In 2005, while living in Louisiana, we acquired
our first goat. She was white, obviously aged and wild. She was abandoned on an adjacent piece of property and decided, since
we were feeding our horses twice a day, that she would try to steal some feed. Over time we gained her trust, and in the process,
we got attached. We call her Goatie Goat.
When we moved back to Alabama, we brought her with us along with her
"horsey" companion, Ally. When we arrived at our new house, we decided to purchase a goat friend for her. Before we knew it
we had another...and another...and another. We ended up with 10 goats. As many of you know, no one can have just one!
Our herdsire was a very large and beautiful Boer named Jackson. As a
baby, he was precious. As an adult, he was MASSIVE! It became immediately clear that we were in over our heads as he was beginning
to push us around a little. He wasn't agressive, just overly friendly. But 200 pounds of "overly friendly" can be a serious
problem.
At that point we knew we had to make a change. We sold all of the standard
sized goats except for Goatie and her daughter, Noel. We found a wonderful breeder in Mississippi and purchased our first
three pygmy goats. And we love them. Silly and playful, kind and courageous...these guys have it all! To make it all the better,
they are small enough to be handled gracefully and with care, not braun. I feel safe allowing my children to play with them
and they provide hours of entertainment.
