Not Goats Too?

Thursday was quite busy around here. That was the day we discovered our solar electric system would run our well pump and we had an unusual amount of visitors for this time of year. Walking in and out a half mile on a muddy road limits visitors so we were happy to see several intrepid souls. Two came to see the horses and I think they would have walked ten miles they were so excited. Morgan and Heather are trying to learn enough about horses to be able to ride. On an excitement scale from one to ten, they come in around twelve. They can't hide their happiness and excitement and that makes them great fun to help. After years of having horses, Kris and I still have the same excitement about horses and it is good to see other people as crazy as we are.

Anyway, after we worked with the horses a couple of hours, we took them into see videos of horses doing various gaits so they could start to learn what is possible. While we were watching the videos, we glanced out the window and Walter Kane was looking in. I went out and brought him in to the barn. I gather Water was not expecting to see two very good looking young ladies in our kitchen. Wide eyed surprise changed to a smile, and after introductions, he sat down and watched horse videos with us. Finally, the girls had to leave and Walter remembered why he had walked half a mile in to see us.

"Brought back your pickle jars."
"I'll get you another jar Walter" and off Kris went to grab some more bread and butter pickles.

Since Walter really is a farmer and grew up on farm, he is a wealth of useful information and we ply him with pickles and pick his brain for ideas that are useful. Our farming has nothing to do with modern farming techniques and Walter's knowledge is from a time when all farms had a subsistence component to it, so it is a perfect fit. Walters stories give him a chance to reminisce and we can ask questions and get more useful knowledge than a month of research would give us.

Walter raised cows most of his life and I mentioned that if we ever get enough pasture we were considering getting one to fatten up and butcher. Walter said our land was suited to goats and would be for awhile. He said he would be tempted to get Boer goats, a variety specifically for meat production.

Well, unfortunately that got us to thinking and looking at Boer goats on the Internet. Research is dangerous. Farm research for us is very dangerous. We should probably have a block put on the computer to keep us from doing farm research. In less time than it would take to have a nap, we knew enough about Boer goats to know we can't live with out them anymore and it is amazing that we have somehow overlooked them for this long. We also had a list of farms in Maine that grew Boer Goats-with websites and phone numbers. Boer meat is available for sale and that will give us a chance to try it. I raised goats before and it tastes like lamb.
The Boer goats are supposed be milder and unlike milk goats, there is a good amount of meat. Boer Goats are gentle, friendly, are ready to eat in just a few months, lower in cholesterol and fat, and three litters are possible in two years. Two to three kids are average size litters and four is not unusual. They browse like a deer and eat things like blackberry bushes, poison Ivy, and what ever they can find in your garden.

So, while I'm building chicken houses, I had better start considering the new goat operation. Where to put shed's and pens is starting to be a problem. A first class goat operation needs little chutes and sorting pens. We could milk goats too. A Boer buck passes along the Boer traits to certain of the dairy goats. So, if we had a dairy goat doe, we could milk her after she kidded and use the milk. We use milk in my coffee and the sourdough bread and we could feed it to a pig. Hmmm, pigs.

I think we are going to look at goats today, you know just look, that's all. Maybe I should google pig varieties while I wait for Kris to get up.