goatlife – Page 2 – Raised By A Village

You Get a Collar! You Get a Collar! Giveaways on the Farm….

Posted on September 10, 2016September 3, 2016 by Janet

In all those years of 4-H cow showmanship contests, I garnered white-participation ribbons and learned to appreciate 16th place. Now, decades later, the skills paid off…in goats.

Catching goats is worse than herding cats. With their sharp horns and cheetah-like sprints, we quickly tired of grabbing horns and chasing them like a rogue version of a ninja warrior television show. Animal scientist, Temple Grandin calls goat horns the “no-fly zone” for human touch.

There had to be a better way. Faith Hill weighs at least 45 pounds and the other night, I picked her up, and she smacked her horn into my jaw. I thought I was going to lose a tooth.

That night, I watched a video by K-N-S Farm of the lady using a dog harness for her blind goat, and I finally saw the light. A quick trip to Tractor Supply after work the next day, and I scored a goat halter, lead, and a medium dog collar. We cornered Faith Hill in the barn, and I added the pink collar. She allowed me to walk and coax her to the milking stanchion.

Once we had her head secured, I added the halter. She stood for milking and when we released her head, I held the lead, walked her down the stanchion, and around the pasture.

This small success involved an ancient trick of bribing the her with a bowl of feed and a treat. My technique works now, but all those years ago, judges in the fairground exhibition ring found my tactic to be completely wrong. As a youngster, I watched in frustration as all the other 4-Hers easily maneuvered their cows into straight lines like dog handlers at Westminster; my stubborn calf wanted to find the nearest bucket of feed…in the stand with the spectators. Mortified, the judges handed me a white ribbon, and I think one may have muttered something about not coming back. That calf, known by her number ,”583″, grew up to be a milking cow who was always first in line at milking times, and she didn’t mind being handled by us humans.

I certainly would have never imagined that all those failed attempts at cow showmanship would one day be a shining moment in our milking time with goats.

After my next trip to Tractor Supply, it’s going to be like an Oprah Winfrey car-giveaway-episode on the farm when I go to the pasture saying, “You get a collar..and you get a collar…and you get a collar!”

Photos courtesy of Kelly Reep.

goatlife

As the herd grows…a soap opera from the farm.

Posted on September 3, 2016September 3, 2016 by Janet

Most commonly, people ask, “What do you do with goats?” At first, I responded, “goat races.” Then, I realized that they believed me. My standard response is, “grass control.” Usually met with, “ah. Do you milk them?” “One nanny. The buck doesn’t stand for it.”

This response is usually met with a blank stare or an audible groan. Sometimes the conversation turns to soap and cheese.

Over the last decade, I’ve made soap without milk. Now, with the supply of fresh goat milk, I’ve started making small batches of goat milk soap. It’s a project that will last as long as the milk flows. As of last weekend, I’ve successfully made a batch of chevre, goat’s milk cheese, that resembles ricotta, and it was quite easy to make!

How did we get to goat milking?

In the summer of 2015, we relocated four pygmy goats from Daddy’s farm to our newly fenced area. We lost those goats to a pair of wild dogs. After burying the goats, we found a pair of miniature jack donkeys who needed a new home when their owner’s daughter headed off to college. Pete and Ney enjoyed full-run of expanded pasture until February, when Jim announced that he wanted to try more goats.

By the summer of 2016, the tiny herd increased the nine, complete with new breeds, babies and bucks. Our tiny herd is growing, along with our skills for mending fences, wrangling and milking goats.