Maggie's Farm Goats
Biscuit finds a place to relax
(Indiana Farm)
This is the story of how we added goats to our agricultural menagerie - if you want to cut to the chase, scroll down!
We first started talking about having a few goats way back before we had hogs (around 2008 or so). Being interested in threatened breeds, we were initially interested in Fainting Goats. Since that time, however, they've become the goat flavor of the month and are in recovery. At any rate, the goat project got waylaid by the hog project and there it sat for several years until one day in late summer 2012 this guy happened to be driving by ...
We first started talking about having a few goats way back before we had hogs (around 2008 or so). Being interested in threatened breeds, we were initially interested in Fainting Goats. Since that time, however, they've become the goat flavor of the month and are in recovery. At any rate, the goat project got waylaid by the hog project and there it sat for several years until one day in late summer 2012 this guy happened to be driving by ...
On our farm in Indiana we had a marvelous pasture that sloped down to the road. With our variety of livestock scattered around that pasture, people were always slowing down to look.
Our marvelous Mulefoot Hogs were grazing in the front pasture looking extremely pleased. A vehicle pulls up the lane, a guy gets out, and he and Glenn proceed to climb into the hog lot where they had an extended conversation. After he left, Glenn announces: "I just traded three hogs for some dairy goats."
The short version of the story is that the next day we had three Alpine does and a doeling take up residence on the farm. That was in 2012. Since then, in 2014 we acquired a pile of Nubians and a couple Saanens, originally boarded with us by Rose Hill Dairy and later, after we'd had them a few years, gifted. We've also seen the increase of our Alpine herd as well as development of a small herd of "Alpians" thanks to the Nubian buck that came with the boarders, Mufasa, and his ability to thwart any fence created. So our goat dairy started as a few for fun and developed accidentally into a full fledged goat dairy. By the spring of 2018 when we made the decision to relocate we had close to 40 goats!
In the autumn of 2019, after selling the majority of the herd and keeping only the best, the goat herd got to have a 1200 mile trip to Maine where they still aren't sure about the winters. In Maine we've been able to focuse more on cheese, which is the main reason we moved to Maine, and are breeding out the Nubian to get pure Alpines, although the bucks are still clever in being able to breed in ways that we don't want them to. Goats will be goats, and that being said, they have a talent for finding any weakness in the fence, even if we think it's rock solid.
As of 2019, our herd is back to being primarily Alpine with some Saanen and a few goats of mixed genetics for flavor.
Our marvelous Mulefoot Hogs were grazing in the front pasture looking extremely pleased. A vehicle pulls up the lane, a guy gets out, and he and Glenn proceed to climb into the hog lot where they had an extended conversation. After he left, Glenn announces: "I just traded three hogs for some dairy goats."
The short version of the story is that the next day we had three Alpine does and a doeling take up residence on the farm. That was in 2012. Since then, in 2014 we acquired a pile of Nubians and a couple Saanens, originally boarded with us by Rose Hill Dairy and later, after we'd had them a few years, gifted. We've also seen the increase of our Alpine herd as well as development of a small herd of "Alpians" thanks to the Nubian buck that came with the boarders, Mufasa, and his ability to thwart any fence created. So our goat dairy started as a few for fun and developed accidentally into a full fledged goat dairy. By the spring of 2018 when we made the decision to relocate we had close to 40 goats!
In the autumn of 2019, after selling the majority of the herd and keeping only the best, the goat herd got to have a 1200 mile trip to Maine where they still aren't sure about the winters. In Maine we've been able to focuse more on cheese, which is the main reason we moved to Maine, and are breeding out the Nubian to get pure Alpines, although the bucks are still clever in being able to breed in ways that we don't want them to. Goats will be goats, and that being said, they have a talent for finding any weakness in the fence, even if we think it's rock solid.
As of 2019, our herd is back to being primarily Alpine with some Saanen and a few goats of mixed genetics for flavor.
Goats for SaleWe sometimes have live goats for sale as pet/family dairy or for meat. Please contact us to for availability. We are happy to discuss needs and price individually.
We will consider renting our goats for weed control under strict terms of contract including that you have adequate fencing. |
Goat Milk/Cheese
Please follow the link below for information on everything milk and cheese related.
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Chevon
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