Sunnyside Farm Fun: And so we got some goats....

I'd just like to clarify...this time when I say 'we' I mean Dave!

Goats were never in my plans for the homestead. Sure they are cute, they produce meat, they clean out weeds & they can give milk....

....BUT....

I've heard that they eat washing, destroy everything, ringbark trees & are impossible to keep in!

So I never, ever, ever, ever thought about getting goats!

We began by attempting to feed them...another creature I can now say I've bottle fed!

It wasn't really Dave's fault (or maybe it was because of his liking of goat meat....hmmm....). A friend was keeping goats on a nearby farm. Well those goats had reproduced & reproduced until the goat herd was getting out of control. Their favourite game was playing on the road bordering their farm & since too many people had complained about these rascally animals playing 'chicken' in front of their vehicles it was decided that they had to go. This is where Dave comes in...

The sheep yards they were using to round up the goats just happened to belong to a good friend & Dave saw the opportunity for free-range, fresh meat ( & I saw the opportunity to have fun butchering a goat & then a fantastic anatomy lesson) & so Dave went over to collect a goat for the freezer. (We are completely sure that meat straight off the farm far surpasses anything you can purchase elsewhere. We speculate that this is due to the decreased stress levels just prior to slaughtering.)

Ellie's goat 'Bella'

It seems that Jud & Ellie, who accompanied Dave, fell in love with the littlest of the goats & so the owner gave them each a kid goat to bring home. The first I learnt of these newest members of the farmyard was a very loud noise coming all the way to the house from our sheepyards (& goats are super loud & nothing like sheep). This was followed by 2 very excited children running to get their siblings to proudly show off their newest 'pets'.

And that's how 'Lucky' & 'Bella' came to live here at Sunnyside!

And now we only have to get meat chickens & a single turkey (for Christmas) to be completely self - sufficient in all the meats we eat!

Let's just say that life with goats has been an adventure already...and it's only just begun.....