Last year my daughter decided we must have dairy goats by the end of the year. This was in December. It wasn’t feasible for us, but amazingly she made it happen! On December 31st we got goats – two females (a female goat is called a doe).

Here come the goats!

We arranged for a buck (a male goat) to visit for a few weeks to impregnate them in January. With kids due in June (baby goats are called kids), we could start getting milk soon thereafter. That wasn’t soon enough so by the end of January we got more goats – a mom and one of her kids (she had rejected the other). Since she was already producing milk, we were able to start getting some immediately.

In February a friend told us about someone giving away some goats. You can guess what happened. We got MORE goats! LOL

These were meat goats. We had never eaten goat meat and didn’t know what to expect, but were pleasantly surprised! It was as good as or maybe even better than beef. My wife and daughter processed it and even dried a bunch, which I really liked.

We’ve now eaten three goats so far this year. We use every last part of them – from tanning the hide to composting the intestines.

In June four goat kids were born. Goats are amazingly self-sufficient. Under normal circumstances they give birth by themselves. When you come along – surprise – you have MORE goats!

By July we were enjoying milk from both of the new moms. Fresh, creamy, raw milk is incredibly delicious and nutritious. With the extra milk we have even been able to enjoy some fresh cheese on occasion. Wow, I feel spoiled!

One of the new kids is a doeling who is designated to become another milk producer. The other three are bucklings who are designated for more fresh meat.

Another huge benefit that came with the goats is the manure that we add to the compost our chickens process. We are now producing much more and better quality compost that feeds the gardens and orchards.

Fresh Fodder Is Best

We had that buck visit again in September. Around SIX MORE kids are due in February. It is common for does to give birth to two kids at a time.

My daughter is also now in the process of adding another higher quality goat line that will produce a lot more milk. We expect to get her later this month.

It’s an absolutely amazing experience to witness, steward, and benefit from living systems designed by an awesome Creator! I didn’t grow up on a homestead and never knew what we were missing out on.