Why Meat Goats? (Part 2)

My first love for animals has always been horses. I became obsessed with them at the age of 2, and little has changed. Yes, we have a horse, and through God’s blessing, we hope to have more. So, why are we now raising goats?! Five reasons in no particular order: 1.) The property we have to work with; 2.) Goats themselves. 3.) Our children; 4.) Profit; 5.) God’s direction. I will discuss the first 3 reasons in this post and continue with the final two in another post.

When we first lived in Ann Arbor and bought our first acreage, we knew we wanted to use the land for something. Sure, it was peaceful to look out upon 12 acres surrounded by nature preserve. However, if I’m going to own, maintain, and pay taxes on a chunk of land, it ought to give me something in return, and more than just a pretty view. At the time, we figured, we would put up fencing and board horses. It made sense for that property. It had lush grass pastures, a large run-in, and a small barn. Next door was an outdoor and indoor riding arena and we had trails running through the woods behind us.

When we moved to Spring Arbor due to a job change for Jon, the pick’ins were slim. With five kids and out-of-town family visiting often, we wanted a house with more than 3 bedrooms. After much searching and the moving day quickly approaching, we found one that was less than 10 minutes from Jon’s work, fit our budget, and was situated on 11 overgrown, brushy acres. We longed to turn it into horse pasture, but the task seemed daunting, especially seeing several acres were wooded with locust trees. As we looked out over this land, we wondered what would be the best way to tame it. At first our thought was to cut down the invasive locust trees and then buy a few goats to help chew down the weeds, in order to prepare it for horses. As I studied more and more about using goats to manage a property, I became fascinated by these animals! That brings me to reason #2 – The goats themselves.

Goats are amazing creatures! They not only survive on less than ideal forage, but they gain muscling – muscling means profit for a meat goat producer. They truly don’t need much. The goat originated in mountainous, rocky areas, where food is sometimes scarce. Survival of the fittest meant a goat better be hardy and able to survive in harsh climates on little nutrition. Little input for good returns equals profit. Cha-ching!

Because they are foragers, not grazers, preferring weeds and brush to grass, they are extremely complimentary to the raising of other livestock. Cattle, sheep, and horses prefer grass. Goats will not choose to eat what these other livestock thrive on if there are weeds to munch on instead; something our property specializes in. Instead, they will eat what the others leave behind and, thus, allow for better growth of grass. They improve pasture productivity for other livestock.

Another wonderful fact that is especially seen in meat goat breeds is that they often produce twins, if not triplets. (As yearlings, they will typically have one, but produce twins every year after.) Therefore, they are close to reproducing their own weight, and at times exceeding it. For example, if I breed a 150-pound doe and she births twins that are taken to market at 70lbs each, I am selling 140 pounds, 93% of the dame’s weight that I maintained.

Goats are delightful to raise! They can be trained like a dog…even to walk on a leash. They are affectionate and their antics are entertaining, especially the kids whose favorite pastime is to climb and jump. They aren’t the sharpest tools in the tool shed, but perhaps that makes them easier to sell when the time comes. (Being a softy for animals, it’s hard enough to not get too attached.) That brings me to my final reason for choosing to raise meat goats that I will share with you in this post – our children.

When deciding what livestock to raise, goats are on the top of the kid-friendly list. We want our business to be family owned and operated. That means we want our kids to participate in much of the daily tasks and all that goes into running a farm. All five of our kids ride our horse, but I can’t let my younger kids fetch a horse out of a pasture. Depending on the circumstance, I am nervous letting my older kids out into a pasture where I know a feisty horse might try something. With goats, all but the two year old, can go into the goat pen to feed and water them. My 10 year old held one this week while a vet stuck a needle into it. The 6, 9, and 10 year old will help trim hooves tomorrow, while even the four year old will help me change out the bedding in the barn. (Psst – don’t tell them…I’ll lure them out to the barn saying, “Come help me with something fun!”) The 2 year old gets such enjoyment out of feeding them handfuls of grain through the fence while we get chores done. I don’t have to worry about little fingers getting badly nibbled.

I don’t have to worry, in general, and be by their side supervising every little task. That not only frees me up to get other needed tasks done, but also gives them pride in the work they do. It builds their confidence and teaches them responsibility.

My heart is so full as I watch my kids work together and work alongside Jon and I as we build our farm and raise these great creatures. My son Andrew said to me the other night as we walked back from the barn to the house, “Mom, it’s so cool to be able to say, we did that…I built that…I helped with that…this herd belongs to all of us, because we all work to take care of it.” My reply, “That was the whole idea son!”

I look forward to sharing with you the last two reasons as to why in the world we chose to raise meat goats. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!