Shootin’ fools and starry gazers, wizard hip and button down,
I walk the occam’s razor way through priests and circus clowns,
am I a missioner of faith or grace or vision Earth or,
another grinning prisoner in Happytown?
— Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer
I’ve found a third no-kill farm on localharvest.org! Isn’t that excellent? I love no-kill farms. This one is another of those has-gone-beyond-the-whole-”humanely-raised”-qualification and has moved on to actually not-killing-animals-at-all. (Just to be absolutely clear about this — I’m still very much in favor of farms that certify that they humanely raise their animals — I think they are worlds better than those horrible abusive factory farms. I really do. And I especially love the AWA, AHA, Humane Raised and Handled certifications — they are SO USEFUL as go-to-lists to find humane farms — much more useful than farms just stating they are humane on their websites in fine print somewhere. However, I like no-kill farms even more — I think they surpass “humanely raised” farms and I wish there were more of them out there. But seriously, there are very few of them out there and I really don’t think they’re not a competitive threat to any humanely certified farms. So if you are a humanely certified farm, know that I still admire and respect you — I don’t hate you, I swear.)
(ETA: The other no-kill farms I’ve blogged about are Black Hen Farm (Santa Cruz, California), and Fias Co Farm (Tennessee). Another one I haven’t blogged about but have been meaning to is The Farm at Mollie’s Branch (Todd, NC))
Anyway, Happytown Dairy, which is named after a song written by Dave Carter, is a no-kill goat farm in Lawrence, Kansas that sells goat cheese, goat yogurt, goat milk, and goat milk soap. It is a small farm that raises registered LaMancha dairy goats which are hand-milked twice daily. The farm follows strict sanitation practices, and the goats are cared for like members of the family, and are grass-pastured.
How no-kill is Happytown Dairy? The proprietors assure me that they work hard to find good homes for all their baby goats. They neuter the boys and sell them as pets (goats are apparently gaining popularity in the area both for use as pets and for brush control). (I think that’s really useful — actually if you drive way out to Orinda in the far east part of the San Francisco Bay Area you can actually see herds of goats grazing the sides of the highway — it’s so hilly there it’s difficult to get any sort of machine to graze the sides of the road, so they utilize goats instead. It’s very picturesque — I highly recommend it if you’re an animal nut like me whose idea of a good time is to go watch a herd of goats. Sometimes they have baby goats! It’s fun.) The proprietors of Happytown Dairy make sure they do not sell their male baby goats to people who will butcher them, and they make sure of that by following up on every adoption with visits and phone calls. They also sell the female baby goats as pets or milk goats to good homes. They only use vegetable rennet in making cheeses, so all their cheese are really vegetarian.
Unfortunately they are mandated to only be able to sell their milks/cheeses/soaps from their farm by Kansas state law, so you can’t order any of their cheese online or in markets. Which really sucks, because I would LOVE to order cheese from there. Sigh.
You’ll have to go out to the farm to buy any products, but if you do go, they sell
goat cheese (year round)
goat yogurt (year round)
raw milk (year round)
goat milk soap (winter, summer and fall) (not spring) (call for availability)
Happytown Dairy
1659 E. 800 Rd.
Lawrence, KS 66049
Contact Information
Elise Fischer
785-843-0968
(Do you know of any no-kill farms that could use some word of mouth? Drop me a line.)
Categories : cruelty free, humane farming
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Susan C.
April 6th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
It’s certainly nice to see that amount of effort put into making it a no-kill farm. Can I assume that this means that the nanny goats do not eventually get slaughtered? I couldn’t find anything addressing this point, but it would surely be a part of a “no-kill” mentality, right?
My other question is when the young are “weaned.” Do they nurse on their mothers for as long as they normally would, or are they taken away as they are with cows?
Emily
April 6th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Dear Susan,
Isn’t it nice? Happytown Dairy sounds lovely. Yes — you’re quite right — the nanny goats (that’s female goats, right?) do not eventually get slaughtered.
I’m not really sure when the baby goats are weaned at Happytown Dairy. To my (limited) understanding, baby goats don’t have to be weaned early if their mothers are only milked once a day, but sometimes people feel that bottle-fed goats are friendlier to people and so wean them early. But all I know about that I learned from Fias Co Farm’s webpage,
http://fiascofarm.com/goats/kid-care.htm
Regards,
Emily
Susan C.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Hi Emily, I’m glad they’re not slaughtered. I checked on the website you linked to, and it looks like Fias Co kids, at least, do get to nurse for a natural period of time. I like to stay well-informed about such issues.
Personally, I still believe that veganism is the way to go, because any farmed animal, no matter how well-loved, is still seen as a piece of property. I find it most respectful simply not to interfere with the lives of others unless invited by them.
However I understand your intention in this blog is to highlight alternatives to factory farming, which we can agree is abominable. I just didn’t want to misrepresent my own view.
Thanks,
Susan
Emily
April 7th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Dear Susan,
No worries. Thanks for politely explaining your ideals.
Regards,
Emily
Natasha
May 7th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I agree with Susan that veganism is the way to go. It’s totally changed my life. But if someone is going to consume animals and animals products
I’d rather they buy that crap from humane farms since factory farming is a million times worse. They should keep in mind though that karma does exist.
Emily
May 7th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
I agree completely!
Sophie
July 7th, 2008 at 10:16 am
I was wondering if you could post the other no-kill farms you found. I found one other on localharvest.org - but not a third. My partner is vegan but says he would consider eating dairy and eggs from a no-kill farm. But they are impossible to find!
Thanks!
Sophie (ethical omnivore dating a vegan!)
Sara Granovetter
July 7th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Hi Emilly,
Have you heard of Black Hen Farm? http://www.blackhenfarm.com/
These hens are all rescued and are allowed to live out their full lives. No killing!
Kudos on this blog, thanks for doing it!
Emily
July 8th, 2008 at 1:35 am
Hi Sophie!
Welcome to my blog! I would be very happy to post the other no-kill farms I found. (I’ll even go back and put them in at the end of the post so they’ll be easier for other people to find!) They are:
Happytown Dairy (Lawrence, Kansas)
Black Hen Farm (Santa Cruz, California)
Fias Co Farm (Tennessee)
The Farm at Mollie’s Branch (Todd, NC)
I hear you on no-kill farms being impossible to find — I spent hours trying to find those four. Unfortunately they are few and far between. I hope you live relatively close to one of them!
Regards,
Emily
PS — you and your boyfriend sound like a great couple! An ethical omnivore and a vegan! Very nice
Emily
July 8th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Hi Sara!
I’m so glad you like my blog! I have heard of Black Hen Farm — and I LOOOVE it! Unfortunately I’ve yet to actually drive the two hours there to buy eggs — I have been meaning to go some weekend but have yet to actually make it. When I do go, I will buy millions of eggs . . .
Regards,
Emily
Sara Granovetter
July 11th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Hey Emily,
Oh I just saw that you listed them in your blog — cool! You can get Black Hen Farm eggs at the Los Gatos and Santa Cruz farmer’s markets. The Los Gatos farmer’s market is on Sunday, and Santa Cruz on Wednesday. They recommend you e-mail and reserve ahead since the eggs are mighty popular.
Regards,
Sara
C
July 15th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
I have both chickens and goats, and I don’t kill any of them and let parents raise their young. As a person who cares for these animals on a daily basis, which many people haven’t done, I would like to mention that farm animals are dependents. There is a complex symbiotic relationship that has developed between domestic animals and humans over huge periods of time. Domestic animals barely resemble their ancestors and have evolved to act in ways that please us so we’ll care for them. It’s a huge amount of work on the caretaker’s part to treat them well and take good care of them. They don’t mind giving you some eggs and milk in return. I thank my hens when I take their eggs, and it actually makes them happy. A goat can actually die if she feels not useful! A goat keeper who taught me told me that if a goat gets mastitis, she’ll actually keep it in the herd (instead of separating it) and pretend to milk her at the scheduled time so she doesn’t get depressed and die. Strange, but true! Now, I’m talking about animals who are treated like you might treat your dog and cat, which is quite rare, so I certainly sympathize with the vegan perspective. In fact, except for these animal products from my own animals, I do follow a vegan diet.
You can read the humane standards on the Humane Farm Animal Care website. I applaud all efforts to treat animals better, but they do fall quite short of my definition of humane. It’s very educational to read them, and I encourage people to do that so you can make informed choices. It’s hard to find material that so clearly explains in detail how these animals are raised and treated.
Thanks for your great blog!
Emily
August 4th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Sorry C, I just saw your comment so I’m just now responding — I’m so glad to hear you take care of your goats and chickens well — you seem to have a real understanding of them (and I’m especially glad to hear that Humane Farm Animal Care falls short of your definition of humane!). Tell me — do you sell cheese and/or eggs? Because I think I know a few people who would like to buy your humanely-raised products.
d solomon
August 5th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Do you know the names of any humane dairy farms in NY? I know this is considered an oxymoron, but I heard a gentleman speak at the HSUS convention in DC last year how he does not send his male calves to the veal industry and pastures the dairy cows when they are past their milk production years…..I want to make a product that requires real parmagiana cheese unless you can provide me with a perfect tofu or soy substitute name….(I have tried many but no luck)….thanks.
Emily
August 6th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Dear D Solomon,
Unfortunately I don’t know of any humane dairy farms in NY offhand, but I’ll look around and get back to you
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