clean, but wasn’t. I have no way of knowing for sure and the blood tests to check for it, according to my vet, can actually give false readings. Of course it happened to my three best goats (Precious, Whoopie Pie, and my first dairy goat Maddie) for milking or showing.
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| Eclipse |
I had to pull all the kids and have been bottle feeding them ever since. When I cleaned the wounds from lancing on my dairy goats, I had to take every precaution as the fluid can even be contagious to humans. When we were finished with them, we had to burn all the tools and I had to isolate all three of my girls until the tests came. I was very sad when I got the news on Monday as they had to be put down.
Now I am bottle feeding all the babies as the only milking doe I have left is Clover and that is Lilly & Willy’s mom. You know her story as she rejected them the day they were born. Do you have any idea how much time is involved in bottle feeding all these babies? Well, I have to unfreeze milk, sanitize bottles, fill bottles, heat bottles, feed bottles, wash bottles, and repeat! Whew! My days are going very fast right now. The babies are worth it though and having them has made it a little easier to accept what has happened.
So far the babies are ok because I separated them from the moms as
the illness is passed through the fluid in the abscess. Since I took
all precautions, the babies should be ok. Also, as they get a little
bit older, I will be vaccinating them for it.
Also, Precious
did have twin boys! Sadly, she rejected them, goooooooooo figure!
right now they are living in my garage and they drink a bottle four to
five times a day……. Good thing they’re cute! I named them Meteor
& Eclipse.
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| Meteor, Maple and Spidey |
March 25th:
Well, all the babies are growing. Clover is still not a fan of her babies, but she is producing a lot of milk every day. Right now, I’m not using it though for my cheese making, instead, I have been using it to top off the bottles for all the babies.
They are growing, jumping, getting out of their pen, and I just love them all! In fact, they’re all staying here! I love them all too much to part with any of them. I did wether three of the boys. My best friend, Cami, who loves animals, but doesn’t have any at her house, has adopted one of them so she can show him at our 4-H fair. (she’s always wanted to do that). I’m going to show his brother. I kept the one, Spidey in tact to help rebuild my herd. I’m almost finished with the vaccinating and then I hope to add an older doe that my vet recommended from one of her clients farms.
The girls of course will stay here and I likely won’t breed them until next year unless they grow enough before fall breeding time. I like to give them enough time to properly grow before I breed them. Little Ella – the angora baby, is just beautiful. Her momma has been wonderful.
Well, time to go do the night time bottles.
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| Meteor |
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| Willy |
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| Lilly and Willy |
