Hay Dairies, located at Lim Chu Kang Lane 4, is today one of the most iconic farms standing in Singapore. With over a million visitors since its establishment, it is one of the most successful farms in Singapore to date!
But, what makes it so special you may ask?
The answer is actually very simple. Goats! Since 1988, Hay Dairies has been the one and only goat farm in Singapore which not only produces fresh and pure goat milk locally, but the only place in Singapore where you can come face to face with a goat. Like seriously…
On this few hectares of land, you can not only find over a 1000 goats for your viewing, you get to enjoy the delicious goat milk as well! (Well, that is unless you hate the goaty smell that greets you once you step into this piece of land)
Hay Dairies
STARTERS
GIVING BIRTH
The goats at Hay Dairies belong to the family of goats known as Dairy Goats, which are domesticated and kept for milk production. They are generally not sold for consumption. Some of the common dairy goat breeds that can be found in the world are Alpine, Nubian, Saanen and Toggenburg, all of which have been imported from Minnesota, United States in the past. However, over many years, the goats at Hay Dairies have cross bred and today are not pure breeds at all.
Goats in Hay Dairies can breed when they reach eight months old. Each doe normally gives birth to two kids (1 male and 1 female) after a five-month pregnancy. At birth, the babies are removed, cleaned and fed with their mother’s enriched milk within the first two hours of birth. From then, they are hand and bottle-fed for up to three months. De-horning, a fast and almost painless process where the goat’s horns are removed, takes place within 10 days of birth. At one month old, they are separated by gender into different pens.
In 1920, Mr Hay Yak Tang came to Singapore at the age of 16 as a teacher. Finding little interest in his profession, Mr Hay became a clerk for a hatchery instead and later started his own hatchery.
Subsequently, he bought a 16-acre plantation in Punggol and started Yak Seng Hay Farm to rear ducks, chickens and pigs. From there, he bred his own chickens as layers as well as sold chickens from his own farm.
By the 1970s, he decided to switch to pig farming. Breeders were imported from the US and as the business subsequently expanded, eight of his eleven sons were helping out in the day-to-day farm operations. In the next 10 years, Hay’s farm held 20,000 pigs, had over 30 workers and became one of the biggest pork suppliers to the local Singapore market.
In the early 80s, pig farming was phased out in Singapore and with help from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority-AVA (formerly known as the Primary Production Department-PPD), Hay Dairies developed goat farming as an alternative livelihood. AVA gave the Hay family contacts in the US and with our first batch import of Alpine, Nubian, Toggenburg and Saanen goats, the Hay family officially started goat farming on 22 December 1988.
HISTORY
GOATS
In Hay Dairies, goats’ milk is obtained from goats during daily milking sessions held between 9am-10.30am.
Goats’ milk is an ideal alternative to human milk and is suitable for people with lactose intolerance and those who are allergic to cow milk. It is also known to be more easily digestible compared to cow milk and has the unique property of treating asthma, leukimia and even stomach ulcers.
MILK
FUN FACTS
Goats communicate to each other through bleating (meh…meh…)
The meat of a goat is called chevon, unlike the meat of lamb which is called mutton
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Goats only have a bottom set of teeth. In place of the upper teeth, they only have a dental pad
The horizontal slits of a goat’s eye give them a 340 degrees vision without moving
