These Crazy Animals: What's Next? Goats?

     With the amount of animals we have, you would think that a petting farm would be of no interest to Caleb and Lucas, but they love going to Hunt Club Farm.  They chase the Hunt Club's chickens, take a pony ride, and spend quite a bit of time feeding and brushing the goats.  The goats at Hunt Club Farm are extremely cute and very gentle.  (Also, Hunt Club keeps the goat area deceptively clean, as though their particular goats don't leave the vast amount of droppings goats are  known for.) I'm pretty sure this is why Caleb and Lucas both want us to get goats.  Lucas went so far as to pick out the very goat he wanted, a large Nubian at Hunt Club.  After feeding this particular goat a handful of sweet feed, he turned to me and said, "Yes, this is the one," as though we were picking out a shirt to wear.  

Caleb and Lucas brushing a friendly Hunt Club Farm goat.

     So last year I checked out a couple books on keeping dairy goats.  Here's the thing about dairy goats:  You have to milk them twice a day.  Twice a day, every day.  That is, let this sink in, twice a day even if you are sick, even if it is sleeting, even if you want to go to an out of town, even if you are running late for work and are supposed to meet your boss at Panera for breakfast in 20 minutes.  I don't know about you, but this is the kind of relationship I don't enter into lightly!  

     There are other difficulties to consider, too.  To get milk, goats need to be bred, so you have to find someone with a male goat (If you keep a male on the premises, it makes the milk taste bad).  You also have to deal with the birth, de-budding (burning off the horns), and bottle raising of the kid (baby goat).  Then you have to find a home for the kid.  And this has to take place every year that you want milk!

     After reading about all this, you would think the goat idea would be banished from my mind forever.  But like a puzzle, my mind keeps returning to goats and working out the logistics.  Especially after Rebecca's friend, Jesse, brought us a half gallon of goats' milk to try - it was creamy with a wonderful fresh taste, and it immediately (although temporarily) cured the stomach issue I had been suffering with for about 10 days.

"Do you love me?  Do you want to be my friend?"

So here's what I came up with so far...

Raising goats will only work for us with good neighbors, and we have good neighbors.  With careful planning we can schedule a goat sharing program where each of our 3 families would take a couple days of the week to milk and care for the two goats, and any milk collected on those days would be kept.  Of course, we would need to be flexible to work with anyone who needed time off for illness or vacation.

One particular neighbor raised goats for years and is completely familiar with the process of breeding, so we would have a knowledgeable mentor, and I've been assured that finding a home for a good milk goat kid is not a difficult process.

"Please feed me!"

Some of the other issues such as food, shelter, fencing, etc. still need to be worked out, but with the biggest issue of my commitment-phobia cleared up, we may just see goats within the next year or two!  

To all you goat keepers out there, what are your biggest challenges?  I'd love to hear from you!


   

Chasing bullfrogs

My family went to dinner at Creeds Cafe tonight.  Creeds is a small family style restaurant with a friendly waitstaff who recognizes us when we come in.  Although with two rambunctious boys and a pretty teenage daughter, it is no wonder they remember us.   It is warm today and even though the forecast calls for rain, the night is mild and calm.  We came outside to be greeted with a beautiful sunset set off by a large pecan tree across the parking area.

The sky somehow seems bigger out here in Pungo.  There was just enough light for Caleb to chase bullfrogs in the tiny pond beside Creeds before we had to go home.  There were probably 10 or so giant bullfrogs that splashed in as he made his way around.  Last year we were successful at raising common frog tadpoles in a kiddie pool on our porch.

It is amazing watching them lose their tales
and grow legs, then finally become this cutie.

Seeing the bullfrogs makes me want to come back to gather the giant tadpoles in a few weeks.  However, our kiddie pool has other uses since I brought home 3 ducklings from last month's chicken swap.  They may even be cuter than bullfrogs.

After this long cold winter when I thought the grass could never be green again, I am thankful for the spring and all it's life!  We have seen frogs, snakes, butterflies, ladybugs, and the boys have even spotted a few lightning bugs in the evening.  Have I mentioned I love it out here?

One ladybug wasn't ready to be set free quite yet!

New to Pungo

We are new to Pungo, having lived in this area of Virginia Beach for only a couple years.  Before coming out this way, we were warned that it is a hard community to move to.  Rumor has it that people in Pungo don't welcome "outsiders," and maybe it is true with some.  Living in the Creeds area of Pungo, we have found just the opposite.  It may be that, coming from country bloodlines, we fit in a bit easier.  It could be that, having grown up in the country as a child, this life came easy.   Whatever the reason, moving out here felt like coming home.  This place is like being in an old book; it is so wonderful, that it seems like it could be fiction!  I am starting this blog as a way of keeping a journal of our experiences.  Even if I am the only one to read it, I want to record this incredible journey.

Introductions:  "We" is composed of:

My husband, Dan, and me, Jane

Our children:

Caleb

Lucas

Rebecca

And our plethora of pets - a dog, 3 cats, 2 horses, chickens, guinea hens, and 3 new ducklings.

Last year was hectic and a struggle to get things done, built, and planted.  It was a great time of learning.  This year's challenges have become easier as we learn more about what to expect of our selves, our animals, and our property.  Last year we bought a shed and converted it into a chicken coop, hired someone to build a barn, hired someone to put in posts for a horse fence, and planted fruit trees. Then we learned about raising chickens, handling predators (we have a lot from hawks and owls to foxes and the occasional coyote), deer who eat baby trees, drainage issues, surveying, and how to build our own damn fence and structures. As a result of our knowledge, this year we have dug a ditch, installed electric netting and pinwheels to deter predators, moved our horse fence off of the neighbor's property, started composting, and plan to build a carport for our tractor and add more fencing to protect our sticks that were once trees.

Should be fun!