We’ve been wondering what we were thinking getting so many baby goats, especially because in doing more research it seems that with the small breeds we have many people wait TWO YEARS to breed them.
TWO YEARS!
That’s a lot of feed and vet bills before they are earning their keep. And while they are quite cute, they are also little escape artists and needy as heck. I’m also getting asked why I have so many bruises on my legs, and no, I’m not being abused except by my goats that are jumping on me and at me! The adult goats seem to have sense enough not to jump on us and in general they have nicer manners. Goats don’t seem to listen to “no!” so they must just learn good behavior all on their own.
We are selling two, maybe three, of our Nigerian Dwarf doelings. Let us know if you are interested! They are all very friendly and they all have their own unique traits.
Revisiting why we got goats in the first place: we wanted to organic raw milk for our family and friends and we wanted to raise goats naturally to sell to others who are seeking the same. As it turns out, there’s a lot of people who want holistically raised goats and sometimes it’s hard to find them! Once you are tapped into the community you do find your people.
A few months ago a woman named Natalie contacted me on Facebook and we’ve been talking on and off through some difficult times for our farm (I’m sure we’ll write about that at some point) and she told me she had some goats for sale but that they aren’t the kind I had put feelers out about. My favorite of the two breeds we have are Mini LaManchas (sometimes called Mini Manchas, but I’ve noticed people who show them will put up a stink if you call them that). Natalie breeds and sells Mini Nubians, which means that like the Mini LaManchas, they have Nigerian Dwarf in them (thus the “mini”) but have Nubian in there instead of La Mancha.
For those who are lifetime learners or are homeschooling and want to teach the kiddos about goats, La Mancha goats have tiny or sometimes no exterior ears and are the only goat made right here in the great US of A. Nubians have pretty much opposite ears that are long and floppy. With Nigerian Dwarf thrown in there, the Mini Nubians can have ears more similar to a Nigerian Dwarf (long but to the side rather than down and doglike) though some have kept the Nubian ear structure. Nubians also have a very unique head shape.
I am not all that keen on the full Nubians. They are HUMONGOUS.
There’s one that lives next door to us and I swear it weighs 400 pounds compared to our Nigerian Dwarf mama who weighs 67. I also visited a dairy that had 100% Nubians and I did NOT like the milk nor did I like being told that these goats with huge floppy ears do not enjoy having their ears rubbed or touched. Say what??? How can you resist touching cute floppy ears? So my desire to get one fizzled out quickly.
Mini Nubians were not something I’d seen in person and after chatting on the phone about some does in milk that Natalie had for sale, we decided to drive the hour and a half to visit her farm, Babka Farms.
We walked around and saw her setup (three milk stands! #goals) and her does, bucklings, and chickens. She raises hers naturally too with a good diet and holistic methods like herbal wormer, essential oils, leaving horns intact, and avoiding vaccines. I believe she said she’s had her herd of goats for two years now.
In the end we decided on two half sisters, polled blue eyed does in milk (polled means they do not grow horns; it’s genetic). One actually does like her ears rubbed and took to us immediately. The other one didn’t and ran away from us, oops! But hopefully she will warm up soon.
We had fun meeting Natalie and touring her farm! There is always so much to learn from one another. That’s part of the beauty of being a human. So much to learn and so much knowledge to share.
With our two new does in milk we are going forward with our plans for a herd share. Herd shares are a way for people who don’t have land and goats to share goats with us. In a nutshell, people can pay per month to share in our goats and thus end up with the ability to cuddle goats once in a while and to have access to free goat milk. It’s pretty cool.
One last thing to share while it’s fresh in my mind. I went to visit my 91 year old grandmother who is an absolute angel; one of the many blessings in my life. She eats ice cream for breakfast and Dr Pepper for lunch and she is going strong just like her mother who along with her twin sister lived to be well over 100 years old. I took her some garlic chive chevre that I had made.
She sent me a raving review later that I may have to use as a testimonial some day:
“Your cheese is yummy! Don’t think you could improve it at all. Thank you for such pleasure!!”
She is food picky! I’m surprised and delighted that she liked the cheese and what’s more, she served it at her DINNER PARTY!
Wow.