What is a herdshare?
A herdshare is an agreement between you and your farmer. You buy a share in the herd and pay the farmer for services. If you wish to consume raw milk and/or dairy products, you must first buy a share of the farmer's herd and sign a contract. Once you have bought into the herd, you can now legally obtain raw milk and dairy products from your farmer. Everytime you want to collect your allotment (1/2 gallon, 1 gallon, etc) you will reimburse the farmer for boarding, feeding, and milking, bottling, and caring for your part of the herd.
Could we meet elsewhere besides the pickup location?
Due to the demand we have received we are asking that everyone try their best to be at the designated pick up location between the time frame discussed. We have multiple locations for pickup throughout the valley and if you missed the time at one location, and contacted Amber or Michael beforehand, you may be elgible to meet them at another pickup location or schedule a seperate time.
What do your animals eat?
Our cows and poultry are free range, they are never confined to small areas or enclosures. They consume a diet of fresh grass, hay, occasional grain at milking, and the poultry eat bugs. The bees pollinate and collect nectar within a 2 mile radius in Los Fresnos, Tx.
What if we want to skip a month in our HerdShare?
You are welcome to skip a month in your Herdshare but we must receive advance notice. There are no refunds for milk not picked up or meetings missed if advance notice was not received.
What is the process of milking?
First we get the cows into the milking parlor by tempting them with whole oat berries, once in the stanchion we give them a few scoops of whole oats so they will eat and stay still as we prepare them for milking. We then place an anti-kick bar around their hips so they wont kick us in the face again, following that we clean the teats and milk bag with a teat dip of iodine, let it sit for 30-45 seconds, then we strip each teat, to check the quality, and texture of the milk to make sure it's suitable and free of mastitis. Then we wipe everything clean with a dry rag and apply the milking machine. Once we have the machine on it takes about 20 minutes per cow to milk, all the while they are enjoying their oats, before finally we turn off the machine, release the suction, apply a dynamint calendula cream that helps seal the teat ends to prevent bacteria from entering and soothes and moisturizes the skin. Then we undo the anti-kick bar, release the cow, and let them back into the pasture to roam until the next days milking session.