Why I got Goats

In short because, and I quote in a annoying baby talk voice, “it’s such a cute wittle goat”.

That’s why.  The end.

No seriously though, why did I want goats?

My love for goats starts way back in time when I was knee high to a grasshopper.  I honestly don’t know how old I was at the time and my Mama isn’t much help on it either.  All we know for sure is I was little, and approximately 3 years old. Mom would pack me up and take me out to Uncle F and Auntie E’s farm (they weren’t actually my Aunt and Uncle I just called them that), and I could see the animals, but more importantly they had a goat.  I couldn’t tell you the breed of the goat, or really much about him, other than the fact that he was a he and his name was Billy.  My memories are based more on what I have been told over the years, as opposed to what I actually remember, but from what I can gather Billy and I were close.

Or perhaps more accurately I was close to Billy.  He probably didn’t want too much to do with slobbery, snot nosed, maybe 3 year old me.  Either way I loved to go visit him, he was my favourite part of the visit.  He even outranked the horses.

And then one day Billy wasn’t there.  It was years later that I finally learned the truth of what happened to my beloved Billy. In a word: Coyotes.  Poor Billy.

Time marched on.  Seasons Changed. We lost touch with Uncle F and Auntie E, and my love of goats was packed away and forgotten.

And then…

I raised a baby deer mouse.  (That was a twist you didn’t see coming now was it!)

 I began to do my research on what to feed this tiny little mouse with her eyes not even open yet, and I learned all about the benefits of goat’s milk.  It started with a simple warning on not feeding her cow’s milk but she could have goat’s milk.  As I began to research more about it I learned things like goat’s milk is easier to digest, and people who can’t handle dairy can almost always have goat dairy.

This led into more research that talked about how commercial dairy cows are treated, and what is actually in the milk.  This was all news to me.  I was stunned at the amount of information. So I went out and bought my first liter of goat’s milk from the grocery store, so I could make formula for this tiny little mouse. To be honest with you I was so grossed out by the thought of drinking milk that came out of a goat that I couldn’t bring myself to taste it.  It just seemed too weird.

Then one day I realized that my mouse was pretty much weaned and I still had goats milk in the fridge that I didn’t know what to do with. I religiously bought the milk for her but neither Hubby or I ever tried it. So I tried it.  I couldn’t let it go to waste.  And you know what?  It was actually pretty good. I hardly noticed any difference between it and cow’s milk.

That was around the time that I began to get hungry for information about what was actually going into our food, and thus the start of this whole adventure.  We started small making a few things here and there, and trading out excess packaged food like flaked potatoes and all sorts of instant noodle side dishes, for real vegetables and salads. All the while the good things I heard about goat’s milk stayed in my mind, knocking around in my thoughts, and haunting me in my sleep, until finally one day I blurted it out to Hubby:

“I know this sounds crazy, but someday I think I would like my own dairy goat”

To which he responded: “Ya, that would be pretty cool.  One day”

Poor guy, he had no idea that I was suddenly going to run with this idea.  All my spare time was spent on researching goat breeds.  It started with me trying to figure out which breeds were dairy breeds, and from there I learned all about butterfat content, size of goats, characteristics of milk, and many many more things.  I learned so much in such a short period of time my head almost exploded.

About six months after telling Hubby one day I would like a dairy goat I announced:
“I’ve settled on Nigerian Dwarfs.”

To which he responded with “huh?”

In my mind it was settled.  I watched the goat market in Ontario, sourced out breeders, and finally put myself on the waiting list of a very reputable breeder.  I never did end up getting goats from her, she started to refer me to other breeders, and I ended up finding a good breeder in my area on my own.

And you know the rest.

So there it is.  I got goats to bring in fresh milk daily to provide for Hubby and I.  I want to learn how to make cheese, butter, yogurt, ice cream, soap, and more from the fresh milk our girls provide each day. I want to learn old traditions, and old ways of providing for the family.  I want to learn to be more reliant on God for my food needs, and less on the grocery store.  I want to live more simple.

That’s why I got goats.