Here is the rascally little boy Jeff caught in our garden. Those tiny goats can get through the smallest spaces and no fencing seems to keep them in!
Today they are all out grazing, enjoying new greens. The babies are now eating greens too, letting me know it’s getting time to find some new homes. We have quite the barn full and it’s time to down size. If we had more land we’d probably be crazy goat people and have a big herd, but we don’t so we have to have some self control. The first year that goat kids were born here, we named them all and of course we got attached, which made it hard to limit ourselves. We learned from that and now we don’t name the babies.
We currently have nine goats. We need to find a home for six- a mama with her twin doelings (we want them to go together), a buckling, and two more doelings. (If you are in the local area and interested in goats, let us know.)
Because of discovering our dairy allergy, we are not planning on milking our goats this year. That was really hard for Jeff and I to come to terms with for awhile. We absolutely love our morning milking routine, it is very soul-fulfilling to us. And of course we love making and eating kefir and goat cheese. And the thought of this being the last year of baby goats being born here was also a sad thought to me. I looked at the empty milking stands and it was hard to wrap my head around. It’s a big part of the food we produce here and we love producing food from our land. But, nothing is set in stone. At some point we might milk again, who knows? We’ll leave it open. But for now, we will not be milking.
Once Jeff and I decided that, we had to ask some tough questions about having goats. Every animal on the homestead has a job, a purpose. Would we still be able to have goats if we weren’t milking them? We talked about the sustainability, the cost, and the work of caring for them. I took care of a lot of the goat care, but since Bracken’s birth I didn’t have as much to give to any of the animals. We want to keep things as simple as possible and not overload ourselves, since our life is so very full.
So we talked about the possibility of not having goats here, but goats seem integral to our life here. They are family and I really can’t imagine life without them now. They do a great job grazing and keeping our place from becoming engulfed in invasive blackberries. And they provide incredible compost for the garden. They fulfill a purpose still. They are part of a sustainable farm here, as long as we don’t have too many and let them over-graze the surrounding woodlands. So we decided to keep three. Two mamas- Bree and Faun (our favorites) and we’ll keep one doeling (Bree’s baby) from this year.
While milking, we supplemented their diet with a little grain (which I didn’t like, but really needed to be done.) Keeping the goats just for clearing land, we won’t need to feed them any grain, which will save a lot of money. We can let them graze most of the time and supplement by providing hay from our neighbor’s farm. If we can buy the hay in bulk and find some way to store it, we can really keep the cost down. This is so important, because we don’t want anything to be a “drain” on the homestead. All needs to be contributing to the well being of the whole.
My heart feels grateful to be able to have goats here. I just can’t say enough good things about goats and how much I love them.
Jeff and I have plans for building a new goat house and moving their yard. Things are changing around here. Whenever I embrace it, I constantly learn that change is good!
Renae- I always need to be reminded that change is good too! 🙂
Sue- We talked about that as a possibility. Thanks for mentioning it. It might be nice (even though I’ll miss it) to have a break from milking while life is so busy.
Anna- Thank you! So glad you found Wooly Moss Roots! Happy to have you here.
Frosty- Thanks so much! And welcome! Yes, a lot of the wood is from this land.
thanks for your comments all!
I have recently come across your blog and I have enjoyed it very much. I have looked back on some of your previous posts and I love the knowledge that you shine. I am also a woodworker and I really admire the natural wood products. Is the wood primarily from your land?
Much Love to your family…
Oh how I wish I could take a couple of your goats! How lovely it would be to have fresh goat milk to feed my children.
I am a new reader to your blog and I am loving reading through your journeys. What a lovely life you lead!
What about using the goat milk for soap…and having that add to supporting them on your homestead. Sue♥
Thanks for this post. Today I needed reminding that change is good!