The New Kids on the Block

Look what followed me home!

I think I may have mentioned that we were looking for a milk goat. So we found one this week, but she had her two little babies still with her. So we had to bring all three home. (Aww, shucks…I have to put up with all this cuteness.) The babies are both little bucks, so we won’t be keeping them for too long. (Anybody looking for a Nubian buck?) But they are so adorable right now! I wasn’t prepared for how little they would be. They are only a couple days old, compared to our girls who were two months old when we got them. They fit perfectly right in your arms for little sweet goaty cuddles.

Paul is going to build a milk stand this afternoon for me, and we have to modify the goat barn a little to make a pen to keep the kids in so that they will leave the milk alone for the night, and we can milk her out first thing in the morning, then let the babies go with her for the day. So tomorrow I may be taking my first shot at milking a goat! That should be interesting as I have never milked anything before. But I’ve read all the books and more than one author says that is how they started with just written instructions. My inner dairy maid is telling me I can do this!

And here’s Mama, of course. She’s really the reason we bought them, but it’s hard to resist the baby cuteness. She’s three years old and this is her second time having kids. She’s a purebed Nubian. (As is Bambi. Betty Bob is a La Mancha.) The babies look just like their mama. It’s actually really hard to tell them apart, but we’ve found a couple slight differences. We’re working on her name. We thought another “B” name to go with Betty Bob and Bambi. Beulah, Bess, Bella, I dunno--we’re working on it. We haven’t made it to baby names yet, either. I thought maybe something like Heckle and Jeckle or Tom and Jerry.


She’s a bit nervous around us, but lets us pet her while she is eating. We’re working on winning her over with little bribes like animal crackers. Ivy thoughtfully picked out all the goat shaped ones because she didn’t think it was appropriate for the goats to be eating them. Although she hasn’t been hand milked before, she will stand still and let you handle her teats while she is eating which is more than our spoiled girls will do. Betty Bob, especially, will just dance all over the place if you try to handle her while she is eating. Here’s what happens when goats get used to you:
That’s my well-behaved girlies trying to eat my delicious pants. It’s also much harder to get pictures of them when they rush you when you step into their yard. I did have several opportunities for extreme close-ups of Betty Bob when I tried to kneel down and take pictures of the babies and she thought I wanted her to eat the camera!

Of course, we are hoping for kids from Bambi and Betty Bob in the summer, but now we won’t have to wait for milk. We go through ridiculous amounts of milk here, and it will be nice if we can avoid having to go to the store nearly every day for milk. We can easily use almost a gallon of milk a day here, and Holly isn’t even drinking it yet! Goat milk is supposed to be easier to digest than cow milk, plus we know that it won’t have any extras in it like hormones or antibiotics. We’re also hoping to be able to make some of our own cheese and yogurt. And we have plans to make goat milk soap which is wonderful for the skin. Right now we’ve been buying soap from Hidden Haven on Etsy, and it’s wonderful. Her prices are terrific, and she is very reasonable with shipping charges also. If you decide to check it out, I highly recommend the Chocolate Mint soap. I have to warn you, though, it’s so yummy smelling you will want to eat it!

So, if you’ll excuse me now, I’m off to check on my babies!