Happy Goat-aversary! (What We Learned our First Year)

Wooohooo! We made it! One year with goats, and we ALL survived. Not that I was overly worried... Just Kidding, I totally was. Bringing goats to our property was nerve racking for me. I had admired, housesat, played with many goats in my life, but never have I owned one, nor had Brandon. Through all the (almost needless) stress, it has been a fun year. For this reason, I'm going to share some of the things we have learned in the past year for those of you who are either interested in what we are up to, or are just interested in getting your own goats! 

THEY ARE CUTE

Ha, yes seriously. I knew goats were cute before I got them, especially these kids, but having them here all the time really kicked it up a notch. Our first two on the farm were Starla and Molly. They were sweet little floppy eared milk drinking babies. I loved them at first sight, and that loved was closely followed by Brandon's and the kids' love. We brought them home and they bounced around the yard and their pen. They called for us when we walked outside. Molly's cow-like spots earned her the sweet nickname of Molly Moo, and Starla lived up to her diva-like name. Of course they grew, and now Starla is over a hundred pounds. One hundred pounds of affectionate, loud, and furry love. Molly now makes our labs look small, and her sweet calm demeanor is adorable. We love them both, and a year later they are still freaking adorable.

 YOU NEED TO DO YOUR RESEARCH (ALL OF IT)

I'd like to believe that doing your research before you bring an animal home is a no brainer, but craigslist ads and Facebook posts constantly prove me wrong. Not to mention, I forgot some research.  I scoured the internet on what and how to feed them. I searched different breeds. I read articles on minerals and baking soda. I talked to goat owners, the breeder, everyone I could reach on what to do, but I never did any real research into goat ailments. Guess what happened within the first week of getting home? Yup, if you guessed they got sick, you would be right. Do you know what I did when they first got sick? I panicked a little, because I had no idea what to do. I was lucky though, the woman we got our goats from, Denise, is a wealth of information and she answered every single one of my dumb questions—I had a lot. I still go to her with goat problems, and I probably will until she asks me to stop.

Do the research, know what to expect from kids to adulthood. Know that you will never find enough information, and continue to research even after you get them. Just do it, its worth it, and the more you know, the better prepared you will be.

HAVE GOAT PEOPLE

I mentioned Denise above, but my friend Stacey and the woman we bought our angoras from, Becky definitely deserve a mention. These ladies answered questions at all times of the day or night. I was impressed by all of their knowledge and compassion for whatever situation I was asking about. I can never thank them enough.

If you are getting goats, find yourself some goat experts and bake them some cookies. (I definitely owe my friends some cookies.) You'll need their advice and experience to help you along the way. A few ways to find goat people: Through friends, through goat Facebook groups in your area, or even your vet.

GOATS DON'T EAT EVERYTHING (ONLY SOME OF THEM)

Hay is Hay, right? Wrong. Hay is great, but don't you dare change varieties or you will see that bale sit in the feeder for two days seemingly the same size, while your goats stand at their gate staring at you while they perform their hunger strike. You would think I was trying to poison them. No, I just stopped buying feed store hay and packed our barn with hay straight from the farm. (SO MUCH CHEAPER, by the way.)

This isn't the only occasion my goats pulled a stunt like this, but it was the most memorable. They really don't eat anything. They will eat all the fresh greens in their reach, they will eat the grain mixture I hand mix, but they won't touch the molasses filled natural goat dewormer. This being said, two of our goats, Starla and Malta, will nibble on anything. Starla likes to taste my freshly washed and blow dried hair if I dare to leave it down. Malta has decided that munching on the plastic covering the insulation is fun. However, if the water has a speck of dirt in it? Not a single one of them will touch it unless absolutely necessary. Starla, who has added some sass these days, regularly dumps dirty water. I'd like to think it isn't on purpose, but I think I would be wrong.

Make sure you have hay, and minerals, and everything you need on hand. Once you've done all that, spend some time observing your goats for their eccentric tastes to help you better manage their health. Knowledge is power, and knowing how weird your goats are helps a lot in keeping them safe and healthy.

PLAN FOR SNOW

This seems like a no brainer, but its something we only vaguely thought about. When we built our fence, it was perfect. Tall and strong, no way for them to jump out. Well, this winter hit with an over abundance of snow. It was great the way the gate pushed in, until the snow blocked it. I pulled out my shovel thinking it would be an easy fix, but those goats saw me in there working and thought that mid blizzard was a great time to check on me. I think I accidentally hit each one at least twice with the shovel. They are curious creatures, I don't blame them, but it was a bit of a pain. Speaking of shoveling the gate, do you know what I did? I made a beautiful pile of snow just beyond the gate's reach. It was perfect, until Starla took note of said pile's location.  RIGHT NEXT TO THE FENCE. So, lets do some rough math: 1.5 ft of packed down snow + 1.5 ft of packed down snow pile = A nice little jumping spot for our little escapee. She loved it, and almost hurt herself getting out. I had to block it off from the other side. I felt so dumb, but in the end she is safe, and I've learned my lesson.

KIDS LOVE GOATS

Crazy idea, right? I knew that my kids would like the goats, but I didn't expect them to love them as much as I do. Goats were supposed to be more my thing. In the end my son wanted to help feed and care for them at my side. When I'm not at his side? He is in there playing with them. When the neighbor kids come over, they skip over the rest of the property to built a stick lean to in the goat pen. My daughter toddles over to them every time we are outside and talks to them. At night when it is bed time she looks out her window and waves goodnight. It is wonderful, and I love giving our kids the chance to love and care for our animals. (Plus, it is pretty darn cute to see them with the goats.)

I should mention that am pretty strict with the goat rules. I don't allow a lot of crazy behavior in the pen. I don't just let them pull on the goats or feed them random stuff from the yard. If any child in the pen steps out of line, they get kicked out of the pen. Having boundaries keeps both the kids and the goats safe. No goat is going to be happy or well socialized if kids are just chasing them around acting like maniacs.

HAVE YOUR TOOLS BEFORE YOU NEED THEM 

There is a lot of care that goes into our goats where we need supplies. Herbs to ease stomach problems, bottle tops, hoof trimmers, weight tape, blood stop powder, etc. This is a short list of things you'll want before you need them. Between losing a shipment and supplies, and flat out not realizing I needed a certain object, the feed store girls now know me fairly well. It was never dire, but now we are almost fully stocked I feel a lot more comfortable.

IT IS EASIER THAN WE THOUGHT

No seriously, it is. As I mentioned before, I did a lot of research which helped me handle the day to day things. After Molly and Starla got over their new home illness, things became easy. Sure, for a few weeks I was on a strict bottle feeding schedule.   Then there was the first frost where I spent a bunch of time watching the goats, making sure their shelter was warm enough. When winter really set in though, I did two checks a day, giving them fresh water and food, and they were fine. They didn't want to be outside anymore than I did, and they didn't need me that much. I thought I would be crazy busy balancing -40 with these animals, but it wasn't crazy, and when -40 came, we were ready and those goats were much warmer in their house then I could have believed.  Goats are fairly simple, they need food, water, and a warm place to sleep. After that they just need someone who knows (at least somewhat) what they are doing to make sure nothing terrible happens.

(This year we had to feed and water them outside due to our building schedule, but this next winter we are moving everything inside the barn. This move will make things even easier. )

It has been a great year, and I only hope the coming years are even better. We are lucky to be surrounded by a farming community and people who support what we are doing. This summer we are hoping for kids from Starla, and then we are breeding Molly in the winter. The adventure continues and we are following it eagerly!

If you have any questions, comments, or sound pieces of advise, feel free to share them here! Thanks for stopping by! - Genna