About us.

The farm.

We’re located in beautiful midcoast Waldoboro, Maine.

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The farmers.

Christelle & Jon Mckee are the hardworking farmers behind Copper Tail Farm.

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AWA certified.

We’re proud to be an Animal Welfare Approved goat dairy.

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The goats.

Meet the members of our herd of 75+ Nubian and Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats!

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The farm.

Welcome to Copper Tail Farm, in Waldoboro, Maine! Copper Tail Farm is the only Animal Welfare Approved Goat Dairy in the state of Maine. We raise a herd of 75 Nubian, Nigerian Dwarf, and mini-Nubian Dairy Goats. We specialize in farmstead cheese, yogurt, kefir, cajeta (goat milk caramel sauce), goat milk caramels, and goat milk soap.

Copper Tail Farm is owned by Christelle & Jon Mckee. After farming for a year in Oregon, Jon & Christelle moved cross country in the summer of 2014 with 8 goats, 28 chickens, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and a chameleon. They leased a farm site unseen for one year, and that's where Copper Tail Farm was born.

The couple purchased their current farm in 2015, and have slowly built up the farm to its current state. The farm is 23 acres, 20 of which are fenced for the goats. It also includes a barn, milking parlor, greenhouse, Farm Store, and on-site creamery.

The farm hosts several On Farm events each year, and is a member of the Midcoast Cheese Trail and Maine Cheese Guild.

Meet your farmers.

Christelle is crafty by nature, and can be found running around doing one of many hobbies. She loves to knit, cook, garden, brew beer, preserve food, make soap, hike, and hang out with the goats. She started Moon Root Soaps in 2009. (The farm changed it's name in the summer of 2014). After 6 years of teaching first grade, she is teaching Middle School French in Maine.

Jon wears many hats on the farm, including vet, builder, fence putter upper, fence repairer, lumberjack, etc. He plans to raise pigs and to offer slaughtering/butchering workshops in the future. He enjoys ripping around the farm on his four wheeler, falling trees and cutting wood, ice fishing, the snow, and disc golf.

Animal Welfare Approval certification.

We are proud that our farm has been Animal Welfare Approved Certified since 2016. Goat health and happiness are priorities of ours, and we are honored to have met all the strict qualifications for this recognition and label. From their website:

Animal Welfare Approved (AWA) is a food label for meat and dairy products that come from farm animals raised to the highest animal welfare and environmental standards. The program was founded in 2006 as a market-based solution to the growing consumer demand for meat, eggs and dairy products from animals treated with high welfare and managed with the environment in mind. As a program accredited to ISO guideline 17065, you can trust in the AWA label while making food choices when you can’t visit the farm yourself. You can learn more abut the AWA standards here:

Find out more at http://animalwelfareapproved.org.

How do our practices differ from other farms?
Our goats are spoiled and their health is at the center of almost all decisions made at the farm. They get their barn cleaned three times a week, have access to 23 acres of pasture, and eat organic grain and local 2nd cut hay. Unlike many other dairies, we do not separate kids from their mamas at birth. They stay with their mom until 8-12 weeks of age, minimum. This means less milk and more work for us, but we believe it is better for the goats.

Meet the goats!

Goat health and happiness are at the center of all decisions made at the farm. The goats have 20 acres of browse to forage, and are free to come to and from the barn as they please. They are protected by two Great Pyrenees Livestock Guardian dogs 24/7. They eat organic grain, local 2nd cut hay, and love getting kelp snacks. Unlike many other goat dairies, the babies aren’t separated from their moms at birth, and they stay with their moms until they are 8-12 weeks old, minimum. This means less milk and more work for the farmers, but it’s better for the goats. Largely in part due to our Sponsor a Goat Program, retired milkers get to stay at the farm until the end of their days, surrounded by their sisters, daughters, and granddaughters.