Goats
The goats have been a work in progress, so we're still figuring out how to best include them in our fold. We got them since they graze different things than all our other mammals, and they are another source of milk. We initially got Nubians, and have had them for three years now. They are technically a dual purpose breed, although they've been mainly selected for dairy in recent years. They are very beautiful, with lovely long feminine bodies and long pendulous ears, they don't have "goaty" tasting milk, aren't as drawn to escaping as other goats, and have a fairly nice carcass. Now for the cons: they aren't very winter hardy (although the kids born here have begun to naturally become more hardy), they don't produce as much milk as we'd like since they don't handle tough forage as well, and the kids have a really hard time with the cold when they're first born. We've had to bring a ton of kids into the house off and on for the first week or so of their life due to hypothermia and frozen ears, and have had to heavily supplement several of them to keep them healthy. Due to the issues, we looked into breeds that would help build sturdiness in our goats. That lead us to the Spanish. They are built like tanks and are technically a dual purpose breed as well, although they've been more heavily selected for meat. They grow a cashmere coat in the winter, so they are more winter hardy, and they handle rough pasture well. Due to lack of attention being paid to their dairy side, we're planning on doing a cross between the Spanish and the Nubian to create a hardy, sturdy, thrifty, and beautiful goat which also has a really nicely conforming udder and produces a good amount of milk on pasture without tons of supplementation. We got our first Spanish goats this fall, so the first kids from this cross won't hit the ground until spring of 2024. Stay tuned for updates!
If you are interested in purchasing any of our goats, pay attention to the label on the individual's profile. If they're listed as "retained," please do not inquire about them. If they are listed as "for sale," feel free to contact us for more info and you can also see their listing in the Sale Barn. If an animal catches your eye who isn't labeled either way, reach out and we may be open to selling them to the right home.
Breeding time is always an exciting and busy time of year, and it's full of planning.
Our does are lovely, friendly ladies, although they can get incredibly annoying come milking time. When it's milking time, all of them want to be milked RIGHT NOW, which makes for exciting times when it comes to switching out milkers on the stand. Even through all of that though, we still love the goats. They are much easier to imprint on than sheep and cows, since it's virtually an instinct for them, and they love to be right where you are and give you kisses.
The billies are kind of a... distasteful... part of raising goats, lol. They are super handsome, and throw lovely babies, but they're stinky and obnoxious come breeding season: they make loud, crazy noises, pee all over themselves (that manly musk you know), and try to mount anything and everything repeatedly and persistently. Sigh! Despite the downsides, we love our billies and they can certainly make or break the herd, so we pay a lot of attention to how our billies grow out, and breed the best of the best.
The yearlings are the previous years kids that are being evaluated for either sale, butcher, or to retain. We don't put anyone on our active flock pages (does and billies) until we know if we're retaining them to breed.
Goat kids are delightful balls of fun. They are masters in the acrobatic world of farm animals. Jumping and twisting higher than even the lambs (which is saying a lot, since lambs are little jumping beans). They are absolutely delightful to watch, and are even funner to snuggle with after a hard day's work. Unfortunately, they don't stay small for long though, so love it while it lasts.
We haven't had goats for that long, but if you've had any animal for length of time, you know that death is part of the journey. It's painful, it's hard, it involves learning how to move on, and yet it gives you a better appreciation for life. Knowing the past helps define the present, which directs your future.
Sale Barn
We are in the process of deciding who to keep and who to sell from this years lamb crop. If you are looking for something specific, please reach out!
Sale Barn
We are in the process of deciding who to keep and who to sell from this years lamb crop. If you are looking for something specific, please reach out!
Want to learn more about our project?
You might notice that we have quite a wide range of goat breeds. Spanish, Nubian, Nigerian... and the list goes on.
Sooooo, why? Read on to learn what we're working on!
Nubian
When we initially got into goats, it was because we wanted to try out another milk animal that was smaller and easier to manage than a cow. What we didn't want, however, was "goaty" tasting milk and escape artists. So we went with Nubians because they had tasty milk, nice temperaments... and because of their ears. I mean, you can't get much more eye catching than Nubian ears, can you? Moving to Wyoming highlighted some issues with the Nubians that made them less than ideal. 1: They weren't cold hardy by any stretch of the imagination. It felt like every snow storm we had our laundry room full of shivering hypothermic goats, despite whatever precautions we put in place. 2: They aren't very thrifty on pasture. Unless you're giving them tons of grain, Nubians don't hold weight on pasture, particularly when they're in milk. They give tasty milk, have lovely ears, and aren't escape artists... but they weren't working out in our climate.
Spanish
That led us to do some research and we discovered Spanish goats! They are technically a dual purpose goat, but have mostly been selected for meat in the US. What sets them apart is that some strains of Spanish have developed the trait of growing a cashmere coat in the winter. Cashmere can actually be harvested and used to make clothing! Additionally, it is an added layer of warmth that really helps them in the winter. We decided to try them out, and found someone we could get some great cashmere Spanish from. They actually ended up having pretty fantastic udders as well, which was super exciting! So Spanish are more hardy in the winter, handle the summer heat well, produce a good amount of tasty milk, are thrifty on pasture... but they are actually quite aggressive towards the other animals. Our Spanish buck alone caused more horn related casualties in the flerd than we'd ever had prior, and the does were terrible to the dogs. Spiraling beautiful horns are a classic in the Spanish goat world, and even if we de-horned the Spanish, it wouldn't have solved the bully attitudes. Plus, we aren't really a fan of de-horning in the first place. So we decided to try crossing the sturdy Spanish with the gentle Nubians! The results were surprising: Nicer temperaments (although you could definitely still pick out the Spanish influence), good udders... but the cross was still too lean. The Spanish weren't solidly built enough to counter the Nubian's leggy and lean build. So they still weren't as thrifty or hardy as we wanted.
Nigerian
At that point in time our neighbor down the road was wanting to get rid of some Nigerian billies, and having farm-sat for them we knew that they had nice goats. So we decided to get one of her Nigerian bucks just to trial run in our program. Nigerians are pretty thrifty and solidly built all on their own, and have very nice tasting milk... so we ended up adding several does from a different breeder as well! What we learned is that they're waaaay too small. Milking pinky sized teats every day is not fun. So, into the mix they went! Nigerians added the solid build along with good dairy traits, Spanish add some size in addition to the cashmere coats and thriftiness on pasture; and Nubians brought better temperaments, good udders, and more size.
Mini Nubian
In the spring of 2026 it became clear that we needed to bring in new genetics, we got curious about Mini Nubians. The breed was developed as a cross between a Nigerian and a Nubian, two of the breeds we already had in the cross, so we wondered if using Mini Nubians could short cut some breedings. The ones we bought are very nice goats, but in person they are still built more like Nubians than the solid build we were hoping for (and what we were already getting in our cross). The new goats did come with very impressive dairy genetics that we were interested in, though, so for the moment we're going to use them to bring in some different genetics, higher milk production, and a nice udder conformation boost.
Oberhasli
One of the Mini Nubian breeders we were in contact with in WI also had Oberhasli goats, and we learned that Oberhasli's supposedly have milk that tastes a lot like cows milk. Curious, we explored the breed and decided to try them out. They are hardy goats who produce lots of very tasty milk and have super gentle temperaments. Since we were already doing the trip, we decided that we should take the opportunity to bring some home to try out! So far, they're fast becoming some of our favorite goats. We're excited to see how they freshen out!
Kinder
Kinders are a hardy breed that thrives on pasture, has good carcass characteristics, and produce a good amount of milk. The tricky part is that, like many dual purpose livestock breeds, not all breeders are selecting for strong dairy traits in combination with good udder conformation. Just producing lots of milk doesn't make for a good dairy goat! We were lucky enough to find a Kinder breeder in Montana who was selecting for similar goals... and also had a good eye for milk production and udder conformation.
Interestingly enough, the Kinder and the Mini Nubian have surprisingly close history. The Kinders originated from a cross between a Nubian and a Pigmy goat... and the Mini Nubians come from a cross between a Nubian and a Nigerian. So Nubians are a similarity... but so are the Pigmies and the Nigerians. Digging deeper you'll learn that they actually used the be the same breed! When they were first identified as a breed, they were one and the same. It wasn't until several years later that people started noticing two very different body types within the same breed.
Kinder goats are probably the purebred closest to our goals, and we have a registered purebred herd. This is a new breed for us, and we're super excited to see where they take us!
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