# Why Did YOU Want Goats?



## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

I thought it might be fun to have a thread where people can share why they originally got goats, or how they first figured out they wanted them. I'll go first.

In 2011 we moved out of a suburban development to a six acre property that had a barn on it. I think it was probably around a year or two after we moved in when my family visited a local nature center where they had a petting zoo that had goats in it. Serendipitously these goats were kinders, the breed I would eventually end up falling in love with. The caretaker at the petting zoo talked to us about how awesome goats were and it just struck me as something I could probably do. 

Our family was starting to get into self sufficiency and we knew that it would be great to have a source of milk. A cow would be out of the question because we had absolutely no experience with livestock. Getting chickens was enough of a dive into the unknown for us ex-suburbanites. Milk goats seemed manageable, though. At the time I was probably thirteen and I just took on the dream of raising goats and providing milk for my family.

At the time it just wasn't practical for us to get into goats, so my dream would have to wait. I ended up having to wait until spring of 2019 after we had moved to a new property until I was able to get my first goats. But the wait was well worth it. All that time allowed me to do an abundant amount of research which allowed me to hit the ground running so to speak.

Here is the picture of my first two kinder does Bella and Prim only a few hours after they came home:


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## FizzyGoats (Apr 14, 2021)

Aw, they are sure cute. And what a great time to remember. 

My journey is fairly similar, no zoo though.  Once my husband retired from the military and took a job that required travel (so it didn’t matter where we lived), we moved out of suburbia and onto about 37 acres near the lake we love to take our old boat on. We are hoping to move closer and closer to self sufficiency. We first thought about a cow but wanted smaller, easier to manage animals since I’m here alone often. That lead us to goats, then even smaller, to Nigerian Dwarf goats because we didn’t want to be drowning in milk. And I’d always thought goats (all of them) were super cute with a lot of personality. And that’s how, just a few weeks ago, we ended up with our three little girls.


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## MisFit Ranch (Apr 1, 2021)

I live near a school with a FFA type program, they had a boer buck, I fell in love, and decided I wanted my own goats. they’ve since gave him away and got another buck (they don’t make very good decisions, as they complained about the first buck being “rough” and this buck is even meaner IMO) these where the first goats I got Jupiter and Trixie








then of course my love grew ! And I ended up with four more 🤦‍♀️(fourth doe “Angel” is not pictured as she was still being weaned)








and as things do, I got more! I now have 12 and Have 2 does I’ve bought that are still at the sellers property. 😊


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

We moved from California city life to Texas Farm life 16 years ago to be more self reliant. We had a lot of hopes and dreams and soon found that those all take time. But with a brood of 8 human kids and 2 of our boys couldn't have cows milk so goats seemed like a good thing to raise. So that was how we got into dairy goats. Although we have raised Boer goats for a while, dairy goats were where we landed and now stay. We have raised nubian, obers, saanen, alpine and of course LaMancha and Nigerian. We found the few that suited us and our need and stuck with them. Now we only have 2 kiddos left at home to drink the milk so down sizing is needed. I think no matter what life throws at us..we will always have at least a few goats, even if just a few pets. This picture is Rosie. The girl that started it all with Lamancha let alone dairy. She always threw very colorful kids. I miss her every day.


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## NigerianNewbie (Jun 6, 2018)

I wanted goats to help me manage the over abundance of honey suckle vines, black berry bushes, weeds and sapling trees in a fallow field and to keep the understory cleared in the wooded areas. Since I have 3 spring heads that gave birth to a named creek, the brook on my property runs between 2 hills and using stuff like Round Up was out of the question for me. Couldn't operate a weed eater or use a bow saw, and things got terribly overgrown. At the time, I was experiencing my 2nd shoulder injury after taking close to 3 years to recover from the first one. My physical therapy was building their goat barn, driving T-post, running fence for their dry lot, hauling cattle panels to build the browse sections and nesting a "home" for them. It took months for me to accomplish this task. However, once finished, I had 2 fully functioning shoulders and corded muscles in my arms. I decided a wether herd was the perfect solution for me because being able to rotate feeding areas is important to me. Breeding goats would have eaten up more of my space than I was comfortable with and very possibly more responsibility than I was willing to take on. I have enjoyed the Monkhood more than I have the words to express. They were my first goats and will be the last for me, the herd will always remain closed.


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## Boers4ever (Jun 28, 2020)

When I was 11 I got into 4-H. I’ve always loved goats and I knew immediately that that’s the animal I want to raise. Each year I bought, raised, and sold show wethers and I loved it! When I was 13 I was given a bottle baby doeling. I had no idea what to do with it. She was the first doe I’ve ever had and I had never bottle fed a baby before. But I dove in head first and raised her in the house (much to my parents dismay). I loved her! And I named her Poppy. She was my little buddy for years and she was the one who started me thinking about getting a few more does. Well, for my 15 birthday my dad gave me a card that had a slip of paper in it. It said “coupon for 3 Boer does and 1 buck”. I was ecstatic!! I immediately went goat searching, and within a few weeks I had three beautiful Boer does! A bit after that I got a dappled buck and bred them. The rest is history! I am now 16 and am branching out in the meat goat business, selling goat milk (from Poppy!), and raising next years crop of kids. I’m also starting a goat and sheep hoof trimming business. Tomorrow I’m going to meet my first customers! Yay!


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## Cedarwinds Farm (Dec 2, 2019)

Well, I had just moved back from living overseas. I knew I didn't want to stay on the farm, but I wasn't sure what direction I wanted to go. Figured, since I was living here, I ought to contribute.
My sister had 3 wethers she was using to help reclaim some very brushy ground and tackle some of the invasive plants we have here. Two of them died, and she sold the third one because he was lonesome. She wanted more goat on the land, but didn't have time to buy them, train them to the electric fences, etc. So I said I would buy the goats and train them, then she could take over when I moved on.
I found a wether on Craigslist for $75. I asked the seller if they had another goat I could buy, since I knew one goat would be unhappy. They said sure, we'll throw in this doe. So I paid $150 for the two of them. Huck and Josie, my first goats.
Well, that was about 4 years ago. I am still on the farm. Josie is a good milk goat...the best $75 I've ever spent. Huck wanders around and eats brush like a champ. I have a little dairy business and (currently) 10 other goats.
I like how interesting goats are. I like how they've given me the chance to form connections with people I never would have, otherwise. I like that they force me to be creative. They also force me to stay fit and active, even when the weather is appalling (especially when the weather is appalling). They are small enough that I can do most of the management fairly easily by myself. At the end of a long day, I like to just go outside and sit down with them, let them lick my face, burp in my ears, nibble my hair, and finally, just lie down all around me and chew their cud.

Huck and Josie, when I first brought them home.


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## Lil Boogie (Mar 24, 2021)

Sorry for the long message but I felt it be necessary.

5 years ago my mom and dad got 3 goats they were Nubian/Boer two does (Cupcake and Muffin) and one buck (Breeches)...they were so small and only 2 weeks old, non of us knew anything about goats at that time but we did know at two weeks they need a bottle so here we go...they didn't want the bottle... wouldn't eat anything but then we tried to put milk in a pan and of course they loved the milk being in a pan instead of a bottle lol so they lived off of that for a few weeks untill they started eating hay/grass/grian/water. 6 months later we suddenly and sadly lost Muffin... It was hard because they were my babies my only and best friends... Lets back up 6 months to when we first got them. My mom and dad got the goats but i fell in love with them at first sight! Its like they were angels sent form heaven for me to learn off of! So very soon after getting them my mom knew that I loved them even more then she did so...she let me have them! Okay fast forward 4 months after losing Muffin (we then had had them for almost a year) still dont know why Muffin died and still know nothing about goats. One morning my mom tells me " your daddy said Cupcake cant walk"......me in my Pajamas Just got out of bed Slipping on my house shoes and long sleeve and running to our goat pen to check on cupcake (Btw it was 7am and in the middle of winter and 15 degrees...) Sure enough she couldn't stand....okay I have to admit cupcake was and is my baby.. I loved Musffin and Breeches but cupcake and me were two peas in a pod...losing her would have been like ripping out my heart. I sat with her, poor thing she wanted to walk to me but kept falling down and shaking? I put her in her pen and went back to the house to get ready to go to the vet with my mom and I told my mom " I think she is having Seizures" and sure enough.. We get to the vet they say she is having BAD ones....almost Grand mal seizures...They had to keep her for 3 days and they gave her meds so she was asleep the whole time she wss there... I remember the drive home....i was crying so hard I almost passed out....my mom was driving and telling me "it's okay to cry but you will pass out!" It was so hard to think of a life without cupcake..my friend, my family, my angel....when we FINALLY got to go back and pick her up I went to the back of the vet were cupcake was in a 10 by 5 pen and...she didn't realize it was me at first but when she smelled my hand.....she started screaming and crying out for me....jumpimg on the walls trying to get to me....the vet opened the door after putting her on a leash....she pulled so hard the vet accidentally let go of her leash and Cupcake ran into my stomach cryong out like....like she missed me so much....it was so emotional.....ive felt loved before and still do obviously by my family but...ive never felt so loved by an animal....it was unreal...we got her home and I sit down in our back yard and she would not get off of me! She kept calling then she would lick my hands and look at me like she was saying "never leave me again".....i love my girl and if it weren't for the vet? She would be dead. At this very day I still have my baby cupcake at my side! Sadly tho...last year I lost Breeches..... I miss him and muffin so much I cant even express... But that is what started me with goats. Lossing something I loved so dearly..made me strive to become a successful goat breeder. Here I am 5 years later and still learning but, I'm happy I chose to keep on, even after a lot of heartache. Its made me so much stronger and a better person.

My baby, Cupcake and her son Vivian.





  








Baby mama and her baby




__
Lil Boogie


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Apr 30, 2021


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## Lil Boogie (Mar 24, 2021)

Sorry for any typos it's 1:12 am here


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## Mike_C (Mar 25, 2021)

This whole thing started back in March of 2018 with a meme:












Yeah! That one. 

Then one Friday evening, we were discussing my upcoming election campaign, We were talking about parade events When my lovey bride (and campaign treasurer) chimed in with

“I can see him walking the parade with a GOAT, pulling a wagon with a banner on the side.”

and so it begins...


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## BarnOwl (Sep 6, 2020)

This is a fun topic. I love reading what inspired everyone to get goats.

We moved to our little house on 5 acres about 7 years ago with the plan of perhaps getting chickens and goats. I have wanted to live in the country for as long as I can remember and have always been animal-crazy. When I was young, I pined for horses, but at this stage of life, I can’t justify the time and expense.

First on my list after we moved in was getting another German Shepherd. I had a toy breed dog and a cat, but I had been longing to get another GSD after 10 years of living in apartments and rentals while husband and I finished school, looked for jobs, saved up for down payments, ect. So we started out with a German Shepherd puppy, and about 20 months later we got a second GSD puppy.

After that we started our human family. For a while, we were so tired and busy, I promised my husband I wouldn’t even consider getting any more animals until the children were in school. But in 2019, we changed our minds and got chickens. They were so easy and rewarding that we fenced off ½ an acre and got pigs in 2020. (I wasn’t planning on getting pigs, but a relative breeds them so they were easy to acquire). 

Now , my human kids are potty trained, slightly more independent, and the older one is about to start kindergarten, so we decided to get goats and complete our little “farm.” I chose Nigerians because we only have 5 acres--not all of it fenced yet--and I don’t have a truck with a trailer, so the smaller size seemed suited to our property and our preparedness. I have fantasies about milking and possibly cheese-making, but we don’t use a ton of milk, so Nigerians should give us plenty for our current needs. I also would love it if the goats could help tame some of the out-of-control blackberries, bracken and undergrowth we have out in our field. Last, but far from least, I love the friendliness of goats, their variety of colors, and that they can be pets as well as productive farm animals.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

BarnOwl said:


> This is a fun topic. I love reading what inspired everyone to get goats.
> 
> We moved to our little house on 5 acres about 7 years ago with the plan of perhaps getting chickens and goats. I have wanted to live in the country for as long as I can remember and have always been animal-crazy. When I was young, I pined for horses, but at this stage of life, I can’t justify the time and expense.


I have pined for a horse all my life too and I agree with now being unable to justify it for those reasons. Goats are a decent compromise though!


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## GoosegirlAsh (Mar 24, 2021)

Really enjoying reading everyone's stories! 

My husband and I were working high stress jobs. He ended up getting severely injured and medically retired. I was getting burned out and was rarely home. We both had great memories of our grandparents farms, and decided we wanted a quieter life in the country, where we could pursue self sufficiency. 

We started with various kinds of poultry, and knew we wanted to expand to dairy animals. He was team cow, because of his grandparents farm, and I was team goat, because of mine. We decided to start with goats, and got two Mini-Nubian doelings. They are such a joy to me. My husband has slowly warmed up to them, and agreed to expanding the herd. I now have a buck, my does are pregnant, and I am picking up a wether in a couple of weeks. We are loving this journey we are on, and I am so looking forward to goat kids here soon!


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## Calistar (Jan 16, 2017)

I had always wanted a horse. That was just not in the cards for a middle class family with 3 kids. Then I saw a cute little Nubian kid at the fair and decided that a goat was as close to a horse as I was going to get! I begged and begged, and my parents eventually caved and bought me a pair of Pygmy wethers. I had wanted dairy goats, but they had the good sense to know that an 8th grader wouldn't have the dedication for milking and caring for a dairy doe. I had them until they both passed of old age. By the time the second one passed, I had decided I didn't want any more goats. I had a job, so had income but now didn't have time, so I compromised and bought miniature horses instead of the "real" horse I'd always wanted. Then sheep. The sheep got me thinking about goats again and I still wanted to try my hand at raising a milk goat! I bought one goat. Then another. And a couple more. I don't know what happened but there's like 40 of them in my yard right now and 2 in the house. Now I have neither time NOR money!


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

Calistar said:


> I don't know what happened but there's like 40 of them in my yard right now and 2 in the house.


🤣 Prime example of goat math right there!


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## MissMiniNubian (Jan 20, 2021)

My sister and I have always wanted horses, too. Obviously, that hasn’t happened...yet, we hope to get some in the distant future. Anyway, I don’t really remember what made us interested goats but I guess what really pulled the trigger was when we were having a conversation with a friend and we were on the topic of our mini farm (we only had chickens before) and he said, “You guys should get some goats!” My sister and I were like, “Yeah! They could eat our weeds!”
And so after a lot of begging and watching YouTube videos of them being so cute, our parents gave in. And before we new it, we had bought SEVEN goats that we needed to pick up! I guess you could say we dove in headfirst! 😬😆 We were a little overwhelmed at first, but now we just love it! Before we got goats, none of us thought goats could be so sweet, so funny, and just so awesome!


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## Calistar (Jan 16, 2017)

MissMiniNubian said:


> “Yeah! They could eat our weeds!”


I hope that's working out better for you than it is for me!


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## MissMiniNubian (Jan 20, 2021)

Calistar said:


> I hope that's working out better for you than it is for me!
> 
> View attachment 209174


Ha! Ha! Actually, it’s not!😆


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## Moers kiko boars (Apr 23, 2018)

I grew up in the summers raising cattle, breaking horses with my Grandad. I would then go to school at my parents home in a small city. After school was finished I worked, rode Hunter-Jumper & Dressage. That ended when I had kids
The kids got old enough, we showed sheep, in 4H I was a leader for 7 years. Then FFA showed pigs. Soon they were gone to college. I went back to school got into medical. Worked all the time, then Hubby and I bought a.small place. I have a rescue Morgan ( horse). I decided the land needs to help.pay for itself
So Cattle were to big...back to school Langston U. For goat education. I was fascinated.by meat goats.and all the.genetic versatility of color, muscle mass and cross breeding genetics. I was hooked. Started with 8...all Now I have 5 different breeds, mixing and keeping some 100% reg. Boers. I have 42 on the ground. Its been a wild & crazy few years.


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## Tanya (Mar 31, 2020)

Running a rescue for non farm and domesticated animals, I was asked to help with a 5 week old orphan. Destiny needed a buddy so we got Gizmo. And my last 15 months have been filled with inconditional goat love. They comforted me when my husband became a statistic and comfort Vani when school gets hard. I love them.


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

It was fun to read through all of these! It's interesting that so many people here wanted horses but settled on goats as a less expensive option. I started out with horses and branched out to goats! I've had horses my whole life. My mom rode Pony Club and was winning with her hunters on the A circuit before I was born, so there was never a time when horses weren't part of my life. My family moved to a very remote town in Colorado and my mom had to give up the hunter circuit, but she still kept horses which we boarded at a youth camp outside of town. I grew up riding mostly bareback in the mountains. When I was in about 3rd grade a friend of mine got a goat. It was her parents' disappointing answer to her horse dreams. I met that goat once before it was promptly rehomed. The goat liked to jump on cars and my friend's parents owned a vacation lodge. Not a good match!

That was my only goat experience until I was 20 years old and newly married. I dragged my reluctant husband to the Allegany County Fair in the little town of Angelica in western New York state. I had a summer job doing janitor work at our college and I saw a flyer for the fair in the campus center that said "DEMOLITION DERBY". Having grown up in one of the remotest areas of the lower 48, I had never been to any kind of fair, let alone a demolition derby! Not only that, but tickets were only $7.00. There were very few things we could afford in those days, but if $14 could get two of us into a whole day at the fair (tickets covered all the rides and access to all the shows) it was a deal we couldn't pass up. I rushed home to tell Phil but he was less than enthusiastic. He didn't see the appeal of a fair, or the rides, or a demolition derby. However, I absolutely assured him that if he would just humor me by going this one time, I would never drag him to another one again. He caved.

The fair was a blast. The rides were amazing. We rode every single one and a lot of them twice. We watched a tractor pull and a blacksmithing competition. We saw a horse race that included some dirty fouls and a crash (no one was hurt so it was exciting). The demolition derby started at 4:00 and didn't end until 10:00. We sat glued to our seats through all six hours while contestants from all over the state destroyed over 200 cars. It was one of the best days of our lives! And somewhere in there we walked through the 4-H barns to look at the sheep and pigs, chickens, rabbits, cattle and... goats! All the animals were interesting in their own way, but the goats captured our attention. We watched enrapt as one little brown goat strained and stretched to reach the blue ribbon hanging proudly over her stall. She couldn't _quite_ get it, but she stood on her tippy toes and her tongue was out at full stretch. She was determined! Phil and I laughed and laughed when she finally managed to clamp her lips onto a bottom corner and yank it down from the wall. The entire ribbon promptly disappeared and Phil and I were in stitches. (Later when we went back to visit the goat again, there was a sodden blue mass lying in the straw so she did not actually _eat_ the ribbon, but it was no longer recognizable as any kind of prize.)

As we watched the goat chew up her ribbon, Phil turned to me and said, "I'm not much into animals, but goats are funny. I think I could get into goats."

That brief encounter sparked an obsession in my husband's brain. In 2001 I bred my mare and Phil began asking whether we could get a goat as a companion for a foal. At first I dismissed the idea but when he persisted I realized he was actually serious. In spring of 2002 we started goat shopping, but nothing was remotely in our price range. People were asking anywhere from $75 - $150 for goats except for one "Mr. Free-to-Good-Home" that was old and crotchety and larger than the expected foal. And none of the goats we looked at were very pretty. Mostly they were just brown. Now, there's nothing wrong with brown goats, but we were sort of hoping for something a little more interesting to look at.

After visiting the prospects and coming up empty, we got discouraged and gave up on our goat quest. We decided we just couldn't afford a goat right now. It was our 3rd anniversary and someone had given us free tickets and discounted lodging at Six Flags Darien Lake, so we drove up for the weekend. It was a blast and we were tired. I was driving and Phil was asleep in the passenger seat as we passed through the hilly green farm country on our way home. A flash of color caught my eye.

"PHIL DID YOU SEE THAT GOAT?!?"

I slammed the brakes and pulled an illegal U-turn in the highway, almost crossing into oncoming traffic in my extreme excitement. Phil shot up from his nap in panic. "What? What? What's wrong??"

I pulled into the driveway, stopped in front of the goat pasture, and jumped out to get a closer look. There it was--the prettiest goat I had ever laid eyes on! It looked like it had fallen into about three different colors of paint and it was happily bouncing along next to its mother and sibling in a field of green. Surely a goat that pretty would be far beyond our budget, but I could not leave without asking. I knocked at the house but there was no answer. So I began a rather tedious march through about a dozen barns and sheds, knocking on doors and hollering. Phil trailed sheepishly at the back. He wanted a goat, but at this point I'm pretty sure he thought I was crazy.

I finally found an old farmer milking a solitary cow at the very back of the last cavernous barn. I told him I'd seen his goats as we drove by and I was interested. I asked if any were for sale and for how much. He told me the goats were his wife's department, but he thought the babies were $25 each. My heart leapt. $25 was a price we could afford! The wife was out, but I got her name and phone number and I told the farmer I'd be calling. I called that night. The little goat I liked was indeed for sale for $25. And it was a boy!

I made arrangements at the place where my mare lived and I was back at the farm a week later to buy my first goat. The $25 included banding and vaccination. Phil and I could not have been more thrilled with our new companion. He was an Alpine/Nubian cross and we named him Cuzco. In hindsight he was a bit too young to be weaned and banded, but we didn't know. I think he was about 8 weeks old when we picked him up. You can see why we named him after the arrogant llama in Disney's new-at-the-time movie, _The Emperor's New Groove_!









Cuzco lived for 15 years, first as a horse companion but soon as our companion. He grew into a magnificent animal weighing 200 lbs. He was athletic, smart, and always gorgeous. Often over the years people would stop their cars, back up, and tell me they'd never seen such a beautiful goat. Strangers took pictures of him wherever he went. We ran him for homecoming king at our college and he won by a landslide. We took him for a road trip in the back seat of our Buick. Cuzco ran next to me when I rode my horse or my bike, and several years later when I acquired a pickup truck, he rode loose in the bed while I ran errands. I had several people tell me over the years that they'd seen many beautifully colored goats in their lives, but never one so striking as Cuzco. I have to agree. And it wasn't just his beautiful color. He had a boldness and a presence about him that not many goats have. He carried his head high and proud, like he knew he was the most important person in the room. If someone pointed a camera at him he always stopped to strike a pose. Cuzco hiked and packed until he was 14 years old, at which point arthritis took over. We put him to rest in April 2017. Cuzco was the goat that started it all for us and we will never forget him.


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## NigerianNewbie (Jun 6, 2018)

Thanks for sharing the story of how Cuzco became a part of your family. Cozco is like a well known legend for some of us.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

What a wonderful story! Thanks so much for sharing! Cuzco is a legend!


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## FizzyGoats (Apr 14, 2021)

That was such a great, heart warming story. 

I really love reading all of these posts. It is interesting to see some trends and the little unique things that brought us all to goats. No matter how we ended up with them, they sure are easy to fall in love with. This is a great thread.


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

I love how so many of us met our first goat at a fair or similar public event. I've heard a lot of grumbling from goat people over the years about how terrible it is that the public can access our goats at shows and fairs, etc. and I do see their point. I've had some odd things fed to my goats over the years and they've certainly had a lot of sticky fingers thrust in their faces. I answer a lot of ignorant questions and it's frustrating when people take hay or grain from my stall and feed it to someone else's goats and vice versa. BUT, if we never shared our goats with the "unwashed masses" there would be far fewer chances for people to fall in love, develop an interest, and eventually become goat owners. I do my best to mitigate the problems that arise when the public has access to my goats, but I think the value of sharing my goats with the public far outweighs the risks. I love to share my goats, and there's nothing more thrilling than to have someone come up to me at a fair and say, "I saw you here four years ago. You inspired me to get goats and now I'm showing mine here too!"


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## Cedarwinds Farm (Dec 2, 2019)

Damfino said:


> I love how so many of us met our first goat at a fair or similar public event. I've heard a lot of grumbling from goat people over the years about how terrible it is that the public can access our goats at shows and fairs, etc. and I do see their point. I've had some odd things fed to my goats over the years and they've certainly had a lot of sticky fingers thrust in their faces. I answer a lot of ignorant questions and it's frustrating when people take hay or grain from my stall and feed it to someone else's goats and vice versa. BUT, if we never shared our goats with the "unwashed masses" there would be far fewer chances for people to fall in love, develop an interest, and eventually become goat owners. I do my best to mitigate the problems that arise when the public has access to my goats, but I think the value of sharing my goats with the public far outweighs the risks. I love to share my goats, and there's nothing more thrilling than to have someone come up to me at a fair and say, "I saw you here four years ago. You inspired me to get goats and now I'm showing mine here too!"


I don't go to fairs or shows, but I do enjoy sharing my goats with others. In fact, I think more people come to my house to see my goats than to see me.  the interaction is so good for kids (both human and goat). I will never forget the family of girls who recently came out to visit my goats. Big Sister was trepidatious. But Middle Sister marched over to Josie, my biggest doe, placed her hand confidently on her horn, and proclaimed, "This...is a _nice_ doat!" 
Some of nieces and nephews have been known to lock themselves _into_ the goat pen, and only come out under protest. 
When I sell my goat kids, I can truthfully say they've been pretty well socialized.


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## FizzyGoats (Apr 14, 2021)

Caileigh Jane Smith said:


> ... But Middle Sister marched over to Josie, my biggest doe, placed her hand confidently on her horn, and proclaimed, "This...is a _nice_ doat!"


Future TGS member right there. Love it.


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## Cedarwinds Farm (Dec 2, 2019)

FizzyGoats said:


> Future TGS member right there. Love it.


Yes!


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## Boers4ever (Jun 28, 2020)

@Damfino what a beautiful story of Cuzco! But I have to ask, what did you feed him?! Wow what a stunning and big boy he was! Looking at the baby picture of him I never would’ve thought he’d get over 100 lbs, much less 200!! What an awesome goat. What breed was he?


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## BrookviewFarm (Apr 8, 2021)

Caileigh Jane Smith said:


> Well, I had just moved back from living overseas. I knew I didn't want to stay on the farm, but I wasn't sure what direction I wanted to go. Figured, since I was living here, I ought to contribute.
> My sister had 3 wethers she was using to help reclaim some very brushy ground and tackle some of the invasive plants we have here. Two of them died, and she sold the third one because he was lonesome. She wanted more goat on the land, but didn't have time to buy them, train them to the electric fences, etc. So I said I would buy the goats and train them, then she could take over when I moved on.
> I found a wether on Craigslist for $75. I asked the seller if they had another goat I could buy, since I knew one goat would be unhappy. They said sure, we'll throw in this doe. So I paid $150 for the two of them. Huck and Josie, my first goats.
> Well, that was about 4 years ago. I am still on the farm. Josie is a good milk goat...the best $75 I've ever spent. Huck wanders around and eats brush like a champ. I have a little dairy business and (currently) 10 other goats.
> ...


really nice looking goats! do all your goats have horns?


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## BrookviewFarm (Apr 8, 2021)

I grew up on the outskirts of a small city. Loved hearing the stories my grandparents used to tell me of when they used to ride a horse to the ice cream stand and the horse wouldnt leave until he got one too. And how they had pigs and chickens etc. As a kid I always loved working in the garden and helping raise rabbits and ducks. In the city I fell in love with farm life and the stories from times long gone. Later in life once my wife and I bought our first house our neighbors run a pig farm with obviously pigs then goats, chickens, turkeys and geese. I wanted to do more than the chickens we had but all i could do was add meat chickens to the mix seeing as we only had a half acre. 15 years later we bought our dream home, a log house with 2.5 acres and a barn. I wasted no time planning, building, fencing and we bought two pregnant mini nubian does. Then added a nubian buckling, then the does kidded and gave us another nice doeling and one buckling we sold. Then I used that $ to buy feed and supplies and one more doeling this time an apline. So Im now at my max I wanted to have which is 5 goats and toying with the idea of a mini jersey cow lol


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

Boers4ever said:


> @Damfino what a beautiful story of Cuzco! But I have to ask, what did you feed him?! Wow what a stunning and big boy he was! Looking at the baby picture of him I never would’ve thought he’d get over 100 lbs, much less 200!! What an awesome goat. What breed was he?


Thanks! When I bought Cuzco I did not realize goats could get that big. He was an Alpine/Nubian cross so he just came by that size naturally. I did not feed him anything special. He grew up on whatever pasture and hay the horses were eating. He never got wormed or given a loose mineral or anything like that. He just had access to the salt and trace mineral blocks I put out for the horses. When I got him he was a nice size for his age. I could carry him but he was an armful. Judging by the size of his horns, he was probably around 8 weeks old, which was too early to wean but I didn't realize it at the time. The fact that he'd been dam-raised and was very well grown helped him thrive despite the early weaning age. This was the day I brought him home:


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## Cedarwinds Farm (Dec 2, 2019)

BrookviewFarm said:


> really nice looking goats! do all your goats have horns?


Thank you! Your little herd is pretty, too! I've got a few horned goats, but the majority are disbudded.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

How cute.


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## GoofyGoat (Sep 21, 2018)

To start, I never wanted goats! (Famous last words)...

It all started when my daughter was talking to my sister and mentioned she liked goats, she was about 10 at the time.....( she’s now 20)
Fast forward a couple years, we were renting a house where livestock werent allowed but the owner decided to sell. so, we started looking for a small homestead to buy. 
We got lucky and found a great house on about 4.5 acres. We’d only been here about a week and up rolls this trailer with a boer doeling and a boer buckling inside! There’s my sister with a huge smile on her face.....
My daughters house warming present .....😱 mind you, we had no shelter and worse yet no fencing!🤷‍♀️🥴😲

Well, the buckling had been taught that ramming people was ok and worse he had just started his first rut...he HAD to go! I made my sister return him because he was a danger to be around but my daughter had already gotten attached to the doeling so we looked for a friend for her.
I built a hoop house and bought a premier 1 electric net fence to use until we got something more permanent built.

We decided we didn’t want meat goats we wanted dairy so after a couple months we brought home our first two Nigerian Dwarfs... Luna and Tonks....Then came Sirius, Remus and Lily.....
That was the beginning of the goat math....30 plus goats later, we’re still raising nigies but downsizing some but I have to admit it’s been fun, heartbreaking and nonstop ever since and I honestly don’t see a time where I won’t have at least a few of these amazing critters around.....
I can now say in all honesty now, I DO want goats lol!


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## Jubillee (Dec 22, 2017)

Haha, like above, I had never wanted goats. Mostly because of the horror stories everyone tells you about. 

We were renting in the city for soooo long, then our landlord decided to sell the house, and it was not somewhere we wanted to stay. I had dreams for years upon years of being in the country with some animals doing the self-sustaining thing. We ended up on 11.5 acres way out in the country. 5 months later we had a flock of chickens. A (now very good) friend we'd met buying chickens, invited our family over to see the new baby goats they kidded out. I was cool seeing them, but had no interest in taking them. Cue seeing those cute little bouncy kids and all went out the window. We talked to my friend bringing up all these myths and found most were not that bad. So about 3 weeks later we brought home a baby and a 1-year-old milker, Peaches (who we still have and is one of my best girls!). A month later we brought home the last baby she had at her place. I researched like crazy (and still do) and gained so much knowledge on goats and we started expanding our herd. These girls were unregistered mini-Nubians which my friend so kindly went through the process of registering them. I learned more about the breed and decided I really wanted the challenge of breeding good solid milking girls. I fell in love with these goats and they quickly became my favorite animal. I added full Nubians in the mix but now we have 10 girls and 2 boys. I try to stay very strict and picky in my keeping of goats because I like a smaller herd. I know it could get out of hand quickly LOL. Pics of my babies are in the link in my sig. 

We now have chickens, turkeys, goats, and sheep. We tried a cow but it was too impractical for us with trying to get her bred, her size, etc. We've had guineas and geese which went on our nope list too. We are really happy with what we have and MAYBE one day will have a horse or mini pony as my daughter loves horses....but that would be a ways off. We're content with what we have here. We have milk, eggs, and meat! Lol. And my garden!


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## EJskeleton (Apr 22, 2021)

Jubillee said:


> Haha, like above, I had never wanted goats. Mostly because of the horror stories everyone tells you about.
> 
> We were renting in the city for soooo long, then our landlord decided to sell the house, and it was not somewhere we wanted to stay. I had dreams for years upon years of being in the country with some animals doing the self-sustaining thing. We ended up on 11.5 acres way out in the country. 5 months later we had a flock of chickens. A (now very good) friend we'd met buying chickens, invited our family over to see the new baby goats they kidded out. I was cool seeing them, but had no interest in taking them. Cue seeing those cute little bouncy kids and all went out the window. We talked to my friend bringing up all these myths and found most were not that bad. So about 3 weeks later we brought home a baby and a 1-year-old milker, Peaches (who we still have and is one of my best girls!). A month later we brought home the last baby she had at her place. I researched like crazy (and still do) and gained so much knowledge on goats and we started expanding our herd. These girls were unregistered mini-Nubians which my friend so kindly went through the process of registering them. I learned more about the breed and decided I really wanted the challenge of breeding good solid milking girls. I fell in love with these goats and they quickly became my favorite animal. I added full Nubians in the mix but now we have 10 girls and 2 boys. I try to stay very strict and picky in my keeping of goats because I like a smaller herd. I know it could get out of hand quickly LOL. Pics of my babies are in the link in my sig.
> 
> We now have chickens, turkeys, goats, and sheep. We tried a cow but it was too impractical for us with trying to get her bred, her size, etc. We've had guineas and geese which went on our nope list too. We are really happy with what we have and MAYBE one day will have a horse or mini pony as my daughter loves horses....but that would be a ways off. We're content with what we have here. We have milk, eggs, and meat! Lol. And my garden!


Awww! That’s such a good story! 💜


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