The Dutch White Milk Goat

The goats on our farm are Dutch white goats. This breed was created around 1900 from a cross between the Dutch Goat and the Saanen Goat. The purpose of this crossbreed was to “develop” a goat that could achieve high milk production for a longer period of time. The goats give an average of 3 liters of milk per day. This ensures an average production of 1100 kg of milk per goat per year.

The goats are milked twice a day.

The goats are farmed organically.

At the Dutch white goats

Breeding

Milk check
The milk is tested at the farm every 6 weeks. During this so-called ‘milk check’, it is registered for every goat how many kg’s of milk she produces for two rounds of milking. A test-tube of milk is also taken. This sample provides us with the amounts of protein and fat the milk of each individual goat contains. On the basis of this information, we determine which goats we want to use for our breeding program.

Selection
By means of the data coming from the milk control,Goatgoats are selected that will mate with the billy goat. Whilst all goats have lambs at least once, the goats with high levels of protein and those which produce a lot of milk will have lambs for the second (sometimes third and occasionally fourth) time. Every year, the lambs of the best goats are kept on the farm, so that quality of the milk produced by the herd remains high.

The billy goats are carefully selected and purchased from other goat farmers who specialize in breeding. The billy goats must have demonstrably produced daughters who give as much milk as possible with the highest possible levels of protein.