Finally! Goats!!

I guess my love affair with goats probably started about 5 or 6 years ago when a local farm, Caromont Farm, advertised that they needed volunteers to snuggle goats. Yes, being a volunteer goat snuggler is a thing!!

All the spots to snuggle were taken, but the response to their request was so overwhelming that they decided to have snuggle days during the early spring. These were ticketed days where you basically could go anytime between 11am and 4pm and play with their goats. Some kids were days old, some were a few weeks or months old, and then they also had pens with adult does. I went early and stayed for hours, holding baby goats and playing with the older ones. Each age was sweet and fun and had their own personality. I loved the babies, but also really enjoyed spending time with the older, calmer does.

I went back for many more snuggle days and was really lucky to get to know Gail, the owner of Caromont. She is a cheesemaker and chef extraordinaire and a wonderful person, too. After getting to know her I asked if there were things I could do to help out, and she was generous enough to let me. Depending on the day I prepped stalls and brought the babies milk, I checked people in, answered questions, and even just played. I can honestly say that the hours I've spent with Gail and her her have been some of my happiest. I also found that spedning time with the goats helped me feel a little better, even if only for a short while. I have trigeminal neuralgia and other neurological issues/ chronic pain from a nuerosurgery I had to try to treat the TN that went bad. I has a stroke, significant vestibular and auditory nerve damage, and significant bleeding into the brain which resulted in my needing a transfusion. The pain never goes away, but it was much more tolerable when I had a baby goat in my arms!

While spending time at Caromont is amazing, it is an hour away and I can't just show up on non-snuggle days when I need a snuggle-fix! I've always wanted my own but there were a million reasons not to get them. Space, time, money, concerns about our neighbors, my health, the human kids... you name it. But then this past year things started to change. There was covid and staying at home and having a lot of time to think about what was important to me and what made me happy- and why I did or didn't do things. A lot of my motivation in doing things is to make other people happy and I realized I rarely do things just for me. I still want to make other people happy but I also want to practice self-care and pay attention to my own needs- and show my kids that is is not only ok, but healthy to do so. So I am getting a goat. Actually two, because they need to be with other goats to be happy. 

I did a ton of research into breeds and decided that two wethered Nigerian Dwarfs were a good fit. They are smart, affectionate, and small. I'm getting wethers since I'm not doing it for milk and definitely don't want an in-tact buck. In fact, I'll have to wether them myself- stay tuned for that blog post! 

I had spoken to several farmers/ breeders and decided on a farm outside Roanoke, which is about 2 hours away. I actually just heard today that I am definitely getting them! It'll be a few weeks before I do, but I figured I'd start this now and include what I am doing to prep for them and then I can write about everything once the adventures *really* start!

I hope you enjoy my adventures. If you have any questions or would like me to focus on anything in particular, let me know. Next time I'll write about the pen we built this weekend and how I see things working space-wise. I'll also talk about what I've gotten so far to have on hand when I get them. I think I am going to become a regular at Tractor Supply!