Greetings!

Doug and I are in the very early stages of planning a small sustainable farm using the art of permaculture! We’ve only just begun our research and we’re very excited.

I’m mostly excited about the animals we’re planning to keep: rabbits, chickens, and goats. I was a veterinary technician student so I know their basic care and such. However, I am trembling with delight over the goats.

Goats don’t seem like something to get so carried away with at first glance, but you’d be surprised. Goats can provide you with milk, which can reap many other goods; like butter, and cheese, and, of course, ICE CREAM! But, goat’s milk tastes funny, right? WRONG! It is true that sometimes it tastes funny, but there is an easy way to avoid that. You see, male goats (also called bucks, like deer) have a very musky odor about them and if you leave them in the vicinity of your milking does, that odor permeates their milk, thus the funny taste. So, all you have to do is put your buck elsewhere and there is virtually no difference in taste between goat’s milk and cow’s milk.

Did you know that goats can also be used for meat? I just recently found out that people eat them! I can’t wait to try goat’s meat and learn delicious recipes to cook with it.

Goats are also good companion animals. They only require a small shelter, a decent plot of land to forage, and water. They’re pretty easy to care for and supply you with amusement. If there’s anything I’ve learned about goats, it’s watching where I park my car. For some reason they like to play king of the hill and if your car happens to be the tallest thing around… expect hoof marks on your car.

Yay goats! They can supply you with food, drink, and be your friend! Just not all at the same time…

So anyway, Doug and I have been reading about different breeds of goats and what they’re used for. Yes, there are different breeds of goats. There are three breeds that we were interested in: Nubian, LaMancha, and Nigerian dwarf. All three are good milking breeds, which is what we’re looking for.

The Nubian is a good all purpose goat used for meat, milking, and hides for leather. If you know anything about cows, they’re probably comparable to the Jersey breed, both having higher butter fat percentages in their milk. It has long pendulous ears.

LaMancha goats are your standard milking goat, comparable to Holstein breed cows. They have very small, sometimes nearly absent, outer ears.

Then finally we came across the Nigerian dwarf. They’re smaller than other breeds, as you probably could’ve guessed by it’s name. Even though they are smaller, they produce nearly the same amount of milk as other breeds and have a butter fat percentage comparable to the Nubian (sometimes even higher!). Since were going to have a little farm, these little guys will be better suited for us than average sized breeds.

Cute little guy, isn’t he? Can’t wait to have a few of my own!