I named the blog post with (Plural) because a very long time ago when we were a young couple with small kids we rented a small house on my dad’s hobby farm. My father is notoriously difficult to buy presents for and while living there I told him if he didn’t tell me what he wanted for Father’s Day I was buying him a goat. This was a spur of the moment joke but then it took legs and long story short ended up with Lee and I driving to an animal auction in Delaware and buying a male baby goat for $25 which was $15 dollars cheaper than the females. I have never seen my Dad laugh as hard as he did when we presented him with that goat but then the goat became my problem.
Knowing nothing about goats we ended up chaining it to a large dog house which we moved from weed patch to weed patch. The goat also ended up getting big enough that he could drag the dog house. Yes I know not great but I was pretty young. The goat ultimately thrived and developed enough affection for me that it started attacking Lee when he got near it. Thankfully Dad knew some people with horse farms and after 1-1/2 years the goat went to hang out with some horses. So my experience with Rambo (my 12 year old brother at the time named it) was a mixed bag and honestly I never thought about getting a goat after that.
When we bought the small farm though I wanted a purposeful animal that I could raise. I absolutely love goats milk lotion and the thought of making my own sounded fantastic. Plus, female goats are somewhat easier to manage, and the Norwegian Dwarfs are pretty small. So, with minimal information I started looking for goats, but they were often $400 for a pair. You can’t just get one because they are herd animals and the females are still almost double the cost of the males. Craiglist is absolutely a great place to search for goats but not only did I need two I didn’t have a clue how to transport them. I thought maybe when we got closer to the winter the prices might go down and as you can see from the previous post I have been very focused on the chickens. I did however clear out the stall the former owners used for alpacas, just in case.
I also got this idea that I wanted to try and make my own hay and after a ton of research we got a lawn sweeper from my dad and gather up some clippings. The deal is that as long as it is not chemically treated it can be used but since it wasn’t specifically planted for the goats with alfalfa it’s definitely not their favorite. Long story short gathering hay is a lot of work unless you have tons of expensive equipment, and the goats don’t like it much. For $8 a bale I will just buy it from a neighbor farmer so that’s what I am going to do in the future. Still glad I tried it and we have a pasture specifically for hay so in the future I know it’s a possibility.
So I had an empty stall, 20 or so bales of leftover straw from the previous owners, tons of pastures and weeds but no goats. Finally, I saw an ad for a person who was downsizing his herd and was offering baby goats for $100. That was a bargain, but these goats were barely weaned and I was nervous about just having babies. Finally, I asked for a Mom and her female baby and he was willing to deliver them to me. Rob was a super nice guy and the price was right so on Sunday morning he drove over. The goats were really cute and after some discussion we loaded the crate on the wagon and took them back to the pasture.
I was excited and had a list of questions to ask Rob provided by my friend Deb. She raised Nigerian Dwarfs in California when her kids were in 4H and thankfully I finally had someone I could talk to I could trust. Turns out the internet is no more reliable than it was about chickens or RVing for that matter, but Deb can at least share her personal experience. Turns out the goats were due for worming, had never had shots, were never milked, weren’t trained to a halter, and worst of all had been corn fed. I figured for $100 this was what I was going to get and since they looked healthy and were friendly I figured I would just go for it. Unfortunately, while we were talking to Rob the goats escaped from the fencing which became the first of many goat chases we would experience over the next several days.
I really thought because I had so much land with good forage they wouldn’t be tempted to leave but nope the baby immediately found a hole and the mama followed. Because the fields are a mixture of different types of fence, we quickly learned that any weakness would be exploited. We also learned that the baby can leap over a four-foot fence and the Mom might be small but she is strong! We would fix a weakness, and they would find another and it was especially bad in the evenings. Finally, I called Rob and he said he had fed them corn every evening. Deb told me that COB (or corn, oat, barley mixture) is like crack to them and out of desperation I had Lee buy some which calmed them down some. He also went around the property and collected all the heavy-duty cattle fence panels we had and created a much smaller space for them to be in.
Don’t get me wrong I really like the goats, but once they got in the neighbor’s woods and another time, they went all the way to the road. I had to stop traffic to get them back that time and since we have liability if they cause an accident, we knew we had to do something. The corn in the evenings is helping and we will see if the new fencing holds. The biggest problem I have left to solve is the gates which the baby can get through prettily easily. Since I am getting two more baby girls for my birthday (yes, I am a glutton for punishment) we need to be baby goat proofed as well. They are really cool though and Jack really likes the baby which is nice after the chicken craziness. Lee named Mom Edith and the baby Gloria by the way and they are both really sweet when they are not escaping.
Speaking of my garden it is doing great with beans, corn, peas, radishes, and carrots planted. I weed a little everyday and can’t wait for the crops to come in. I can feed any extras to either the chickens or the goats which is pretty cool. Next spring we will do much more but I am enjoying the cool weather crops.
The same day we got the goats Dede and Denny came down to visit and they really enjoyed all the improvements we have made. We had done a lot in the last couple of months but I think all we can see is what’s left to be done. Was nice to take a moment and just appreciate how far we have come.
A couple of other updates. I wanted Jack to see the goats but unfortunately he also slipped into the chicken pen again and now is in a major timeout. No more going to the animals unless he is on a leash and I have made my peace with the fact that he may never be able to be near the chickens. On the plus side I got my first egg! And I have gotten one egg a day for the last 5 days. The chickens are also foraging outside and have really settled in and I love going and seeing them every morning. Still haven’t finished the roost project but thats on the list.
Lastly despite trying different kinds of litter the dust in the litter was driving me crazy. Lee agreed to compromise and moved the litter box into the hall closet, and we have a small kitty door to provide access. Moxie is an absolute joy and is pretty adaptable which I appreciate. I am using a spray bottle to keep her off counters and tables. She has doubled in size and loves pouncing on the dog’s tail, but he is setting appropriate boundaries with her. We are all figuring it out, but I am so very happy, and Lee has worked so hard to make things work for me. I really love my little space we are creating here.
We very much appreciate your support of our blog.
Camper Chronicles 