I Become Heidi, the goat girl!

It has occurred to me that yes, I may be able to provide enough veges and fruit, even if  perhaps not the variety we are used to, but one very important food group is missing- dairy. Not too sure whether we can go without any milk or cheese for any length of time.

Keeping goats in urban areas is becoming more popular, especially in the States, as families become aware of how productive they are and how little space they require. Perhaps they will become the new urban chicken? After a quick check on our Council website I’m surprised to see that we are permitted to keep goats in our backyard. The regulations state that they are required to be tethered at all times and must be kept two metres from a boundary. Seems simple enough. After reading any and every goat book I could find in our public library it became clear to me that we definitely needed a goat, or two.

Last December Chris made the cardinal mistake of asking me what I wanted for Christmas and I calming replied  “ a milking goat please". Poor man he didn’t even see it coming. Not to miss out on a great opportunity to get a new pet I jump on the Internet. We have a great local resource in Hawkes Bay, a large online network of permaculurists. I sent out an email asking if anyone knew of anyone who had dairy goats in milk for sale. Almost immediately a wonderful woman called Lynda replied and said she had two! A few days later Quinn , Edwin and I took a 20 minute trip out to a biodynamic lifestyle block to visit Frankie and Lolly.

Frankie and Lolly began their milking careers at a dairy farm and then Lynda acquired them around 4 years ago to provide her own household milk supply. Frankie is a Saneen British Alpine cross and Lolly is a full Saneen. The Saneen is a Swiss breed. They are pure white and are the most commonly used goat for milking in New Zealand. On average they will give around 3 litres of milk a day. The British Alpine is normally black with white stripes running down their faces. Frankie has a lot more white and both have horns, which is a bit unsettling. They look like they could do some serious damage with those pointy tips if they wanted to.  Lynda is a lovely lady who reluctantly decided to stop milking as she and her husband are wanting to spend more time away from their farm to enjoy their retirement. That’s the major problem with milking. You are required to be there with warmed hands ready, morning and night, come rain or shine. No full, creaking udder is going to allow you a day off.

Frankie, one soon to be milking goat.

The goats look skinny, hip bones and rib cages clearly visible through their coats. They look like they could do with a good drenching for worms or a couple of dozen pies in them, to fatten them up! Lynda explains that they are both feeding twins so have lost a lot of weight. Wish I had when I was breast feeding! She collects Frankie from the paddock, clips on her lead rope to her leather collar and I watch as Frankie tears up the hill dragging Lynda behind her like some badly behaved Labrador. She grabs a mouthful of Feijoa bush as she streaks up the hill. I think this may be a daily ritual judging by the small statue of the feijoa plants. A small fox terrier barks at her heels and Frankie gives her a bunt with her horns - ouch. The goat jumps onto a milking stand and proceeds to gobble up some grain placed in a bucket for her. She certainly knows the routine and seems very accepting for me to have my first go at trying to milk a animal. It is pretty instinctive really just clasp and squeeze and a hot white jet of milk comes shooting out. How hard can that be each morning? Lynda kindly shows me how to trim goat nails. This is an important six weekly job to stop the quickly growing horns from becoming too long. The little foxie gobbles up all the nail peelings as they fall to the ground. Obviously nail biting is not just a human habit. Lynda kindly and very trustingly offers me the two girls for free. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth it looks like I have become a goat owner.