Why goats?
The short story is because that’s the first animal that we were gifted.
The long story is because of Crybaby.
We are lucky enough to have had an established pasture with a solid barn that has water and electric when we bought our property. It’s what sealed the deal for me. We didn’t have any direct plans to add farm animals but that was my ultimate goal. All of the homesteading goals we have are relatively new. We were definitely going to have a garden, but at the time it wasn’t a goal to grow and preserve as much as we could. I was volunteering at Sunrise Sanctuary at the time that we bought our house. I would wake up early every Saturday and drive about an hour northwest of Columbus to clean stalls and fill water dishes. It was the dead of winter, so much work, and I loved it so much. I knew I wanted a piece of this at our future home.
At our first meeting with our neighbor we offered to let him bring his goat to our pasture any time he wanted. He just had one goat - a large Alpine male. The goat was living in a 10’ x 10’ pen and I’m not sure that he even had access to the inside of their barn. Our neighbor’s response to our offer was to ask if we just wanted him. We were not prepared for this. I was nervous, but felt like we really could give him a better life. We told him yes, after only sharing a glance at each other, but we needed a little time to get what we needed. After a few trips to the library, Tractor Supply, and some prep we told him we were ready. A few minutes later (literally felt like he must have been waiting for our text!) our neighbor was walking down our lane with Crybaby.
The first time we asked we were told that Crybaby was 7 years old. He’s a large goat - about the size of a small donkey - so that’s on the edge of being elderly. The next time we talked with our neighbor Crybaby was 12. Then 15. Our vet confirmed that 12 to 15 was more realistic.
Goats are herd animals, meaning that they want to spend time other goats. They’re social and naturally form bonds with those around them. For Crybaby that meant us.
When I met Josh I knew it was the real deal because I slowly started living more true to myself. It’s a journey that I’m still on, and hope to be for the rest of my life. He creates space for me to live authentically and gives me the confidence to do so. Crybaby, in different ways, propelled me further on this journey. He made me feel like a farmer. It’s funny to think about now because we have never-ending goals for our homestead, but at the time I felt like we made it. We achieved our goal of having a farm and caring for a rescued farm animal. There was also a more complicated spiritual connection with Crybaby that I can’t quite explain. He gave me so much happiness and love that I feel like he was an extension of myself.
I fell in love with goats because I fell in love with Crybaby. I had a dozen people tell me that goats were a bad idea. That they escape and eat everything they’re not supposed to. Crybaby was old when we got him so we didn’t have the escaping issue, and his pasture was lush and ready to eat so he never went looking for things he wasn’t supposed to eat. He was pretty low maintenance, especially compared to our dogs!
Sometime after he passed we decided it was time to fill the pasture once more. This time we adopted Pluto and Neptune. Brothers who were rescued by Happy Trails Farm Animal Sanctuary.
Pluto & Neptune
These boys have showed us some much emotion - the grief that Pluto had when Neptune passed away was one of the most heartbreaking things I have experienced.
Unfortunately we lost Neptune to a bladder infection (more on this in another post) and were once again down to just one goat. Pluto quickly formed a strong connection with us and this time we learned all about how goats can escape. Luckily I was working from home and since our connection is so strong Pluto would usually just walk directly to me when I went out to get him back into the pasture.
We now have Captain Squigs and Lenny living with Pluto. These guys adapted to life on the HH so quickly! We were nervous about how they’d react to Pluto and vice versa, but it has been pretty smooth since day 1.
So if you’re on the fence about goats, we’re here to say DO IT! They will bring so much positive energy to your life. We definitely recommend chatting with your local farm animal vet about best feed and care routine, as well as hitting up a few books, but goats are a great low maintenance animal to add to a homestead. Their manure is great for the garden too!
