Our herd-shares
What is a herd-share?
A goat herd-share is a contractual agreement in which a person may buy or "share hold" a part of a goat. In Alaska, it is illegal to buy and sell raw milk (as in unpasteurized, fresh-from-the-goat, milk). But it is not illegal to drink fresh milk from a goat that you own. Owning a share allows you to drink raw milk from a goat that is partially owned by you, and thus legal. How do we determine how many herd-shares we can accommodate? Our calculations are based on the amount of milk we are able to produce at any given time. We do our best to accommodate our members needs and need flexibility in production to do that. We also need additional supply for various things such as raw kefir, chevre, bottle babies, bar soaps, facial soaps and lotions. |
Fees and costs
A goat share is your part of the goat you own from which you receive your milk. The cost of the goat share is $25.00, which is good for 1 year. Milk is considered the husbandry fee which is $10/half gallon jar. That may seem like a lot compared to store bought cows milk that you may be used to purchasing. Store bought Goat’s milk is actually more expensive than my fee at $12 per ½ gallon at Carrs and $18 per half gallon at 3 Bears. It is also much more expensive to feed corn and soy free on a small scale. Without large commercial feed discounts I pay top dollar for the best feed and hay I can find. Not to be forgotten is the many hours of labor, blood sweat and a few tears over spilt milk. In summary, a goat share would cost $25 dollars to initially buy in. This share would yield a gallon of milk a week, so the shareholder would pay $20 for a gallon of milk, to the Goat Song Farm as the husbandry fee, and get a gallon of their own milk to take home. |