I got sort of derailed last year, when our dog, Anastasia, had to be put down for bone cancer. Exactly one week later I found my milk cow, Elsie, dead. It was so sad. I had gotten a seasonal job, and was relying on the kids to feed her. The door to the garage had been left open and I believe she got into the chicken food. I didn't notice her not feeling well (working, remember?) and so I didn't take appropriate steps to help her. Which if I had been paying attention, I totally could have. It didn't have to happen. Those were two very painful losses. I regrouped though, and started thinking about what kind of animal(s) would fit into our little homestead. Although the Dexter is supposed to be able to live on a small amount of land, it seems that our property isn't full of enough good nutrients to truly support a cow, even a small one like Elsie. She was always hungry it seemed. So, goats? I didn't really like the milk from the goats I borrowed before. Plus, we would have to build a shelter for them. But I really wanted milk, so I decided to try to make it work. We have a fenced in area around the chicken coop, and it is fenced on the top as well. We decided to just build 3 walls around that, and add a tin roof. It isn't great, but so far it is keeping out the rain.
Next, we needed goats. There weren't a lot of offerings in February. However, one person was trying to sell some about 2 hours away. The price was right, and so I contacted her and up we went. She desperately wanted to sell her goats. They hadn't had any health tests, but at 3 for 100$ the price was right. And, they were all pregnant. We took them home in March. By the end of May I had 9 goats. I sold all but three--we kept one mom and 2 babies. She wasn't the one I was planning on keeping at all, but she became so sweet and easy after she had her babies! Plus, she had the only baby that was polled. She is an easy keeper as well. Then, I bought another goat as she was cheaper than a milk machine, which was what I was wanting. She is a kinder goat, and gives very rich milk. I will have to post pictures in another post.
My kids all like the milk, and whatever was causing the goatiness of the milk from the borrowed goats seems to have been fixed; so all in all it has been a good solution.
I had a fabulous garden this year, and hope that next year will be even better as I learn more, and the soil is improved even more.
