The sequel to Noah's Ark



Me and one of the twins

 I would be running the sequel to Noah's ark if I didn't have my husband to reign me in at times. I grew up on a farm with animals and would love nothing more than to have two of every kind. Aside from my BFF Christy, there were no other kids around to play with. When mom sent us out to play there were no pick up games of ball or hop scotch down the sidewalk, in fact there weren't any sidewalks. We spent our summers and weekends playing in the creeks or roaming the pastures playing with the horses and cows.

I had wanted to add goats to our menagerie for some time. Providing a herd for Jose, our donkey, was the perfect excuse. Before I could come home with a trailer load of goats, I had to prove to my financier, aka Allen, my husband, that they could be a profitable addition. We currently raise a variety of all natural, pastured meats. I have learned to love our animals, while respecting them for their intended purpose.  I would love for this farm to be a exhibition where every animal lived out its life in the lap of luxury and died peacefully of old age. Unfortunately, I  am not a millionaire, so the farm must turn a profit in order for us to maintain the 'diva' lifestyle our breeding stock and their offspring now enjoy.



Freckles



 I just love our goats. They each have a unique little personality. They are very intuitive and sensitive creatures. Freckles, the sweet, shy one, still waits till very late to go into the barn at night. She refused to go in at all for a  full week after Grandma Goat suffered her stroke in the same barn, see A goat tragedy from 1/21/13. Her orphan, Frosty, is very shy and not as playful as Freckles kids, the "twins".



Strawberry and Frosty



The twins



Strawberry is our acrobat/escape artist. I have always heard that a fence that can hold a goat must be "water tight", meaning, it could hold water. Our five strands of high tensile electric fencing keeps in all but her. I feel certain she could escape from the innermost vaults of Fort Knox if given the opportunity! Her antics have become a bit subdued in the last few days as she is VERY pregnant and should give birth sometime next week. I can't wait to share the pictures, baby goats are just so adorable!





Billy, our male, has a new, troubling way to great us. When we go into his pasture he stands on his hind legs and tries to "head butt" us! As my husband will assure you, I am seriously hard headed, but no match for a goats thick, horned skull. He is a young buck, less than two, and weighs nearly 175 pounds. When standing on his hind legs, he is at eye level with me, not a fact I really wanted to learn, but did.

Billy and his rectangle pupils

Speaking of being eye-to-eye with Billy, goats and octopus are the only two animals that have rectangle shaped pupils. It is very odd when you first see this up close. Take a good look next time you find yourself face to face with a goat.

Here are few other interesting facts about our friends the goat. They were the first domesticated animal over 10,000 years ago, as evidenced by caveman paintings. Columbus brought the first goats to America in 1493. Goats milk is naturally homogenized, meaning it has a uniform consistency, making it easier to digest than cow's milk. In fact, it takes only 20 minutes to digest goats milk versus nearly a full day to digest the same amount of cow's milk.

Here's were we come to the profitability. Would you believe that 63% of red meat consumed world wide is goat meat? It is lower in cholesterol, fat and calories than chicken. Who knew!? I personally have never tried goat meat. I guess if I am to market my products in order to finance the upkeep of my beloved herd that will all have to change. Goat burgers anyone?