Goats

If you have spent much time following our story, you know that we are a pretty busy family. We jumped into homesteading/farming pretty suddenly and with much enthusiasm. Some of our goats even moved to the farm the same day we did! But because we want to try a little of everything, we have to make sure whatever we choose to do is manageable for our family. Superman works a full time [non-farming] job and I homeschool the kiddos, not to mention things like home renovation and extra curricular activities; so, suffice it to say there is little wiggle room in our schedule. The goal is for whatever we choose to invest our time in, be it plants or animals, be able provide something useful but in a minimal waste maximum efficiency way.

Milk is a staple around here, as are yogurt, cheese, butter, etc. We knew we wanted an animal to provide that for us, but what we weren’t aware of were the many laws regarding dairy production and sales. Since we currently do not have the time to pursue becoming a licensed dairy operation, we cannot sell our milk or any edible product made from it (except through herd share). Therefore, we could not justify a dairy cow that provides multiple gallons a day that would just be washed down the drain. Enter dairy goats!

We chose Nubians because, in addition to their super cute floppy ears, they have a high butterfat milk. This is a big deal since we want to make other food products from it. Goat milk is naturally more homogenized than cow milk, so there is much less separation of cream and milk. We wanted to maximize any potential separation, so we opted for the fattier milk. There are other benefits to goat milk as well, even for people with high cholesterol. If you get a chance to look into it, I’d definitely recommend doing so. It’s quite fascinating. Enough rambling, though! Meet our small (but growing) herd:

The Bucks

These boys, Excalibur and Lancelot, are twins that we purchased from one of Superman’s former classmates. Their crazy personalities [see photos to the left] make life on the farm a whole lot more fun.

We were told bucks are gross and smelly and that no one likes owning them. We didn’t believe them. I mean how could these 8 week old cuties really turn into something so repulsive to so many? Well 8 weeks turned into one year and boy did that come with a whole new set of traits that we were warned about, but ill-prepared for. The sweet smell of hay that filled the barn became filled with buck scent, and petting our boys became a game of run away before you get head butted or peed on. It was fun…only not so much. In addition to it being safer for the kids and smelling better in the barn, they had to move out because we knew if we were fortunate enough to have goat kids, the milk picks up a buck flavor if they are too close to the does. Thankfully, God provided us with land that gives us options, so we decided to build a mobile shelter and move the boys outside until rut season was over.

The Does

These pretty girls are Mythian and Gwenivere. (If you’re sensing a pattern, or just wondering about the odd names, they are named from the King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.) They were purchased in June/July 2022 with a third doe, Morgana, who along with Mythian were supposed to be clean tested and pregnant upon arrival at Providence Pastures. Sadly, that was not the case. There were no babies or pregnancies, and our vet recommended Morgana be culled due to an incurable arthritic illness. She was our first hard lesson on the farm, one we still reflect on a year later.

Dwelling on things you cannot control never helps anyone, and life goes on. So, we are moving forward with grateful hearts that we still have two healthy does. Getting them here was an adventure. After getting the boys, I had no worries about using our minivan to transport goats. So, I loaded up my 5 kids and headed out on an hour drive to pick up the three girls. I was in for a shock! Fully grown nubians are not that small, and let’s just say we had to get creative to get everyone home safely.

No babies means no milk, so the production we were hoping for was halted immediately. Of course, we had bucks and we had does, but the size difference between them was quite comical. Patience has never really been my thing, but God has repeatedly put things in my path to help with that, and this was one of those times. Fast forward to February and the girls’ heat cycle started back up. If you are not familiar with goats, this is not typical. Though some types of goats can breed year round, most mate in fall with babies coming in late winter or early spring. But the girls were ready and the boys were adapting to all the fun things that come with being a buck, so we figured why not give it a shot? That was the reason for getting them after all. Goat gestation is 5 months, which would put us at July kiddings (goat births). Five months doesn’t sound like a long time, until you get close and start counting the days, the hours, the minutes…hey, I’m still figuring out how to be patient.

The Kids

Eventually the day arrived, and in an instant all the waiting was worth it. Mythian gave birth to a single doeling, Rosemary. We are so in love with this sweet girl. Momma tends to be a bit on the shy side, so we worried about how she’d do with a kid. We needn’t have done that. She is an amazing mother, always cleaning, feeding, and caring for her little mini-me.

If you are reading this and anticipating goats of your own, let me say this: God knew what He was doing when He created everything, and the instincts He gave animals in the beginning are still at work today. Of course, there are times when intervention is necessary, but thankfully those times are not the norm. Get to know your animals and they will communicate to you in their own way. You will know when it’s time or if something is wrong. Be observant. Mythian was not letting Rosie nurse on the right side from the day she was born and on. We tried to encourage her, but there was no interest from either of them to make it work, so we intervened as a “second kid” to milk her and prevent mastitis. Build a trusting relationship and only intervene if you have to. Of course I say this and was forced to practice it immediately, as Gwenivere was bred only a day later than Mythian and showed no signs of kidding.

There is a window of time (145-155 days) when it is considered normal for goats to kid. Gwen started developing her udder months before the due date range, so we figured she’d be ready to pop early. When Mythian—who you could barely tell was pregnant—gave birth first, we panicked a little. Then the days started passing one by one with no labor signs. She’d lay down and pant then go back out to graze or eat hay. She pawed for days, but there was no bagging up or contractions and she certainly didn’t stop eating. Had we gotten the dates wrong?! No, I checked the calendar over and over. Kids should be coming any second!

Goats have a reputation, you know. They like to give birth at the most inconvenient of times: at night, when you run to the store for 5 minutes after hours of watching her, basically any time you aren’t expecting it. So I got in the habit of telling Gwen when I was leaving, hoping to come back to babies (yes, I know I’m crazy). Day 155 came…the last day of the normal range, the last day before I’d have to call the vet for intervention. She was still stuffing her face and panting on a regular cycle. But it was different. She would not get up when we came to sit by her anymore. The moment I felt as if she had tried to avoid had finally come. My sweet, hay loving, procrastinator of a goat was finally in labor! All the kids were there, Superman was able to be there, and even the neighbor girl got to witness the miracle of life as Gwennie [FINALLY] gave birth to twins!

Another doeling, followed by a buckling. They look just like their daddy! Everyone is healthy and we could not be more joyous about our very first kidding season here on the farm. Because there aren’t many female characters from the Middle Ages, we had to move on from King Arthur names. I named these two Buttercup and Wesley, from another literary classic that many of you will recognize from its cinematic counterpart, The Princess Bride. However, I have children who are opinionated and they are now known as Pickle and Jeff. If you’re wondering about Rosemary’s name, Speedy picked it from a Redwall novel, a children’s series by Brian Jacques.

Superman is ready for more goats, but with babies around again, and a strong desire to avoid more deceit and heartache from sellers, I think we’ll take this time to enjoy these beautiful kids we’ve got as well as their awesome parents. Stay tuned for our adventures with goat cheese, goat butter, and Speedy’s goat soap making!