Let me start by saying we love our goats. They are very entertaining and loving. But, they are also very frustrating and challenging (to say the least).
In the beginning, there was a dream. A dream of living happily with our goats and chickens at our home… in town… with our dogs. Boy did that dream quickly turn into a challenge. Nick’s uncle was nice enough to let us have three goats; Boots, Clyde, and Bonnie.
We decided that we would put a fence up in our yard and keep our goats and chickens there. The yard we have is plenty big enough for both them and the dogs right? Kinda. The dogs loved pacing the fence and running with the goats. We always knew if the goats got out because the dogs went nuts. They quickly turned the yard they had into a mud pit. We should have known that would happen. There were perks of having them right outside our back door. We could feed and water them fairly quickly. We could spend time with them to get used to us since they weren’t quite sure of us or their new surrounding. They soon warmed up. Clyde quickly became a momma’s boy. Three goats, what a perfect number to start with. We had Clyde fixed early on so he could keep them company without any kids showing up. This is where our goat journey took a little spin. Bonnie, our all black female, had Baby.
It was a nice day out, but I was stuck inside due to trying to walk backward through our yard and twisting my ankle. Nick was out checking the goats and called me. “How many goats do we have?” I was confused because three wasn’t a hard number to count to. He then told me it wasn’t three goats, but we had four! Bonnie had a baby. I hobbled out there as quickly as I could. She had a baby all on her own without us even knowing she was pregnant! We didn’t have a name in mind and couldn’t think of anything more fitting than Baby. A lot of research started happening to make sure we were doing things right! We were not prepared for a kid! After a little guidance to make sure Baby knew where to drink from and making Bonnie let her get milk, we were doing fine. Thankfully Nick’s aunt came over to help. That settled our nerves.
Another reason we weren’t ready for kids is because our goats weren’t settled yet. We wanted to kid them after we were able to train them to go on a milk stand. We wanted to use the goat milk, but I guess it just wasn’t our time yet. Instead, they turned into pet goats.
We soon realized that we needed to move them (and our rooster that wasn’t allowed to be in city limits) to the farm. They needed more room and we needed to get our rooster Jeff out of town before we got in trouble. Fencing for goats at the farm couldn’t be that bad…. boy were we naive.
I have never pounded so many T-posts into the ground. We bought enough field fence (mistake number one) to give them over triple the room they had before. We put our T-posts in the ground and wrapped the fence on the outside of them (mistake number two). We secured it with fence ties on top and bottom (mistake number three). Many sore arms and blistered hands later, we were done. Perfect! We had a fence up and goats inside! We were so proud.
That was until we got a call from Nick’s parents who live out at the farm.
The goats are out.
This will be the first of MANY calls and texts to let us know that the goats were out. (We are thankful they let us know! That way they don’t get hurt!) Not only were the goats out, but they were eating the landscaping that his parents just paid to have done. Not good. So we hop in the car and drive the four minutes it takes to get over there. We put them back in, found how they escaped, rigged a fix, and went home. I remember a few times we thought we fixed it and started pulling out just to see the goats running after us. This process was exhausting, to say the least, and it was happening on repeat. Once we patched the holes they found, they decided another route of escape was called for.
*This is where I think of the movie Chicken Run. They keep planning escape attempts in secret. I swear our goats were doing this*
Now it was time for them to show us their true colors. Up and over the fence. We couldn’t believe it. We would pull the fence tight, making it as tall as it could be. They would back up, give a little wiggle, and run. The leap was not graceful at all, but it seemed to always get them over the fence. We would give them grain, run through the barn, hop in the car, and pull away as fast as possible. Sometimes that did the trick. But after they learned the trick, we would get called back. The breed of goat we have is called Nigerian Dwarf. They’re small goats, good for milking. Smaller means easier – I swear I could have heard that somewhere. But again, I was wrong.
As their name suggests, Nigerian dwarf goats are smaller than average goats. These tiny goats’ height averages between 16-20 inches. Often kept as pets or for milk, this breed is commonly found on homesteads.
Don’t be deceived by their diminutive appearance, though. Despite their small size, Nigerian Dwarf goats have been known to jump over four foot tall fences. So don’t be fooled into thinking a smaller goat can get by with a short fence. These tricksters are masters of escape.
https://www.ecopeanut.com/how-high-can-a-goat-jump/
Why didn’t I read this before getting them?! Now we have ninja goats. They break out of their home more often each day. So what could we do? Make the fence taller! Looking at the price of tall fence panels, my jaw dropped. I love these goats (not as much while they’re breaking out, but still) but are they worth that much money? And then we looked in the woods at the farm. Left over fence. We quickly started pulling fence that used to hold in hogs and stacked it on top of our field fence. Angling it in, they couldn’t make the jump.
Victory.
We poured so much time and effort, blood, sweat, and tears into these goats…. that were just pets. I had often felt like giving up. Selling them. Donating them to Goodwill. Anything. It was even causing frustration in our marriage. Goats causing marital issues – is that a real thing? Thankfully, Nick kept us going. He kept reminding me that having these animals meant we were one step closer to having our homestead. I am so thankful he didn’t let me give up. Now, three years later, we are finally getting ready to breed them and start milking. We finally have a fence system that works for us and for them. We are learning more each day about how much personality they have and how they really do love our interaction. These goats were a small step towards our future. A small step towards sustainability. I am so excited to share our journey about having (planned) kids and learning about milking goats. We have great things ahead and it is thanks to these goats.
I have heard that goats are not the animal to start with and I would have to agree. I think if we had started with only chickens or a cow, we would have had an easier experience. But, that just isn’t how it’s done in this home. We love learning lessons the hard way and working through it together.
Please share your goat stories to help us feel better!