“Production depends on demand,” Mrs Phillips said. 

“Most of the milk is purchased by the Arab and Muslim communities in Sydney but people with health issues ... also buy it because it has great bacteria for the gut.” 

The Phillips’ operation, Camel Milk NSW, began in early 2015 and is still the only licensed camel dairy in NSW.

The camels are milked by machine in the crush but on Wednesday, it was all about the bulls in the yards, as local vet Stewart Scott (Barn Vets) castrated four of Piercefield’s camels.

Mrs Phillips is clearly an animal lover and places a high priority on her camels’ welfare.

“We don’t just send our males to slaughter,” she said.

“Two of the younger ones, Christoff and Cocky, are off to a farm in Oberon as part of its weed control program.

“Those two are almost two years old.”

The reason for castrations is safety, a castrated camel is safer than an entire camel, much the same as steers and geldings are safer than bulls and stallions. 

The two older camels, Michael and George (geddit?), are in training as Michelle aims to start sunset rides on “Piercefield” along the Hunter River.

“I’ll have three camels ready to ride by Easter,” she said. 

When Michelle asked Michael to sit down for a photo, something she has spent a lot of time and patience to achieve, she described his leg movement as “folding up like an army knife”, which was quite entertaining to watch.

Michelle’s interest in camel milk was sparked by a TV program and, interestingly, she says camel milk has a shelf life of more than two weeks.

At this year’s Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show, Camel Milk NSW (formerly known as Muswellbrook Camel Milk) picked up a gold medal for its milk and a silver medal for its camel milk haloumi, paving the way for bigger and better things.

For details see www.camelmilknsw.com.au