What started as “the only thing I can eat is raw goat milk” has grown into a lifestyle, and I couldn’t imagine my life without these beautiful creatures. At the start, I needed a minimum of 1 quart (~2lbs) of raw goat milk every day, since my health had worsened to the point where I was on a mostly liquid diet. To make a long story short, I’ve had a lot of different health issues and to make it more challenging only about 10 people on the planet have anything close to what I have. Natural medicine (herbs, homeopathy, diet) is the only reason I’m still alive, and I know that it’s possible to achieve better results with a truly holistic approach than anything modern medicine has to offer.

With the goats, I can apply everything I’ve learned about holistic care while achieving much better results than anything I ever had with previous animals when we used conventional approaches. The other huge test for holistic care was when basically the conventional approach to treating “Cushings” in horses essentially nearly killed my mare. I’m a biologist by training and combining that with everything I learned trying to keep myself alive is also the reason why she is still alive. Yes, alive, healthy and sound 5 years after going off pergolide. It was hell, but seeing her so happy now makes it all worth it. So yes, holistic management is why I have a pony who’s pushing 40 and 2 minis who all live out on pasture 24/7 and are sound, at a good weight and laminitis free. The total opposite of how they were in a dry lot. Oh, and my pony and 1 of the minis have had acute laminitis in the past. 

Nutrition is one of the foundations of health, and that is where things start with both the goats and chickens. In the past, I used various commercial feeds and always wound up with sick animals and nutrients deficiencies. The solution is both simple and complicated: feed real food. After all, if bioavailability didn’t matter we all (humans and animals alike) could just eat rocks to meet our mineral needs. This is why I did the research and custom formulated a food based all flock feed for our layers and 3 different feeds for the milkers, doelings and bucks. Another key point with senior animals (horses, goats, etc) is how important protein is, since it is just too easy for them to loose muscle. Hence why I formulate my own senior horse feed: I know exactly what is in it AND it has more, higher quality protein than any commercial feed. 

The second foundation of health is minimal stress: ie the animal needs to live how they are supposed to. With free choice of movement, access to shade and forage and the company of others. It is SO important to understand how each species operates. Their social structure and each individual’s personality. Yes, each one of the horses, goats and chickens have their own personalities. It isn’t enough to know how each species operates. That knowledge has to be applied into practice, with timing and feel. I’m still working out how to teach that, but it is critical to making life as good as possible for both the humans and animals.

It’s common knowledge with horses that the horse mirrors the human. Is that horse spooky because he was started or because his rider is tense and stressed out? Animals sometimes know us better than we know ourselves, and the mirror they provide can shatter human egos. The problem is that coming at any behavioral issue with an animal from a place of ego is guaranteed to fail. When the human realizes this, it is truly amazing the depth of relationship that are possible. But you have to be willing to admit the animal might be smarter than you. A horse is an expert in being a horse. A goat is an expert in being a goat. A chicken is an expert in being a chicken. It’s up to the human to learn each language and successfully work with the animal. 

There are 2 examples that come to mind with the goats & chickens. Pretty much every single day is an example with the horses 😀 One of my first two does is a very sweet, intelligent and sensitive goat. She’s a little on the fearful side, but once she realizes she’s safe she is a joy to be around. She was very nervous about being milked when I got her. From her point of view, she was in a brand new place, with brand new people and a brand new routine….unknown=fear. And being who she is it was more like FEAR. The first step was to help her build a positive relationship with being milked. Gently using her collar to lead her onto the milk stand, rewarding her with raisins and then milking. Since I couldn’t stop milking her to teach her, I had to keep milking while reshaping her view of being milked. Because she is faster to fear, I knew I had to avoid startling her. First talking to her “hi sweetie, it’s time to milk you”, then putting the back of my hand on her side, and slowly moving it towards her udder. Then washing her udder with the other hand, so she could feel me coming with the hand on her stomach. Then moving both hands to start milking, milking her out, then putting my hand on her stomach again while dipping her teats and finally saying “thank you” when I finished. Then the most important step…more raisins when she was done. I also worked with various TTOUCHes all over her body at first too, since she held so much tension in her body. She is still a slightly nervous milker, but she’s come a long way.

Something else that is really hard is learning new information about animal behavior and learning “well I have royally messed up and cause harm through ignorance”. Again, another humbling moment but important since times like this have helped me learn the most. I came across a video on YouTube on a channel called The Featherbrain all about what newly hatched hatchery chicks go through. You can find it there pretty easily. Needless to say, it was the type of wake up call that brought me to tears…fully understanding what life is like through the eyes of a newly hatched chick. I learned this before the last 2 groups of chicks I ordered, and I committed to apply what I had learned with them. Basically doing things a momma hen would do. You know the specific cry chicks make when you get them? Yeah, that means “I’m afraid, mommy where are you?” And yes, for the first 2 weeks when I heard that cry I went there to comfort them. None of us would let a newborn human cry in terror, why should we do that to a chick? There are other things to do to help a new chick feel secure if they don’t have a momma hen (see The Featherbrain’s YouTube channel), but this is a big one. 

I will have goats and hatching eggs for sale. I prefer not to castrate for many reasons. While I strive to only produce the highest quality bucks, I might wind up with too many. I’m not adverse to freezer camp for them if I can’t find them a breeding home.

I’m also working on herbal blends to sell as well as feeds. I don’t breed or sell horses, but I have experience rehabbing horses with metabolic syndrome. If you need management help, nutrition help or want to learn how to trim hooves, I can help you with that. My preference for nutrition consults is to create whole food based solutions. 

I am planning on going on milk test in the future, I just had a horrible health year this year and am still not well enough for that extra work. I am thinking of doing so not this year but next year, if I can figure out a few things. My challenge is how to do each milk test day without catching anything and getting sick. As far as milk production goes, my minimum requirement for a doe to stay in the herd is 2lbs a day. So if a doe is in my herd, that is the minimum she’s milking under my management conditions. Nutrition and management play a significant role in milk production, so I can’t guarantee milk production for any goat I sell. Animals aren’t machines. 

One thing to please keep in mind is that I have some pretty severe health issues. I do my best to reply promptly, but there are times when I simply cannot do so. During flares I just do not feel well enough to give you the attention you deserve. If you try to contact me and I don’t reply within 1 week, odds are high that either there is some problem here I’m dealing with OR I am just too ill to reply. I will get back to you as soon as I possibly can.