Goat keepers?

Hello, does anyone have goats?  I have been looking forward to the day (have finally purchased land with acreage) when I could have my own four legged friend and was curious of stories others may have with theirs.  Kind regards.

Comments

[Justine]

Cindy, hello! Sounds like you are in for some fun...My mom Susun has been raising and keeping goats for the past 30+ years...they certainly do have big personalities.. Her herd of goats are lovely and give the best milk I ever tasted...She make an amazing cheese too...mmm, mmm....But, keeping goats is a real commitment...they need to be fed and milked twice a day and need a routine.. going on vacation or even going away for a day takes plenty of advance planning and of course the luck to find someone who can manage goats rather than being managed by the goats..they can be a real handful...but with personalities to fall in love with, especially the kids in the spring...nothing is cuter than seeing a kid jumping in the air pure joy to be alive!

[Pam Striker]

Hello Cindy, I have had goats for almost 20 years now and I just love them little (or should I say big) critters. They are so friendly and curious about everything. I live in Ohio...where do you live? As Justine said, the little ones are alot of work and fun. I have never made cheese, but have milked a few of our does before. Goat's milk fudge is really good!

Good Luck on your Goatee adventure!

Warmly,

Pam

[annalee]

My parents started raising goats in 1944 so they could have milk for their firstborn. They lived at the time in the back country in AZ. They moved to NY before I was born and we had goats in the family until my sister finally gave away the last in recent years. Every spring as children we played with the kids. They are great pets. All year round we drank the fresh milk and my mom made yogurt. We never made cheese and now I think that was a missed opportunity. Two things to remember with goats milk. The flavors of the plants the goats eat will come through in the milk. One plant to avoid in goats' pasture if possible is Queen Anne's Lace. The milk flavor is strong and bitter from that plant. The second thing is that in many cases children who are allergic to cows milk are fine with goats milk. Over the years my father sold milk to many families with such children with allergies. My mom, who had a nutrition degree from Cornell, said that the proteins in goats milk are closer [than those in cows milk] to the proteins in human milk.