Crazy Goat Lady

So here is my latest "hobby",  Goats!  Why, you may ask???  To be honest, I'm not quite sure.  A brief history of how it started though......2 years ago, August 2012, I was reading about goats being used to eat down weeds.  We have a canal that runs in front of our house and the weeds grow pretty high; I thought goats would be a great way to manage them.  SO.....I overheard a parent at the school I work at talking about their own goat herd.  I asked them about them and they were kind enough to let me "try them out" to see if I liked them.  The next day I went over and they loaded up 3 Nigerian dwarf goats for me to take home!!!  What happened over the course of the next few months was not expected.  We learned a lot about goat containment, staking them, fencing them in, their personalities, their likes and dislikes and I ended up not wanting to give them back.  The owner had so many goats he didn't think twice when I told them I wanted to buy them and he even gave me a screaming deal.  Fast forward to the end of 2014 and my husband and I were talking about what to do with the goats.  After more reading and research, we realized goats could be pets AND profitable!  There is a demand for milk, milk products, and meat.  With that in mind, we set out a search for a buck so that we could breed our girls. We added Romeo, a Boer buck, to the group in January 2015 and another Nigerian/Fainting cross doe in February.  We were shocked when we found out that Romeo was quite the lover and all the girls were pregnant by March!!!
Through the course of the spring months, we worked on fine tuning our containment methods, eating habits, the herd "personality" and preparing for the upcoming kidding season.
The kidding season came quickly and "Mama", one of the original 3, had hers first.  She had kidded before, so we expected multiples.....just not triplets!!  They are in the picture above and all arrived healthy.  My husband had to assist with the last two that came, but it went quickly and without any major problems.  I have been told that we are lucky they all survived and that she accepted all them to nurse.
One week later, on the 4th of July, another doe delivered a single, which also happened without problems and was a healthy doeling.

How can you not love goats??!!  I think people have misconceptions about goats.....they do not eat EVERYTHING and, if the owner thinks things through and creates a safe environment, they will not cause destruction, lol.  That being said, goats are very curious creatures and they are great escape artists, but when you learn who the Houdinis are in the herd, you can prevent any escapes! Goats are loyal pets and love their owners when taken care of properly. I love having goats!!  They are sweet, personable, fun, and easy to take care of.
What's next for us???  Well, we have 2 more pregnant does we are waiting for to kid.  Then, it is on to learning about record keeping, how to milk, how to make soaps, and deciding who to keep and who to sell!  We are just starting this venture and have a lot to learn!