how to keep goats/milk organic?

[mymaybaby05]

Curious, What do I need to do to keep my goats and their milk "organic". I know I need to make sure their diet is all natural, but what are some other things I should or shouldn't do? Thanks!

[homebirtha]

The term organic is copyrighted and you can only use it once you have gone through the certification process, I believe with your state ag dept or the USDA. I don't know all the details, but your land has to be untreated for at least 3 years (with documentation) and you have to document a ton of stuff. You also have to feed only certified organic feed and hay, etc. I believe there is a list of certain meds you can use and when you're allowed to use them, but it's limited. I'm not sure what they allow for wormers?

In short, it's a huge pain and very very expensive. Why do you want to be organic? Do you have a large customer base who demand it? Would they settle for "all natural" instead? It would be a lot less expensive then getting the organic stamp.

[natybear]

Something really popular in Oregon is certified cruelty free. These animals are cerified raised in open clean and safe facilities without over crowding and although I'm not sure of all the details - they are limited by the number of animals that can be on an acre. Certifying organic is really expensive and doesn't really mean much anymore - Tyson foods sells orgaincs - when that happens you know its lost its luster.

[SherrieC]

To keep your milk "Organic" Try to let the goats have constant access to sunlight and pasture, by hay from those who don't spray the hay fields. Mix your own grains, I feed oats 4prt, 2prtscorn, black oil sunflower seeds(BOSS) 1 prt. If I could I would buy those organic! Only worm your milkers when Neccesary Ie, test the poo for an overload of worms, you'ld need a microscope and to know how many worm eggs is too many per sample. Generally Mine get wormed after kidding that day, and 10 day's later, then again prebreeding in the fall. However mine roam over a large area, and we have hard winter kills of worm eggs. Don't use antibiodics, and if you Must because someone is truly ill then that milk is for dumping! Wash those teats and udders before milking! : )
we are Certified Naturally Grown.
www.bryrpatch.com

[homebirtha]

Hey Sherrie,
Who regulates "Certified Naturally Grown"? How difficult is it to get? Just curious, because organic it out of the question for us.

Originally Posted by SherrieC

we are Certified Naturally Grown.
www.bryrpatch.com

[SherrieC]

Read carefully as some of the policies are stricter then the organic policies, you have to be inspected each year, no biggie this year a long time customer did the inspection, you just need to find someone willing to do the walk around and ask all the questions. I think you need a different person each year and you are not allowed to inspect each others farms on the same years.

http://www.naturallygrown.org/