How to Build a Goat Pen

A goat pen can be made of a variety of materials...wood, barbed wire, electric wire, cattle panels or chain-link.  We chose chain-link because it is sturdy and can keep predators out.  Coyotes are prevalent around here and there is a fear that with easy access they would love to take one of my little girls away for dinner. We're going to try our best to prevent this by building a pen made of 6' chain-link fencing.

Since my husband and I are anything but handy, we enlisted the help of my father to assist us in constructing the new goat home. First, we needed to stake out the future post sites.  Next, we dug post holes, then we filled them with sand.  Finally, we set posts in each hole and filled the hole with a cement/concrete mixture.  After we used a builder's level to ensure our posts weren't leaning we let them sit (or rather stand) over night.

And then there were three...

We have goats! They're still residing in Poway until April 26th but they are ours.

After seeing both Nigerians and Nubians, and speaking extensively with a dairy goat farmer, I decided that Nubians are the goat for me. So, we picked out two cute little Nubian kids (1 month old) and then the lovely lady at Urban Acres Farm threw in a wether as well.  Apparently the wether will be great company for the girls and he will help me realize when the girls are ready for breeding.

This cutie is named Rosy.

This one is Clover.

Goats for Leche

For the past few months I have continuously searched for dairy goats in the Coachella Valley but to no avail.  Perhaps they simply do not exist here.

A couple of weeks ago I visited a small goat farmer and was disheartened to see the conditions the goats were living in. Hundreds of goats to a relatively small pen and nursing does suffering from all kinds of ailments. Additionally, although I repeatedly asked the farmer over the phone if his goats were dairy goats and each time he replied yes, they were not.  We had some difficulty communicating until finally I said, "cabra por leche??" to which he replied, "oh no." thanks

Not all hope is lost because we're driving to Poway, California tomorrow to visit this farm.  I'm confident they'll have healthy, happy and high producing goats. I'm not confident I'll be able to afford them. We shall soon find out.

Searching for Goats

Apparently finding potential dairy goats in the desert is rather difficult.   Although we have a large farm/agricultural population this doesn't include my potential Nubian ladies.

I have almost ruled out the traditional route of going to a licensed/documented/award bragging breeder. They are supremely expensive and since they're so focused on bloodlines, are they really paying any attention to the quality of the milk?

My husband suggested I try local schools and see if their agriculture department has any animals for sale. This morning I thought I had a lead when we passed by a high school that had a sign, "Goats for Sale." Fantastic. I called the operator of the school who gave me the cell phone number to the caretaker of the farm. Then I called the caretaker. This was our exchange:

"Yeah, I've got one goat left."
"Great. Is it a dairy goat?"
"Oh no. It's a BBQ goat."
"A BBQ goat?"
"Yeah. A BBQ goat."

Now, in all my research for dairy goats I have come to know a little bit about meat goats. However, in no article or book or journal are goats ever referred to as a method of cooking.  Albeit slightly uncouth, I guess it makes the transition from farmyard to dinner table a lot easier when you're always referring to the goat as "Daisy, the star of our next neighborhood cookout."

So, the school thing didn't quite work out.

My search continues.

Step 1: Build Goat Pen

If you have a large cleared area of land (at least 10' x 20' per goat) you're ready to build your pen.  However, if your area is not already cleared then obviously you need to clear it before you build. And, if your future goat pen area has an abandoned pig pen in it, you must remove that first.

So, for me, it was Step 0: Remove abandoned Pig Pen.

At first glance I thought, "okay, a good 2 hours should have that chain-link fence up and out of there."  After digging down a few inches and noticing that the bottom of the fence was no where in sight, I re-thought the projected completion time. Then, after digging down 3 feet I thought, "who the hell buries a chain-link fence by more than 3 feet?"

Apparently, pigs are notorious diggers so you must bury their fence so that they can't dig under the pen and wander away.  However, I can guarantee you that there is no pig in the world that can dig down more than 2 feet and thus, to be overly cautious, no fence should EVER need to be buried more than 30".

My first battle with the pig pen ended in frustration and a very sore lower back. I dug and dug and then pulled and pulled and still that pesky fence wouldn't budge. I'm rested and recovered and today I'm bringing in the artillery. A tractor. Instead of fighting with a shovel and desperately hoping that I can unearth the end of the fence, I've enlisted the help of a tractor.  I'm just going to rip that thing from the ground. Best outcome; the fence comes up clean and intact. Less desirable outcome; the tractor pulls up most of the fence and I bury whatever is left. Either way, this fight is already won.





The future site of the goat pen

Birthday Fairy

The Birthday Fairy arrived three days early this year. She arrived in the form of a brown cardboard box from Amazon.com. After initially pondering "did I order something?"and then, "I thought I canceled the items in my shopping cart?" and having my husband look at me in disbelief as if he was thinking, "how in the world can you not know if you ordered something," I realized it must be instead a birthday gift.  Of course that was it, and it wasn't me suffering from the onset of early Alzheimer's.

My fabulous sister sent me these books to highlight her support of my new adventure. She also sent them to show her awareness of my absolute ignorance about goats, and the craziness of this quest. I love her.

Tangy Victory

I am writing this post while happily munching on a goat cheese tartine. (A slice of toasted bread with fresh chevre smothered on it). And yes, I made it. With the help from those splendid people at Summerhill Dairy and the fantastic folks at The New England Cheesemaking Supply Company I was able to successfully produce my first batch of chevre.

After the curds had set and the whey had over 12 hours to drain, I divided the cheese into three batches. One was mixed with herbs de provence, the other was mixed with black pepper, and the third was untouched. I then rolled them in plastic wrap and squeezed them through a cylindrical mold. Now I have three happy cheese logs sitting on the top shelf of my refrigerator.

Basic Chevre:
1 gallon goat milk (I use Summerhill Dairy since it tastes fresh, isn't goaty  and the milk is not ultrapasteurized)
1 packet "Chevre" (you can get them here from the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company)
Stainless Steel pot
Stainless Steel slotted spoon
dried herbs
non-iodized salt
colander
cheesecloth

• Gently heat the milk to 86ºF
• Pour in the Chevre packet and let sit for 2-3 minutes
• Stir the milk to ensure even distribution of the cultures
• Cover and let sit at room temperature (roughly 72-75º) for 12 hours
• With a slotted spoon, gently place the curds in a colander lined with cheesecloth
• Tie the cheesecloth and let the curds hang over the sink or a bowl for 3 hours at room temperature. 
• Transfer the hanging curds to the refrigerator to continue to drip for another 9 hours
• Put the curds in a bowl and sprinkle with 1.5-3 teaspoons of salt, mix thoroughly
• Mold the curds or place in an airtight container for storage. 

The cheese should last about a week and a half in the refrigerator.  However, I cannot imagine that there will still be cheese left after a couple of days.

Nubian v. Nigerian Dwarf

My father and I came to the conclusion that it would be better to get the dairy goat(s) before the brutal temperatures of the summer here in the Southern California desert. However, that means I only have a few months to 1) figure out which breed I'm going to get, 2) build her (their) pen on my parents' ranch and 3) find the goat(s).

Presently I'm torn between two different breeds of dairy goats. Nubians v. Nigerian Dwarfs. Nubians are regular sized with charastically adorable floppy ears. Nigerian Dwarfs are hardy, pocket-sized healthy milkers who have a reputation for being incredibly loving and sweet with humans. Some of the issues I'm mulling over are:

• milk production

• butterfat content

• tolerance for extreme heat

• gentleness to humans and children

• fencing requirements

Apparently both breeds similarly satisfy the conditions above, but in different ways.

Another consideration is the availability of bucks for breeding purposes. Nigerian Dwarfs are not as popular and are actually considered an endangered breed in some areas of the United States. They are also not as revered by the dairy community are are frequently ignored in essays and articles regarding dairy goat breeds.  (This actually makes me want them more.) However, although Nubians are much more well-known there aren't that many that actually live in close promixity to me.  I don't mind driving a long distance, to pick up my doe kid or junior doe, but it may be problematic during breeding time.