Sunday, January 30, 2011

It's Coming Again!

We are about to be hit by "A Blizzard" if the weather people here locally are right.  The light snow is to start tonight, with periods of freezing rain tomorrow off and on, and the real event will be Tuesday.  I did errands yesterday and then ran to the feed store late to get stocked up.  We have about a bale and a half of hay for the llamas, but it is not good hay, so we are going to run down to Tongie tomorrow to the feed store (well, Keith will) to get a couple of better quality ones to keep the llamas well fed during the storm. 

Inca has always laid down to eat her sheep feed out of her bowl, and now she has taught Aztec to lay and eat his feed, too!  He has developed a good warm coat of wool at almost three months old (Thursday).

Of course, I'm overjoyed to be planning on shoveling the drive again. 

Keith and I have long talked of having goats here at Calamity Acres.  We would joke about having "spoiled little goats"... but then seriously began to talk about it a year ago.  I wanted to milk and make cheese and ice cream, having tasted some goat milk ice cream and really liking it.  I made two trips to goat dairies, and hope to continue talking to Roxanne at Screamin' Oaks dairy right down the road from us.... but I have also been reading blog after blog after blog for information as well as several books. 

I wish some of you who currently have goats would comment... because frankly, I'm getting scared.  I'm wondering if it's best that I just buy milk from Roxanne and make my cheese and ice cream with it, and forego the whole goat experience.  I know they are captivating, but I have read so many stories of terrible birthing incidents that I don't know if I am ready to handle this at this point, and they are freaking me out!
For once, we have actually planned to have the infrastructure in place first, since the thing that I get spoken to the most is "infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure".  I was guilty of it in the old days, too... would go to a poultry auction and come home and have to make pens before I could let the birds loose.  We are building a new henhouse in the garden, and planned to switch the big henhouse over to a goathouse for three goats.  We do know they have to freshen yearly, and we think we will have a market for those kids with the number of Mexican families in our area who eat cabrito (don't like to think of that, but a necessity).  There are also many 4 H kids around here, and we would have purebreds for projects.  However, I am chickening out, and am almost afraid to read more, because I am getting too much knowledge!

If any of you have had positive experiences with goats, we would love to hear about it, and the negative, too... we want to go into this with our eyes opened.  My cousin Charlene has had them for years, but kept three that were not milked, just as pets.  She highly recommended them.

I feel I should say that our purpose here is NOT to make money off of the goats... nothing here is a money-making deal, we are hobbyists, who are interested in sustainability and providing a lot of our food for us and for our families.  But we treat our animals as respectfully as possible, even the llamas, and especially the birds, dogs and cats. 
So if you have goats, or have had, we would love to hear comments about them!

7 comments:

  1. That would be absolutely wonderful!!!!!! The cheapest shipping option is usually to go through usps and do the flat rate shipping... just a heads up.

    As for the goats, my step mom always had goats on the farm, She loves them, as do her daughters. They were raised on goats milk. I say go for it. Here is a link to her page: http://www.localharvest.org/foxfire-farm-M27478
    Feel free to contact her with questions about the goats. I'm sure she wouldn't mind! FoxfireFarm77 (@) yahoo.com

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  2. Sounds like this is getting bigger!....Cows next?

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  3. I just joined your blog so don't know you that well yet although looking forward to it. Goats are more of a committment than many people know or let on. Keeping the worms and cocci under control is very important. We're hobbyists too, we show ours because we enjoy hanging out with goat people. Being friends with the experienced breeders is where you get your education. Do you have a good Farm Vet? You can get a couple of wethers and continue to buy the milk. What sort of dairy goats do you think you'd like? DON'T buy any goats from an auction and no more birds from an auction, you're risking bringing in too much disease. The predicted blizzard sounds bad, hunker down. You may want to join some Goat Yahoo sites, I learn a lot here
    http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ND_Mini_Goats_Dairy/

    I'm on FaceBook - Joanna Wilcox
    and ask to be friends with Shelene Costello, she's very experienced and always willing to help, she on that Yahoo link too

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  4. have you read this site?
    http://fiascofarm.com/

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  5. mary ann, i don;t have goats so i can't help, sorry! i doubt i could take on what you are proposing as i fall in love with my animals and could not bear some one eating them...and the process of them being killed, how would you be sure it was humane after the sale...i would not make a good farmer, that is for sure. but good luck with your planning. sounds like you are doing the right thing and researching. the above commenters seem very knowledgable and helpful! stay warm and safe!

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  6. I just found your blog and it's wonderful. I don't have goats but lots of my friends do and they love them. All my animals are pets too.

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  7. We are thinking about goats or a cow after we retire. But, don't have time for it now.

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