It looks like I’ve got some explaining to do. Let me try to make a long story short.
Last October, one of our neighbor’s two goats was killed- we think by a visiting mountain lion. I never posted an update about it on the blog- mostly because it was our neighbor’s goat, not ours. (Haha! Get it? Not our goat!! Okay, okay…) And I felt that why we named this blog what we did still held true, regardless of the fact it should have then been “It’s Not Our Goat” instead.
In the meantime, the neighbor’s goat was getting progressively more lonely and anxious. She kept coming over to our property, looking for friends, and she even came onto our porch and into our kitchen, if you remember.
(Sorry for the blurriness.)
Coincidentally, my daughter was also becoming a serious milk drinker during this time. This was the girl who used to turn her nose at cow’s milk- but no longer. I found myself having to limit her intake for the sake of not spending $12/week on organic whole milk.
And then we started joking about it. Maybe we really should get a goat. We could use the milk, that’s for sure, and in theory, she would pay herself off in a year or less- provided everything went smoothly, of course.
And the more we joked, the more we became serious about the idea. Raw milk, when handled properly, has fabulous health benefits. Goat milk in particular is supposed to be more digestible than cow’s milk. We could make a lot of our own dairy products and save money- especially compared to the cost of buying local raw milk.
We had mentioned to our neighbors in the past that we were interested in one day owning a goat. So when they offered their barn and paddock space to us if we ever wanted to get one for real, it was pretty tempting.
It was a win/win. We have enough space for a goat, but not really designated pasture or a shelter. They had the pasture and barn, but a lonely goat who needed a friend. We could share chores like water duty and barn clean up. We could maybe even trade goat-sitting for when we wanted to go on vacation.
So really, when would be a more perfect time to think about purchasing a milk goat?
I began searching local ads for goats and goat farms. And that’s when I knew we were serious. I looked at lots pictures of cute goats for sale. I started preparing myself for the chores that come with a goat. We priced out goat supplies, just to see if it was all feasible. Then, I just happened to pay a visit to a particular local goat farm with good rapport that just happened to have a mama goat in milk whose kid was just sold a couple of days ago who just happened to be for sale.
I bought her and brought her home a couple days later- Memorial Day afternoon.
This is sweet-tempered Leslie, our brand new addition to the homestead. She’s a Nigerian dwarf goat- a breed known for being good with kids and producing milk with high butterfat content. They’re smaller than a full-size, which means a bit less milk- but it also means they’re less expensive to feed and easier to handle.
We’re getting to know Leslie and she’s getting to be at home with us. She and the neighbor’s goat are getting to be friends, and they “talk” to each other all day long. The kids love to see her and want to walk to the barn to visit her frequently. And, perhaps most exciting to me, we are getting more successful with milking and managed to get her first round of fresh milk safely home for sampling tonight.
The verdict? Mmm, mmm, good.
So now I only have one problem.
What do I do with my blog name?
