Most of all, though, we have always just enjoyed our goats! When we were younger (and had the time!), my sister and I would often spend hours playing with our goats, observing them, teaching them tricks, and often taking them for walks! If you’ve never had a goat, you don’t know what friendly, personable, and unique pets they are! Most people who haven’t owned goats have been educated about them via myths portraying them as dirty, smelly animals that eat anything and produce bad-tasting milk. In reality, a properly cared for goat is friendly, very fastidious about what she eats, clean, intelligent, and produces delicious, sweet, creamy milk (again, provided that it’s cared for in the proper manner.)

Currently, our small goat herd consists of five registered Alpine does (the correct term for a female goat): Showgirl, Little Meggy, Tatty, Wales, and Touché.

Showgirl is a flashy black and white doe, very proud and lofty, with a dignified friendliness.

Meggy, mostly black with a few distinct white markings, is a very sweet and friendly doe who loves to be scratched. She is an excellant milk producer!

Dark bay Tatty is the most mischievous and rambunctious, yet endearing in her own way because of those very traits.

One of the best milk producers, Wales also loves attention, and won’t leave the milkstand after milking until she has had her scratches.

As the youngest, Touché is a graceful, deep brown and black doe, very shy with strangers, but quite friendly with those she knows. Milking time for our adult does is twice daily, five o’clock in the morning, and five o’clock in the evening. Anyone want to come by and help with the morning milking?!

Time for a walk!

Four young ladies spent the past week with me for the opportunity to experience first hand taking care of all the goat kids and pitching in with the milking chores. Jessica, Julia, Sarah, and Hannah worked willingly and proved an excellent help…from bottle-feeding the kids, to milking the does, from washing soap molds to wrapping and labeling soap.

The Girls and Kids

On their last day here, the balmy temperatures and sunny blue skies beckoned us all to spend the day outdoors, and we unanimously agreed it was the perfect day to wash all the goats. Every spring, with the arrival of moderate weather, we give all our goats a thorough bath to rid them of their winter fuzz and dust. Not only is it a satisfying feeling to see them resplendent in their shinning clean coats, it is also an excellent way to avoid potential skin and hair problems in our goat herd.

Jess and Julia washing "Tatty."

For some years before we made our own soap, we would go searching at our local feed stores for animal shampoos that would thoroughly clean our goats, without the use of multiple chemicals and harsh detergents. When we did find a shampoo that fit the bill, it was often beyond our budget. With the creation of our own goat milk bar soap, however,our shampoo search was over! I quickly discovered a simple way to turn the goat milk soap into a shampoo that works wonderfully on both our goats and our dogs, leaving their coats shinning and sleek, and their skin smooth and supple.

Lots of soap suds = clean goats!

Perhaps you also have animals you’d like to treat to a spring bath. Here’s my Animal Shampoo Recipe in case you’re interested in trying it:

Grate 1 bar of Garland Goat Soap, any scent (my favorites are lemongrass, rosemary or tea tree for the animal shampoo) into fine shavings.

Add 2 cups of boiling water to the grated soap and mix thoroughly with a whisk to dissolve the soap shavings. Allow to cool before using. Enjoy!

At first, this shampoo will be quite liquidy, but will thicken as it cools. I usually mix it up right before I need it. Let me know how this shampoo works for your pets!

The Triplets

Thank you to all you participated in our Garland Goat Soap Kid Guess Contest! We hope you had as much fun guessing as we had reading your guesses! We are delighted to announce that Kim O’Brien, with her correct guess that Wales would have triplets, two bucks and one doe, is the winner of our Garland Goat Soap Kid Guess Contest!! Congratulations, Kim! Enjoy your soap!

Daisy

Wales triplets are quite a trio! “Ruger,” the firstborn, weighed a whopping 13 pounds at birth, setting a record for the largest kid born in our herd! (A normal kid weight is 7-8 lbs.) Ruger is the goofiest looking kid I’ve ever seen; he’s so long and gangly, and a major overbite gives his face a most comical expression. “Daisy” followed Ruger, presenting quite a contrast by her tiny, petite size, and sweet, snuggly personality. Last, but not least, “Remington” arrived, hungry, and ready for a meal!

All our does have kidded now, and a total of six kids are bouncing around in their big box stall. We’ve been quite busy with a barn full of new kids to care for and bottle-feed. It hasn’t left much time for soapmaking right now… but somehow, we’ve managed to find some time to bring all the kids out and enjoy the welcoming spring sunshine outdoors. I hope you have too!