Why *not* to get goats
"Otherwise, I swear, I'm going to come home from work one of these days and there's going to be a goat in my apartment..."
--- Dave
Well, Dave, let me tell you about how Artemesia broke out this week and committed arson....
Okay, maybe she really
just jumped up into the wheelbarrow while I was cleaning out the coop
and ensured that her picture would be found in the next edition of the
dictionary under "adorable."
More seriously, I have to admit that after four months with goats, I wouldn't recommend
them for 90% of homesteaders. Artemesia is like a delightful hybrid
between a loyal dog and a rainbow, but I'd feel terribly guilty if I
didn't give our goats at least half an hour of attention per day.
And boy do they eat! We're currently giving our duo lots of hay and are letting them graze down several decades' worth of honeysuckle, but we'll be scrambling pretty hard this summer to get enough pasture areas established to ensure that 
our
goats don't eat us out of house and home. And I'll also be putting more
effort into gardening so we can grow enough fodder crops to make up for
the honeysuckle, which won't be here next year if our goats' current
appetites are any indication.
Then there's the expense. We actually haven't had any real escapes, but that's because we're paying top dollar by fencing with cattle panels
(and because we chose half-miniature goats and keep them quite happy).
That makes goats a very pricey endeavor (although the fencing should
last for a lifetime and can be used with any other livestock we end up
acquiring). Yes, you can fence with cheaper materials...but I suspect I'd love Artemesia much less if she ended up gnawing on my dwarf apple trees.
I lobbied hard for goats
nearly from the beginning, and even though I pouted at the time when
Mark said no, I can see now that we weren't ready for goats until the
last year or two. A new homestead is a huge time- and money-sink, and we
just wouldn't have had the ability to truly enjoy goats at that time.
So, I have to admit that I'm probably on Dave's side on this issue and
would recommend that he and his girlfriend not get goats quite yet.
On the other hand, if you
don't want any goats in your apartment, you might want to pry the
computer out of your girlfriend's hands right now. Because once
Abigail's kids show up, the goat pictures are going to get even
cuter.... You've been warned!
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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While I do appreciate the heads-up about the effort it takes to establish a proper home with food for goats I felt a little surprised that you feel 90% of homesteaders aren't ready for the venture. That doesn't say much about your followers! I'm preparing for goats and I enjoy your posts and pictures but I don't need to be discouraged. Looking forward to birthing pictures. Cynthia
Cynthia --- Well, I have a very broad idea of who homesteaders are. To me, if you're interested in anything homesteading-related, you're a homesteader! So, folks who just have a couple of tomato plants on their balcony are mixed in there with people who have been farming for twenty years.
I guess I'm also partly reacting to a comment another reader made, saying that Mark and I made homesteading look so easy that she tried it...and failed miserably. I certainly don't want to make homesteading look easy because that's not true (although it's definitely fulfilling and fun). And I feel like goats are an intermediate-to-advanced project, definitely not one of the low-hanging fruits for most folks.
But like the rest of homesteading, they're fulfilling and fun, so if you want them, by all means, you should go for them!
But her response upon reading the article was "Those photos don't help your cause at all. I want goats. OH MY GOD, SHE'S GOING TO HAVE BABY GOATS??"
I'll try to keep her satisfied with my uncle's adorable dwarf goats, as he's only a couple hours from our (future) new home in Bristol, but I fear it's only going to buy me a couple years.
Maybe we can just put her to work on your place, entertaining Artemesia and Abigail?
-Dave
Dave --- Sorry I failed miserably there.
But, hey, maybe that means that if Abigail has girls, you'd like the kids? They'll be weaned about the time you move to town....
Su Be --- Yeah, I think people underestimate how much goats need. Those old cartoons do the species a major disservice!
I complain about my goats in these comments all the time. But I do like them. They are exasperating (often) but cute and attention grabbing (usually). If you are like me and a hobby homesteader, goats are fine. If you are a market t gardener, I don't recommend goats. I will admit, I have only harvested 3 cabbages in 4 years due to goat escapes. I have almost forgotten what spinach tastes like. The only plus is they don't seem to like tomatoes (as much as everything else in the garden and orchard). If you invest in quality fencing (like Anna and Mark) you might escape goat predations... but I wouldn't count on it.
And as a final resort.... as a friend of mine said- if the goats eat all your garden... eat the goats.