Goat Ropin'

"Goat Roper" is a nickname for a wannabee. Sometimes its used to describe someone who dresses like a cowboy, but is essentially a suburban person who wouldn't know one end of a horse from another (like Garth Brooks?). Well, how appropriate that I am the proud parent of two new goats! I have to apologize to my father-in-law for bringing shame upon our last name, and thank my husband for being such a good sport about the whole thing.

Now a little bit about the goats. Yes, like you I used to wonder what the ugly creatures were even good for. I too thought they ate tin cans and garbage. Goat milk?....eeeeww! How could people even drink that stuff?! Well, on a trip to Boulder, Colorado last spring my eyes were opened. Boulder is an organic, natural town and although a little eccentric, it's very interesting and health oriented. I tasted some goat's milk at a farmer's market and really liked the stuff. It's good for me too, so they said. The gears in my head started turning and within the hour I knew I had to get me some goats!

The poor creatures are SO misunderstood. In the year since my first taste of goat milk I have done a lot of research on goats, goat's milk, and I have even pestered the goat owners at all the county fairs we visited. Here are some facts for those who are interested: 1. Goat's milk is lactose free, so those with cow milk allergies can drink it just fine 2. Babies can drink goat's milk because the make up of goat's milk is so close to human milk 3. Goat's milk is very healthy and has slightly less cholesterol than other milk (although I'm still loyal to cow's milk because it's what we make our living on) 4. Goats are much smaller and cheaper to feed than cows which means that those of you who want to teach your kids responsibility by milking an animal morning and night can do it with less worry - our little girl can help with chores without me worrying about her getting trampled by a big cow 5. I agree that their eyes look a little demon-like, but they are so friendly and cute (especially the babies) that after awhile you forget about the creepy eyes 6. If you have a certain breed of goat, the milk tastes just like cow milk. If you have tasted nasty goat milk before, it was probably from a breed NOT made for milking.

I could go on and on, but I will leave it for later posts. Here are some picts of the girls...

We also got two chickens and they have laid a brown and blue egg each day so far. Here are our hens.

Stay tuned for adventures in building a chicken coop, and the baby chicks and ducks - they should be arriving soon.