Getting Your Goat

“That really gets my goat!”  I can hear Dad saying it.  Most of us know what the expression means.  Something had just upset him, or aggravated him.  But what on earth does that have to do with the poor innocent goats?  Goats are amazing creatures, and are very useful animals in many parts of the world—in some cases, the difference between eating or not eating.  The “poor man’s cow,” they’re called.   I wouldn't  relegate them to that nearly-demeaning status.  They are wonderful creatures, affectionate pets, and useful for a variety of things.  We’ve owned a lot of them—both the dairy variety, and the Angora breed that are sheared twice a year for Mohair.   

On my walks I see some goats at the Amish farm on the S-curve.   They tether the goats on the banks by the road and along their driveway to do their weed eating.  A nice doe (or nanny goat), that appears to be producing a lot of milk, provides a valuable service in keeping down the weeds and grass, converting it to milk for the family.  The only reservation I have with this arrangement, is that goats need protection from weather and predators.  But then again, a large family lives there, and someone is always nearby to provide for the needs of the goat.   They look after the goat, and goat looks after them.   A nice, mutually beneficial relationship.

When I was a child, we lived on a small farm where we raised chickens, sheep, two Jersey cows for family milk, and a couple of beef steers.  Goats weren't even on the radar.

That all changed when I became married, and wanted to have my own mini-farm.  With only one-and-one-third acre of land, we did not have enough room to repeat everything from my childhood.

Still, I was determined to do something.  Rabbits came first.  Then chickens.  We had meat and eggs now, but no milk.  If only space would allow for a Jersey cow.   We decided we would  have a dairy goat.  We would drink the milk, use it for homemade ice cream, perhaps cheese, and if there was enough to spare, we might even try making soap.  

We acquired our first dairy goat at a livestock auction.  The one we chose was a brown mixed-breed with airplane ears.   I was so nervous I could hardly bid.  I went home that evening with a happy four-year-old son, and a goat that needed to be milked.  We named her Gertrude—Gertie for short.  

I was the first to try milking her.  It didn’t work.  Only a few dribbles of milk came when I did what I had seen my Dad and brothers do countless times with the Jersey cows.  You just squeeze the handles and the milk streams out.  Right?  So simple.  Not for me.  Juanita, an old hand at milking their childhood cow, came to my rescue.   She watched me try until she couldn't take it any more, then replaced me at the rear of the goat.  Suddenly, beautiful streams of pure white milk were gathering into a frothy puddle in the stainless pail.  We were in business!   With a little coaching, I caught on, and my dear farm wife didn’t need to milk the goat again.

Son Derek with a favorite friend.

After several years of mixed-breed goats, we joined a goat club, and graduated to registered Nubians with good pedigrees that we purchased from people who had been raising and milking goats for many years.   Nubians are the least adventurous goats—as far as escaping—and in my opinion, the prettiest.   With the long drooping ears, and the multi-colored, spotted coats, they are simply beautiful.  And the new-born kids are as pretty and cuddly as a pup.  

Son Mike with a prize winning Nubian

It wasn’t a large leap to add Angora goats to the herd.  We started this when our small family lived in Gallia County, Ohio, and worked on the Walnut Hills Dairy farm, for Phil and Ellen Nisly.   The property we lived on had an old barn with room to house a small herd of goats, and the benefit we would get from the Angoras was two-fold.  They would produce hair that we could sell for fine Mohair products, and they would clean up the large amount of multiflora roses that were taking over hillside areas of the farm.   The plan came together, and one day Phil and I, along with our boys, loaded up in the old farm truck and headed for Cambridge, Ohio where we bought a herd of about twenty Angora goats from an old gentleman who was getting out of the business.   

Some of our Angoras, peeking out the door.

We learned how to shear the goats, and found a place to market the hair.  We didn’t make a lot of money on the project, but we had fun, and the goats had fun cleaning up the multiflora and poison ivy.  Again, a mutually beneficial arrangement.  

Wait a minute!  You said the goats ate poison ivy?  Yes I did.  They love it, and it doesn't hurt them.  In fact, some would claim that drinking milk from a goat that eats poison ivy, will make a person less susceptible to reacting to it.

It wasn’t long after we bought the Angoras, that we thought the goats should have a donkey to guard them from dogs and coyotes.  So we adopted two wild burros that came from somewhere out west where the Bureau of Land Management needed to thin the herd.  They were easily tamed, and that began our relationship with donkeys for the next twenty years.

This is not photo shopped.  The donkey and goat had an agreement.  The donkey got a back rub, and the goat got to eat leaves from the maple tree.

Goats and donkeys, two species of animals that are often looked down upon, are clean, intelligent animals that are sometimes given a bad rap because of personality traits.  We shouldn't follow common thought about these animals.  Their personality characteristics are a reflection of their high intelligence.   This perhaps makes them more challenging, but also more fun.

Daughter Angie.  Tug of war.

Now for those of you who may be thinking of getting your first goat, I have some thoughts.  This is a great time of year to consider it.  Goats are excellent pets, and provide a wonderful way for children and their parents to enter the world of animal husbandry on a small parcel of land.

When we began, there was no such thing as internet.  We purchased several good books on raising and caring for dairy goats.  The books are still available, and are helpful reference tools. There is also a plethora of material on the internet, and a lot of it is excellent.  If you are already thinking about taking the plunge, and beginning to do your research, I’d like to offer this short, elementary list of items to consider.

Ten suggestions for entertaining your first goat:

1. Peruse the internet and/or purchase books on raising dairy goats.  After reading and researching, you may feel overwhelmed.  This is okay.
2. Go ahead and start looking.  Contact your local 4H club.  Someone there should have contacts for you.  With a little bit of common sense, and knowledgeable people around you, you will do fine.
3. Buy only healthy stock.  Try to avoid a livestock auction.  Reach for your wallet when you find someone who has begun to look like his goats and loves talking about them.
4. Provide shelter from sun, rain, and wind.  This is important!  Your goat will decide when to use it.
5. Feed lots of tin cans.  Just kidding!!  Contrary to popular belief, goats are finicky eaters.  Provide good pasture or browse, or good quality hay and grain.  Why do goats have the reputation for eating tin cans?  They like the glue under the paper.
6. Fresh water must be available at all times.  Your goats will not drink contaminated water.
7. Provide a social life.  Get another goat or be prepared to spend a lot of time with yours.  They love company and attention.  Go ahead and get at least two.  They’ll be happier and so will you.
8. Build a good fence.  Your neighbors will not be amused by having a goat over for lunch—especially in their carefully manicured rose garden.  Goats are experts at climbing over or crawling under poor fences.  Electric fencing is a good option.
9. Don’t worry about what your friends think.  There are a lot more goats in the world than cows.  Sixty percent of the world’s milk drinkers are drinking goat’s milk.  It is naturally homogenized, easier to digest, hypo-allergenic, and delicious when cooled quickly.
10. Enjoy your goats.  They are friendly and affectionate.  Treat them like your favorite pet, and you will be rewarded many times over.  And if your friends still wonder about you, don’t worry, you have new friends.

Certainly, this is just a beginning.  Deciding which breed you want will be the next step.  Enjoy the process, and involve your children.  Goats are great to have around.

From Kidron, Ohio, we’re going to end these thoughts and go for  a fast three-mile walk down Jericho, and up Zuercher.  I anticipate seeing cows, horses, goats, and sheep.  There will be  Amish men and boys out in their fields plowing, discing, and planting.  What a beautiful part of the world to live in!  Come see us sometime.