Goats Are Coming
It’s only fitting that goats would be the next livestock on The Pendleton Family Farm right? lol. Well, goats are coming and we are ready! I had the honor of visiting Prodigal Farm and was surrounded by baby goats (kids). It was like a dream. Read all about our plans and what types of goats we chose.
THE FIRST MISTAKE
Our first mistake was going to the farm to just look. We know how well that turns out most of the time. I step foot into the parlor and was surrounded by enough baby goats to never fully be able to pick a favorite. They were jumping, nursing, and had the cutest little sweaters on. I couldn’t handle it. Ella went with me and all I kept hearing were giggles and “momma, look at this one!” By the end of the hour, we had picked out 5 we had to have.
PRODIGAL FARM
I started to search around for a few particular breeds we wanted on our own farm and came across Prodigal Farm. Truth be told, I found them first on FB when this post came up here. That is Pop Tart and he will be joining us here as the only wether. A weather is just a castrated male. No, we don’t want any breeding on our farm quite yet.
Their place is not only beautiful, but their animals are well taken care of. The family farm is centered around their pastured Animal Welfare Approved goat herd. Everything they do centers around the health of their goat herd. Source here.
Prodigal Farm also has a shop where you can purchase meat and handmade cheeses. Love that!
WHERE ARE THEY GOING?
Kids will go to the barn we have. Ryder and I started to clear it out yesterday and it will be perfect. Our plan is to have 2 acres fenced in less than 4 weeks so we will use our Premier 1 Fencing to keep the kids safe until then.
Eventually what we see here will be closed off and the entrance/exit will be on the opposite side of the barn to allow access to the pasture. The right side will be the goat side and the left will be the hens.
WHAT WILL THEY BE EATING?
Babies goats need goat milk until around 10 week’s so I’ll be bottle feeding them until then. They will have access at all times to minerals, fresh pasture, hay, grain (offered as a weaning adjustment supplement), fresh water, & baking soda when the time comes.
Baking soda is used as a preventive for bloat. When animals are under stress/change their little tummies can get upset just like us, so it is kept out so they can access it if they need to. I’ll update the blog with our setup and images.
WHAT KIND OF GOATS?
Four Kiko and 1 Lamancha baby goats are coming. Lamanchas have small, short ears that generally do not grow more than 2 inches. Kiko goats have long, floppy ears. They are all unique and absolutely adorable. We are not raising these goats for meat. They will provide us with diversity on the farm (think poop) and eventually we will breed to have milk goats.
MEET THE CREW
Not the best images, but I couldn’t keep my hand steady while snuggling lol. That lovely human in the images is Leah. She was kind, informative, and loves her job so dang much.
I warned you not the best quality lol. I mean my eye is closed in one of them for goodness sakes. I don’t care, they are going to bring such joy to the farm. Not to fear, I’m sure they will have plenty of pretty goat pictures when they get here. 🙂
Bring in the chaos!
Comments (2)
Jennifer Yancey Bailey
March 10, 2021 at 11:53 am
Love your blog Mellisa & hearing all the fun news about your farm. So super cool & exciting.
I know we weren’t real close in high school, but it’s been great to cross each other’s paths over the years.
So happy for You and your Family and the joy you all share for each other, along with sharing your story through your blog.
I have to share with You how much Your blogs have inspired me to hopefully get into blogging in the next few months. God has put it on my heart for a long time but through your inspiration and the song Sparrow by Cory Asbury (and a few life/job changes), I believe I’ll finally start a blog in the next couple months and the calling that God is sharing with me for quite some time. So Thank You for that.
Plus have always LOVED photography and never gotten into it professionally but have seriously though about getting into it in the coming months. Learning a little here and there about lightroom and hope to get a nice camera soon.
Anyway, thanks again Girl and so good to catch up.
Jenn (Yancey) Bailey
HHS class of ’99
19Proverbs21KJB@gmail.com
828-578-4961
Pendleton Family Farm
March 15, 2021 at 7:07 am
You just made my whole week. Thank you so very much for your kind words Jennifer!