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Why the heck are you raising goats??
It is the first thing out of peoples' mouths when they hear about my goat herd!
The second thing is always about how goats jump onto your car, are smelly and therefore are terrible things to have around!
These remarks are getting to be pretty funny now, although they were a little concerning at first.
My attraction to goats came when I was nine. A pilot friend of my Fathers' brought me a tiny kid in a shoe box.
He knew about my fascination with animals and figured that the perfect gift for a young girl was, in fact, a goat. He was right. I named her Rosita and together, we went everywhere a person could go on foot .!!
My family lived in Guayaquil, Ecuador when I was young, and my Father was importing wild animals to the States, so I was able to play with many exotic animals.
But Rosita, my pet goat, was my sister. She taught me to respect her and to love her. She had more self esteem than a dog. She was opinionated and assertive. And she knew every move I was going to make before even I did!
As an adult, when I moved to Marionville, Missouri onto a small farm, I pondered over what type of livestock I could produce there. The land is rocky and steep in places, and keeping it mowed seemed to be a terribly impossible job. Ahhh!!, I thought…. Goats!!!
Little did I know that goats are profitable. All I knew is that they need good fencing (to keep them off your car - as does a cow, as well as some adventurous dogs) and that they are incredibly cute.
The fact is, that of all the farm animals, goats require the least amount of feed to produce a pound of milk or meat, a minimal amount of vet care, and the most modest of housing and forage. ( And are also the least smelly!)
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