Our Goats

We feel privileged to live in this historic area of Kentucky - on the glorious banks of Boone Creek with its rocky limestone overhangs, waterfalls and surrounding woods (goat heaven!) - and we do our best to be good stewards of the land and raise our goats as close to “natural” as possible.

This means that our herd of Nubians has access to fresh woody browse every day (we call it salad bar!), along with grassy fields, fresh hay and feed enriched with vitamins and minerals - including yeast selenium (Sel-Plex), a more “bioavailable” selenium developed by Alltech, our biotech neighbor in Jessamine County This global research company spent years on trials and millions of dollars in developing this new form of selenium which is especially important for humans and animals in selenium-deficient areas of the country like Kentucky.  It was approved for goats in 2005.

The goat milk we use for cheese making is always antibiotic and hormone free. We are required by the FDA to test every batch of milk for antibiotics.

We think of our herd as part of the family, rather than livestock, and we are pretty sure they know this - judging by the way they have figured out how to come through the dog door and into the kitchen where they can occasionally be found enjoying a box of Cheerios off the countertop

We maintain a closed herd - meaning that our goats never leave the farm, and any new goat that comes onto the farm is quarantined  before meeting their “goat family.” This way we can avoid any illnesses or parasites that might be brought onto the farm, which greatly reduces the need to use antibiotics or unnecessary treatments for health problems.

Each spring - oh boy! - we can frequently be found with our sleeves rolled up, tearing up petticoats and boiling water (just kidding!) when our maternity ward starts to bustle.  Most of our does have twins or triplets and we always have at least one set of quads  It’s like Christmas! Maybe better!

We have kids for sale after weaning, and we frequently have bottle-fed wethers (neutered males) which make excellent pets.

This year our kids will be from Kastdemur and Greystone lines. We breed for milk production, but our herd sires are black-and -white spotted, so we always have lots of kids with spots; we love spots!

Never say never because we just added a white Lamancha (no ears!) doe to our herd. Her mother is a national high-milk producer and we are sort of getting used to the “no-ears.” She is so friendly and is such a good milker, we are actually starting to think she is … beautiful?

Update 2009

Oh my, look what has happened!
I guess we are a real dairy now with 35 milkers and more yearling does waiting in the wings. We've mixed our herd with more of those beautiful Lamanchas, Saanens, Nubians, and Alpines, and we are up to our elbows in milk. We've never worked so hard, but we continue to love dairy life.