Goats make good company

By Dan MacArthur
North Forty News

It's perhaps impossible to explain to those not similarly addicted, but goats are magic to those smitten with the gentle, intelligent and personable little creatures.

"It is the greatest legal tranquilizer there is," explains Joan Bowen. "There is something about them that people just love. They enjoy their company."

Bowen can be excused for her enthusiasm. President of the American Association of Small Ruminant Practitioners, she has a real affection for goats and takes particular interest in caring for them as part of her veterinary practice. She also raised goats before becoming a vet and currently maintains a herd of 11 at her family's property southeast of Wellington.

"I've had goats for 35 years. I've been insane for 35 years," she proclaims with only a slim trace of a smile.

Those with goats on small acreages in the county typically have similar-sized herds of 10 to 15, according to Bowen. Many are raised as 4-H projects, and they make good ones because goats are easy to work with and relatively safe to handle. With most goats de-horned as kids, "the worst they can do is step on your foot," says Bowen.

Goats also can be raised for their milk, although Bowen notes that there currently is no cooperative in the state to collect and process goat milk. Consequently, producers are limited to selling goat milk from their homes. While such small-scale operations were typically tolerated before, they were formally legalized when a new law took effect last year allowing direct sales of raw milk.

It can be a lucrative business, according to Bowen, with goat milk selling for as much $30 per hundredweight (about 8.5 gallons) compared with $12 per cwt for cow milk, but she has strong objections to the legislation.

"Many people who are producing milk don't realize there can be bacteria in the milk," says Bowen. "Perfectly normal appearing animals can have bacteria in their milk that can make people who drink it without pasteurization ill."

She produces her own pasteurized goat milk, milking her does twice daily. But she sells it only for consumption by other animals such as orphaned or abandoned lambs, calves, foals, puppies and fawns.

Bowen says others actually put goats to work as pack animals, She said they can carry a third of their weight if trained when young to gradually accept an increasingly greater load. And they don't require a tether because they want to stay close at hand. "They're part of your family," she says.

Fiber also generates income for some other goat owners. Angora goats produce a long-staple fiber called mohair while cashmere goats produce a valuable down undercoat used in weaving luxurious and pricey garments. But even with a value of as much as $65 an ounce, Bowen said owners of cashmere goats are unlikely to get rich with each animal producing only about 4 ounces of fiber a year.

There's also an increasing demand for goat meat, according to Bowen, especially among growing ethnic cultures that make goat a regular part of their diets. While 150 to 200 goats previously passed through the local sales barn every week, she says that number has more than doubled to 400 or 500 - with periodic special sales of up to 3,500 goats.

But more than economic gain, Bowen believes that most people keeping goats are hooked on what she calls "goat magic."

"They're very personable. They're very people-oriented," she says. "If you put in the time, they will give back." With proper care and surroundings, Bowen says, pygmy goats can even make good pets.

"Of the domestic ruminants, they're smarter than average," Bowen adds, noting that goats recognize their owners and dogs that belong on the property.

Like any other livestock, the price of goats is relative based on their breeding and value to their owners. Buyers should expect to pay at least a $1 a pound, Bowen says, with full-sized goats weighing 200 to 300 pounds and a mature pygmy up to 70 pounds. But a good registered goat can sell for as much as $1,000 or more, she says.

Goats are relatively economical to maintain, eating 3 to 5 percent of their weight every day in hay or grain. Browsers rather than grazers, Bowen says, are great at purging plots of unwanted weeds such as thistles or leafy spurge.