Goats
Our goats are mostly Saanen goats, a large dairy breed from Switzerland that was first imported into the US in 1904. Most of them are pure white, which can make them hard to tell apart, but their personalities are very different.
The goats on the farm are all females, except in the fall when we bring in our billygoat back for breeding. Female goats can have beards and horns. About half of our goats have horns. We milk our goats twice a day from April to December and then dry them off during the second half of their pregnancies (January-March). Each of our goats has a unique personality; some are sneaky, some are spacey, some are nice, and some are mean. That's part of what makes them interesting! |
What They Eat
Goats are mainly browsers, rather than grazers. This means they prefer to eat woody twigs and leaves from shrubs and trees.
Goats are ruminants, like cows. They have four stomachs, and chew their cud. We let the goats eat what they want and they love weeds! Our goats will eat garlic mustard, goldenrod, poison ivy, and other things considered weeds. They prefer weedy hay. We feed a mostly organic grain mix twice a day all year long. During the milking season it keeps them in top condition and encourages them to get up on the stand to get milked. Our grain comes from Lightning Tree Farm in Millbrook NY. You can see an ingredients list here. Goats have a reputation for eating anything and everything they come across- not our girls! They're actually a little picky. |
Lost Ruby Farm LLC 2019