goats

Well, it's official. We're getting goats. Two mini Nubian does.

Lily has been saving her money in a little jar. I may have contributed once or twice (wink.) Daddy told her a while back that if she could raise the money, we would get her goats. Little did I know, at that time, how expensive dairy goats are. After contacting several farms I had pretty much put the idea of being a goat owner out of my mind.

Then my friend, Rachel, contacted me weeks later. Rachel and her mom own Rainbow Mountain Alpacas (where we purchased two of our alpacas) and they have a lot of connections in the farm world. Rachel's friend was downsizing her farm and was re-homing her mini Nubian goats. And she happened to have two lactating does available. And the best part? She was asking an amount that was very reasonable. An amount that wasn't too far off from what Lily had already saved.

The kids and I had a little visit with our future goats yesterday. Since they are both still nursing their kids, they won't be available until the kids are totally weaned, which will be the beginning of June. This is perfect as we need to get their shelter set up. This also means that we'll be able to start milking as soon as we get them. The plan is to milk Candy (the white, younger goat) and let Licorice (the older, dark gray goat) dry up and rest for a year. Licorice is worn out from four consecutive breeding seasons so she's going to spend a year resting and recharging before we breed her again.

Three of the kids were still with their mamas so we got to enjoy playing with them yesterday. Lily was in love. She didn't want to leave. As is customary with goat kids, they jumped, climbed, chewed, and nuzzled with us the whole time. Lily and I both left with goat-slobbered hair (apparently they enjoy chewing on long hair.) And we left with a whole lot of excitement for the time when we can pick up our new goats.