Anyone who has goats has to be a little crazy. When my wife, Kathy, suggested that I should get some dairy goats, I remember saying, “Why in the world would I want to have goats? That’s nuts.” So, I dismissed the idea and forgot about it for about 8 months. Then, one day, I thought, “Maybe I should look into getting some goats. It could be fun.”
After weeks of researching various goat breeds, we decided to get mini nubians. Then, the search was on to find these milk-producing, small-sized beauties. The mini nubian breed was begun by a group of people who loved the breed character of nubian goats but were wanting a smaller version, maybe 5 to 6 inches shorter in height and about 30-50 pounds lighter. To accomplish this task, breeders crossed Nubian goats with Nigerian Dwarf goats. The breed is less than 25 years old.
We knew nothing about goats and didn’t do much research about the specific goats we found, and we paid for that. We found seven mini nubians, all from the same farm for $300. There’s usually a catch to getting a deal that good.
Esther on the Milk Stand
After weeks of chasing and luring the goats to the barn and lifting the rear legs of the does during milking to keep them from kicking the bucket or stepping in it, it was clear that the goats had been neglected, were a real handful and that it would require a long time to bring about change in their behavior and trust of us. We decided to look for a young doeling, one that looked well constructed and pretty so that we could train her from a young age. We found this doeling, who we named Esther, from Renee Orr’s of Sol Orr farm in Culpeper. We bottle fed her and from a very young age, she knew that people were to be trusted.
By Esther’s second freshening (second time of having kids), we were happy to have a doe that was so sweet, calm, affectionate, and would stand quietly and still while being milked. During that time, we also found a wonderful 2nd generation buckling who we named Pogo. We bred Pogo to Esther and kept a doeling from her named Celeste. Esther and Celeste were both doing great.
Over time we began finding homes for the first does we had purchased who were really difficult to manage, at least by us, though they were behaving far better than when we first brought them home. So by this time, we had invested a year or two of our time into learning more and more about raising goats and about the mini nubian breed. To say we’ve learned a lot would be an understatement.
In our next blog, we’ll share more about Pogo. He was and still is an awesome buck. He’s with a wonderful farm in Roanoke now and helping to improve their new herd of mini nubians. Until then….
Come see us at the Charlottesville City Market. Our amazing Wynott Goat Milk Soaps are sold there and at these fine stores: Whole Foods, Foods of All Nations, Rebecca’s Natural Foods, Integral Yoga, The Virginia Shops , Parkway Pharmacy, the newly-established Crozet Artison Depot, Michie Tavern, The Cheese Shop in Stuarts Draft, Cranberry’s Grocery in Staunton, and Grandma’s Pantry in the New Heritage Farmer’s Market in Harrisonburg. If you are near Lexington, VA, you can stop in at Virginia Born & Bred or Cool Springs Organics Grocery, and you’ll find Wynott Goat Milk Soaps there as well.