Frequently Asked Questions

What is a herd share, and why do I need to join one? Can't you just sell me some raw milk?

No, I can't! In the state of Colorado, sale of raw milk to the general public is illegal. However, according to C.R.S. § 25-5.5-117, you ARE allowed to get raw milk via a herd share.

A herd share is, according to statute: "an undivided interest in a cow... herd of cows... created by a written contractual relationship between a consumer and a farmer that includes a legal bill of sale to the consumer for an interest in the... dairy herd and a boarding contract under which the consumer boards the... dairy herd in which the consumer has an interest with the farmer for care and milking, and under which the consumer is entitled to receive a share of milk from the... dairy herd." In layman's terms, you buy into a herd of cows (becoming a partial owner), which entitles you to get raw milk from your part.

However, I can sell you raw milk for your pets outside of any herd share agreement, but per Colorado's public health department, I would need to add a blue food dye to it. Any old blue food dye, like what you can get at the store. The raw pet milk is only available for on-farm pickup (in Mack, CO).

How much milk is in a share? Is it whole milk?

One share is one gallon a week for a month. So, a half share would be a half gallon a week for a month, and so on from there. I don't do quarter shares since I bottle into half gallon jars.

And yes, it's whole milk. I won't ladle your cream off and leave you with the skim milk. We also do not homogenize the milk.

What are your prices?

The fee everyone pays:

Location determinant fees:

What are the delivery locations? When can I come pick up milk?

I'm not going to just post addresses openly on the website for anything but the farm, but I'll give you the nearest cross streets!

Western Slope (delivered every Thursday):

Front Range and I-70 (delivered every Tuesday, and also Friday for Frisco and Littleton):

How does picking up milk work?

Go pickup your shares whenever your chosen delivery spot is open! Just grab the jars from the fridge and leave your rinsed jars and lids from last week behind. The jars have a number on them, which is the day the milk came from the cow, but that's about it. 

How does billing work?

All invoices are sent to your email from Quickbooks, the accounting and payment processor I use. You can pay them with e-Check, Credit (including Apple Pay), Debit, etc.

I bill in advance, so payment for the month is due on the 1st of that month. These monthly invoices are sent out seven days in advance so there is ample time to pay them. I also send out a late payment reminder at three days past due. If the monthly invoice is not paid within 10 days, I buy you out of the herd share and return your bill of sale less the unpaid boarding fees for however many days you're late on payment. This is all in the boarding contract, of course.

As an example, the invoice for the month of November would be sent out on October 25th and due on November 1st. Should it remain unpaid, the late payment reminder will be sent on November 4th.

Will I need to sign anything?

Yep! Per Colorado statute, you will need to fill out a bill of sale and a boarding contract after you have paid the invoices. I send these out via Docusign so you can just sign from your computer or phone.

What happens if I go on vacation or can't pick up my milk? What if you guys don't deliver the milk on the scheduled delivery day? What are the delivery days, anyway?

I don't offer any holds or refunds for any absences/missed pickups shorter than three weeks. The reasoning behind this is twofold; one is that it creates an undue burden on me to keep track of everyone's one or two week vacations and create refunds for those, and two is that even if a shareholder is away for a week, their interest in the herd remains the same and the herd still needs to eat. Even if I went on vacation, someone would still need to feed the cows. Since shareholders own an interest in the herd, it's much the same.

However, if you miss a pick up, and you tell us BEFORE we deliver the new week's milk and there is space in the fridge, you may pick up your older milk with the new week's milk. We will label your old milk for you with your name on it. Otherwise, we take the milk back and feed it to our calves. 

As for the scheduled delivery days, it's true, sometimes we deliver a day early or a day late if the weather on the actual delivery day is too dangerous, or the freeway closes, stuff like that. In the case of an altered delivery, we inform shareholders as soon as the decision is made. Further, if the delivery must be made early, we will leave the previous week's leftover milk with a label on each jar indicating such.

For reference, the Frisco/Denver delivery day is Tuesday, with an extra delivery day for Frisco and Littleton on Friday, and the western slope delivery day is Thursday.

How long does raw milk stay good for?

Unopened, I'm not sure! The oldest one I tried was 21 days old and it tasted just fine, so at least that long.

Once you open and start drinking it, you've got about 14 days before it'll start to get a little more sour every day until it's too sour to want to drink, at around day 18 to day 21. The colder you keep the milk, the longer it'll last. Not drinking directly from the jar lenghtens shelf life, too.

What kind of cows do you have?

All sorts! Jerseys, Holsteins, a Holstein/Highland Cross, a Dutch Belted, a Jersey/Angus Cross, etc. I like all breeds of dairy cow. I want to find a Brown Swiss, Guernsey, and Ayrshire someday as well!

Who is your favorite cow?

That would be telling 😉