Black Mesa Ranch
Snowflake, Arizona, USA
Artisan Cheese
Nubian Goats
Cheese and Candy Information and Online Ordering Page
Featured pages on this site
Updated!
We have revamped our Ranch Workshop Packages!
In addition to our three-day cheese making and goat management workshops learn about our free open- house days and lodging accommodations.
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Award Winning Artisan Goat Cheeses
2 Awards 2008 ADGA National Competition
4 Awards 2005 ADGA National Competition
3 Awards 2004 ADGA National Competition
(available seasonally)
2 Awards 2005 ADGA National Competition
2 Awards 2004 ADGA National Competition
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Click here to read the online version of Kathryn's booklet
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This site last updated:
February 06, 2010
© 2000-2010 Black Mesa Ranch Inc. All Rights Reserved
Endorsed by more than 36 humane organizations, the Certified Humane Raised and Handled® program is nationally recognized as the Gold Standard for certifying animal welfare.
Arizona Grown!
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Black Mesa Ranch Snowflake Arizona Projects The Goat Trailer Jan - Feb 2001 |
Once we had decided that we wanted to add goats to our operation, for milk and meat, we struggled with where we were going to put them and how we were going to house them. As we were reviewing our options we remembered an old 40' travel trailer, parked by the barn that had come with the property. We had assumed that we would eventually be trashing the thing, maybe salvaging some parts for various projects. After a day of mucking it out (the condition inside was bad beyond description) we found that it might make an OK goat house. The next problem was how to get it the 1/2 mile to the location we had chosen for the goat area. To our great surprise the tires held air and after a bit of digging out with the tractor and knocking out some support piers and cutting some utility connections we were able to hook it up to our 4WD Ford pick-up and drive off with it!
Once positioned at the animal compound, near the Chicken/Rabbit house it was just a matter of renovating it for it's new use with a milking room, washroom, feed storage room and stables, then fencing a good sized area (40'x80') for the goats. We also added a large rock pile in the pen for the goats to play on and a few big old dead tree branches for them as well.
Once done, we painted it to blend with the surroundings, goat-proofed the windows with heavy screening and ran water and electric to it for convenience. We've also installed a small demand LP gas water heater, finished the washroom and added a manual grain-grinding station to the feed room..
Here are some pictures of the process...
