We have a passion for goats and after having had Angora and Boer goats for many years we converted to Saanen Dairy Goats in 2001. We started with milking 2 goats for household use and soon after we had a go at making organic goat cheese. This turned out to be very successful with family and friends so we took things a step further and established a professional cheese-making area. We have a small Saanen flock for our cheese production. Saanen are well known for their placid and affectionate personalities. We love our girls and we provide them with a happy and stress free life as much as is possible. They all have names, different personalities and are really friendly and close to us. Goats are browsers by nature and we allow them to graze over a big area with a variety of different grasses and herbal lays. Goats don`t like wet and rain so they have plenty of shelters and at night they all return home again. At all times they have access to fresh drinking water, hay and kelp and the milking does are fed some organic barley as well. Our goats are tested Johnes disease and CAE free. CAE stands for Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis and is an immuno-supressive disease caused by a retro virus which affects goats. We belong to NZDGBA (NZ Dairy Goat Breeders Association), the NZ Saanen Association and Waikato Dairy Goat Club. We only make cheeses from our own organic goat`s milk so between May and July our girls are on maternity leave and having a rest to prepare themselves for kidding in July-August.