Friday, September 10, 2010

Goats?

I know my last post was all about not having enough time.  I know that all of these projects and animals DEMAND time.  I know we are all crazy, insanely busy and probably sometimes feel like we are barely keeping it together.  But, damn, we found the best deal on a set-up for goats on craigslist!  Of course it includes 3 of your very own goats to go with it.  The timing may be less-than-perfect, but I know that goats are somewhere on the radar for all of us.  Damn Sarah for sending me that listing!  I called the goat lady (Alicia) and the deal really does sound almost too good for us to pass up.  She bought goats about 6 months ago with big aspirations to have small scale milk production for her family.  It's a mama goat, a 7 month old baby girl and a 7 month old boy (not from the same litter, perfect for breeding in February).  She has the kennel (coyote proof), the milk stand, a hand milker (if you don't want to use your own hands) and a months worth of food, water and feed buckets all included.  Turns out that she DOESN'T own the property and her land lord isn't too keen on her having the goats.  There's not a proper fence there and it's been a struggle since the beginning.  Could her loss be our gain?  What do you think?  Are we ready for goats?  Of course the answer is "NO", but we weren't ready to sell our house or get the chickens, either.  That all turned out okay... didn't it?  We go to check them out on Sunday.  What do you think?

Pros:
1. We want them
2. Fresh milk for most of the year
3. We can make our own cheese
4. It's a fantastic deal.  It's probably 40%-50% off what we would pay getting everything seperately.
5. They EAT WEEDS!

Cons:
1. We don't have a proper fence
2. We barely have time to shower and brush our teeth
3. Our neighbors are tough to gauge - will they be upset?
4. We would really need to find a way to protect our fruit trees and garden beds.  Is it bad to tether a goat?
5. I'd never hear the end of it from Jeremy.

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