As many of you know, Nate and I bought 13 acres last August with a house and barn. We had a visiting momma and puppies last fall, but for the winter the barn lay dormant.
No so anymore! First, our local animal control had a cruelty case involving a large number of goats and sheep. Nate said absolutely NO to sheep, since he remembers having to chase them back into their enclosure from his childhood, but we had been talking about getting a goat or two to keep the grass down in the front pastures. I had been checking Craigslist, but we didn't want to spend a lot of money on what would probably end up being a glorified mower. But when the call came in for goat foster homes, we were ready!
First, we got three. Two adult girls, and one baby. The two adults we named Dolche and Gabana, a joke since they are far from designer goats. Dolche (Che) is an angora, and Gabana (Gabby) is an Angora/Pygmy cross. Gabby also came with her baby, Coco Chanel.
Che the Angora
Gabby and Coco
As an added bonus, as we were waiting for our goat delivery, a friend called and said that she had a family who had a duck that needed to find a new home. She told me that he was going to send the duck with the goats. "You'll be fine," she assured me. I wasn't totally sure of this, but we readied an extra stall. The duck, Pato, is truly a character. At the beginning we were hoping that it was a girl and she would lay eggs, but since there have been no eggs so far, we are thinking that Pato is a boy. Still, even without eggs, Pato is worth it. He is our constant companion when we are outside, and he spends the day hanging out with the goats. He has even decided that he likes their sweet feed, which has corn in it, and he will follow them into their stalls at night. The only sound he makes is a hissing noise, and he does that both when he is happy and when he is angry. He waddles around all day wagging his tail feathers, and when he gets upset his waddle gets even more pronounced, and you can hear his feet slapping stubbornly on the ground. He is awesome.
A few weeks later, we get another call. A mother goat and her two babies were being fostered at a home that also functioned as a daycare. The babies were too friendly, and were knocking over the children. Could we take them?
Almond (right) and Joy (left), bumper goats
This took a little more convincing, but after a while Nate acquiesced. As fosters only, I promised. We drove over to get them, babies Almond and Joy. The mother was rather skiddish, and didn't have a name. Wikipedia was a wealth of knowledge about Almond Joy's, and it turns out that at one time they were made by Cadbury. And so, Cadbury, Almond and Joy joined the Bellhaven team.
As with any new adventure, the first thing I did was go to the (digital) library. I downloaded anything I could find about goats and homesteading, and after finishing 'Story's Guide to Dairy Goats' I announced to my wonderfully adventurous husband that I wanted to try and milk our new goats. I do have to mention that Pygmy and Angora are not traditionally dairy goats, but I figured that they had to have milk, and I didn't need multiple quarts a day anyways. So, with blueprint in hand, Nate and I went to Home Depot.
Cadbury in the milking stand
I am thankful every day that I have a husband with a great sense of fun. So with lumber and hardware in hand, Nate built me a milking stand. We are milking Gabby and Cadbury each day, and getting about 2 cups of milk. Right now we are freezing it, because we need a gallon to make cheese! We are getting close, though, and should be able to report back on that soon.
As if that wasn't enough fun (six goats and a surprise duck), we also decided to get chickens. We put out a call to our foster friends to borrow a cage and heat lamp to make a brooder, and voila! We were ready for chicks. This time armed with 'Backyard Chickens for Beginners', we headed to the farm store. They had a variety of chicks, and I knew that we wanted at least a few Rhode Island Reds, which are protective of the flock, and a few Americaunas who are good layers. So we got two of each of those, and also picked an Ida Brown and a Buff Orpington, to check out those breeds. They are growing so fast, and have probably doubled in size since we got them last weekend. When I open the door to the basement and call "Chickies!" they peep peep peep! They should start laying around 5-6 months, and are only about 3 weeks old now. In about a month they will out-grow their pen, and get moved to the barn. They are really adorable, and we're trying to handle them a lot.
Our chicks. The two reddish ones are the Rhodies, and the two speckled are the Americaunas; bet you can figure out the Ida Brown and the Buff Orpington on your own.
One week later!
Everyone goes in the barn at night, so about an hour ago I headed down to put everyone away. I had some special treats, but I noticed that my social Che didn't come out to greet me, so I was calling for her. I found her in the middle stall, looking tired but contented. Then she moved aside to reveal a newborn kid! We are so thankful that it is another girl! Che happily munched on bread while we petted her and her baby, and told her what a great job she had done. And while we were a bit skeptical about the goats at first, we are thrilled to have this new addition.
Every night when we walk back from the barn, we watch the sunset and can't believe that we've gotten so lucky. And while we know that homesteading isn't everyone's cup of tea, we wish this happy lucky feeling to all of our friends and family, in their own circles and passions.
Yours,
-N&J
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