howdy!

Welcome to my favorite part of homesteading, the animals! Since we are trying to follow a Salatin model, we have chosen to adopt a permaculture style of farming. That means we won’t be sticking to one kind of animal or crop. Instead, we will do multiple types of each and we will rotate them as needed in order to maximize the benefits to both.

Since we didn’t move until June and we have no real farming experience, we did not cave in to my every inclination to buy all the cute animals I saw. Instead, we chose to start with a few dairy goats (since they are easier to handle than cows in both size and milk production) that we would ideally breed at some point to grow our herd and have a supply of milk.

So, without further ado, meet the herd!

These handsome boys are Lancelot and Excalibur, otherwise lovingly referred to as “the boys”. They are twin Nubian bucklings that we brought home on our very first day at the farm. No, this is not a joke…after spending days packing, loading and unloading trucks, crying our eyes out, and sweating profusely (since our new Amish home lacked central air), the very first day on the farm was spent bringing these sweet souls home. I’m sure that wasn’t the smartest move we’ve ever made, but it sure did make the days ahead seem a lot brighter.

These beauties are Gwenivere, Morgana, and Mythian. “The girls” joined us nearly 3 weeks in. Getting them here was nothing short of an adventure. When we picked up the boys, they fit comfortably in our laps like small puppies. The girls we purchased as one and two year olds. Of course, our limited experience did not prepare us for the size difference we were about to encounter. If you have ever seen a full-sized Nubian, you’ll know how funny this is. They’re about 130 pounds and stand waist high. Superman says it’s the equivalent of going from little leagues (the boys) to the majors. I should mention that I took all 5 kids with me in our minivan to pick up all three goats. [I can laugh now that it’s over] I’ll let you visualize how that went. It was rather comical.

Unfortunately, we were misled to think they were clean tested and that two of the three were expecting. This was our very first hard lesson learned on the farm. None ended up being pregnant, and Morgana tested positive for CAE, an incurable arthritic disease, which led to the vet recommending we cull her. That is not an experience we ever want to repeat. But, we are making due with two healthy does, and trying to take it all in stride.