I don’t want to hear excuses this time.
Now, I know that you’ve been saying that you can’t possibly own a goat what with your full-time job and busy schedule and the fact that you don’t have a backyard blah blah blah…excuses, excuses.
The time for a goat is NOW, my friend! You don’t want to be looking back a year from now and be all, “WHY OH WHY didn’t I listen to DaNelle and get a goat?! My life is worth nothing!” Goat regret. It happens.
5 Reasons Why YOU need a Goat.
Just in case you have a significant other who you’re still trying to convince, I’ve complied a list of reasons why you definitely, absolutely, and unequivocally need a goat.
Reason #1 You have instant bragging rights about your amazing life because you now own goats.
I mean, I don’t normally like to brag, but I DO own goats, soooo….it’s kind of hard not to. Oh, you have a brand new Lexus? I just bought a new goat. You’re taking your whole family on a trip to Hawaii? My goat just ate like 20 mangos in like 10 minutes. Your pregnant with twins? My goat’s pregnant with triplets and she’s not getting an epidural.
Reason #2 You now have the best conversation stopper/starter ever.
The best thing about owning a goat is that it helps you both ways conversation-wise. Allow me to share with you a possible conversation…
CONVERSATION STARTER
(awkward silence with a fellow mom at the school drop off)
YOU: “Overcast weather today, isn’t it? I slept in and almost forgot to feed my goats on time!”
CONVERSATION STOPPER
(checkout lady won’t stop talking about every dang item she scans)
YOU: “I find those thermometers work best for checking my goat’s rectal temps.”
Reason #3 Baby goats do parkour jumps at 3 days old.
I don’t care who you are, when your baby goat starts doing parkour at only 3 days old, you freak out and record it and share it with everybody in the universe. Because, baby goats! And parkour!
Reason #4 Naming a goat is way more fun than naming your own kid.
Admit it, when it comes to naming your offspring, as much as you’d like to be adventurous and artistic, you know deep down that you can’t screw with their name like that. Hence, the reason why people still name their kids ‘Matthew’.
When it comes to goats, however, there is LITERALLY no way you could screw up their name. You can go old school with a name like Nancy or Gerald, or you can go totally off the wall and name your goat Voldemort or Sir Charles III. It works either way.
Reason #5 Even when everything else is wrong in your life, you can still think, “Hey at least I still totes have ma’ goats.”
Imagine yourself homeless, but with a goat. Do you know how hard you’d rock that scenario? I can just see you now, drinking milk from your goat, snuggling with your goat on cold nights, fashioning a cart, training your goat how to pull it and going for a ride! I’m just saying, even if you lost everything, your goats would have your back.
Let’s face it, you’ve got a fever, and the only cure is a goat.
What are you waiting for? Get out there and get your goat before somebody talks you out of it!
Watch my video below of goats! Because, goats!
Diana Rowland says
I’m ready for the “why you need MORE goats” so I can convince my husband 🙂 Loved the post!
gee says
I live in a one-bedroom condo with three cats…..how many baby goats can I fit in?
DaNelle Wolford says
Haha, that’s a good one! Goats definitely need more space than a condo:)
Leysa Rought says
Great post! I just became a crazy goat lady this year. I have four La Manchas and one little Nubian/ La Mancha mix. I love them! I can’t wait for my girls to kid!
valerie bertholf says
I feel the same way, you cant have just one goat!
Elma says
Thanks for finally writing about >5 Reasons Why YOU need a Goat <Liked it!
Ron S. says
I have 18 pygmy goats, getting two more in April, wills top at 20
absolutely love them. I sank three truck tires in the ground and they jump on top and play
king of the castle. They stand on their back legs and head butt each other for play.
Goats have so much personality, love them, also have chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl
and 4 hair sheep, thinking of alpaca’s next as well.
Lyndsay says
How many goats do you have and what all do you do with them ? Just wandering BC u can only drink so much milk and eat so much cheese 😉
DaNelle Wolford says
Goats don’t produce a lot of milk, so we don’t have to drink a lot:) With a family of four we drink about 1-2 gallons a week and then also make cheese about every 2-3 weeks or so:)
Lesley Silvester says
My goat who is in milk is giving me nearly three litres a day. I have to make cheese every other day. It is the yummiest milk and cheese EVER.
PS why do we need reasons to keep goats? It’s the only sensible thing to do.
Deb Potter says
Depends on the breed and the individual goat…. Some goats give a quart a day and some give 1 1/2 to 2 gallons a day. I won’t keep a goat in my barn that doesn’t give at least a gallon a day after they have peaked.
Tuna Traffic says
🙂
littledove says
I have 5 pygmy goats, 1 billy and 4 nannies. They can be bred any month of the year. I try to keep one in milk at all times to give us milk to drink and cook with, make milk kefir, yogurt, cheese and soap. Don’t know what I would do with my goats.
littledove says
Oh I forgot, the “goat pills” make great fertilizer for my garden. The benefits of raw goat milk are many. I sell my kids at 3 days old.. I always have a waiting list.
Ernest says
Goats are like the crystal entity in Star Trek. No need to mow, not a weed in sight!
Michelle says
I like your thinking. Never have to mow or do any weeding in the yard. But living in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the winters are harsh, I don’t know if the goat would be doing well during that season.
Judy says
We live in Grand Rapids, MI area. These past 2 winters were miserable for human but not bad for my goat herd. They have a structure to live in, heater in water tank, hay in manger 2 times a day, grain at night, does that birthed had stalls in the heated barn. We kept it warm enough to keep chicken, horse, rabbit, and goat water from freezing.
Not a complaint was heard. Goats are my favorite stock animal. Each one has/had a name. Brace yourself, we thinned the herd and butchered. Tasty.
Caroline says
I’ve had Nubian goats on & off over the years, would do it again, loved them! Fencing was the problem on my old farm. Now if I could send them into the woods for clearing it……hmmm….
Karla T says
I loved this! It made me giggle and now I really want to name a goat Sir Charles III!
I’m getting two or three mini nubians in the Spring and I’m so excited!
DaNelle Wolford says
How fun!!
Helen E says
I shared this with my husband right away! 😀
Andy says
You’re an idiot. Even if this post is for laughs. Dumbest thing ever. Waste of my life I’ll never get back. Thanks.
randyallthetime says
now you wasted mine! thanks.. why in the hell did you come here.. and then be an ass and be rude? You don’t need any more time .. at all.. move on fool
Anne says
Hey, go easy on him. He’s just jealous because he doesn’t have a goat. 🙂
DaNelle Wolford says
LOL!
Ernie Schmidt says
Go easy on him. From a guy goat owner, I can see Andy needs a hug.
Marianne says
Maybe he just needs a loving goat head butt! Yeah, that’s it!
DaNelle Wolford says
LOL!
DaNelle Wolford says
LOL!
LISA says
When i’m having a bad day I go and sit with my goats..they make any day brighter..and nothing is cuter than baby goats…I had 7 kids last year..so much fun
maggie says
No thanks. I’ll just stick with my cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens. Goats do have a ton of personality, but they are no fun to keep in fences! Been there, done that!
Barbara Senglaub says
Love your post. Everyone should have goats!! We have 8 Fainting goat Does and 2 bucks. Love them!
Joanne says
This post is great. However, I DO have reasons Im not getting a goat. 1, my Dad has forbiddon me to own goats, pigs, or yaks. 2, I already have a wonderful jersey cow. Yes, my Dad allows me to have a cow. 3, I have friends with a herd of goats and often house-sit, so I get my “goat fix” and can visit whenever.
Grace says
My dad for years wouldn’t let me have goats, so I married a farmer and two days after we got home from the honeymoon we had three goats. ??
William Babcock says
Good post. But . . . . .You should not get one goat. They are heard animals and will be lonely and unhappy alone. Goats need a companion, another goat (Twice as much great milk, and all the more to use for butter, cheese, yogurt, soap, and yummy drinking. You and also sell fresh milk to friends and parents of lactose intolerant infants and children we are currently paying $12 – $16 per gallon (Its’ well worth it.)
Goat milk?
Dr Bill
Kate says
You are sooo funny! I have been wanting goats for 3 years now and we FINALLY got the fencing put up and the goat house will be done in December. I will have my goats iisometime in February – April. Based on your blogs and other research we will be getting nigerian dwarfs…also a guardian dog. That satisfies my other need (new puppy). We already have chickens and raise heritage turkeys. Bees were added this spring. We will see how the manage the winter. – Kate @ Climax Kitchen
Kelsey says
Love it. So funny. I can’t wait to get goats once we get a house in a few years! Wish it could be sooner. (And P.S. Can I just say thank you for having your email field where we enter our email address be an actual email field so it’s easy to type in? Just one of my pet peeves when people don’t take the time to do that…. So thanks!! 🙂 )
Pamela Spivey somewhere in North Carolina says
DaNelle,
I like reading your blog when I have the chance and you are correct Everyone needs a goat!! I bought 7 this year and love them all but some times I dislike the little buck as some of my nephews thought it was funny to hold onto the bucks horns and try to keep him from moving… well guess how the buck feels about anyone touching him around the head now???? he hates it!!!! I don’t like it a bit that the nephews did it , they were taking care of my little farm while I had to go out of town…SO BEWARE Who you ask to care for your Animals..
Mike Burke November 16, 2014 at 7:44 pm, I haven bought milk since I got my goats and love it, but my cheese making is lacking…
Pamela
aaron says
Hi,
I heard you might have some mini goats for sale. I was at backyard fence asking about goats. If you do please contact me back.
Aaron
Melissa @ Bless this Mess says
You are SO right. We neeeeeed some goats!!
Margaret Anne @ Natural Chow says
After reading Jill’s post on why you SHOULDN’T get a goat, I admit I was a little skeptical. But you veered me back onto the right path—I WANT GOATS!
Mary Watts says
Because of you and your blog we got three nigerian dwarfs. A mom and her two kids (they were two weeks old then). We named them Mrs Hudson(mom) and Sherlock(boy) and Watson(girl). They were born sept 19th and have keep us laughing. Also learned to make some very good cheese and haven’t bought milk since we got them. Thank you for the push in the right direction. I was in a store and a lady had her dog and he was sniffing my leg so she said “He must smell your dog” I said maybe or it could be my goata or my chickens too! Strange look for that one.
Mike Burke says
I must admit you do have the fever…..as do I…….However I thought that your article would be more on the actual benefits of said goats, permit me my soapbox…ahumm…1–The benefits of a dairy doe and companion goat, MILK. There is a company in Minnesota called Udder- Ease, grab the basic kit. As I’m sure you know, as long as you keep a buck a mile away from your lactating doe, you’ll never have to PAY for milk again and have milk that is a cross between whole milk and Half-n-Half….you’ll have some of the best feta and hard cheese that you’ll ever buy….2— with enough goats and idle kids hands you can bag the poop and sell it fer fertilizer, just make sure yer garden is living proof and when someone asks, just say Wellll I use this here special additive and bamm, $10 a bag and you’re selling yer own natural miracle grow, ( up to you how you work it out with the kids )….3—-Weed control, I had ranchers rolling their eyes and worrying about the goats eating up their feed till they seen what extra pasture the got once the goats got through with the brambles…. 4—Speaking along the same lines, get some primer solar fence and go clear some property…drop a water tub and a guard animal and free feed fer the critters and again more $$…5— Any animal that isn’t contributing to the cause……Welll there’s always ethnic groups who would happy to have Sparky over fer dinner…never done that but I’ve had visitors ” stopping by ” to inquire, just a thought….My advice to anyone is to dig, dig, dig for info and temper it with common sense….Thanx fer lettn’ me blab.
Respectfully,
Mike Burke
Angie says
Awesome post! Thanks for the laughs. We went old-school with naming our goats. We named them Caroline (Ma) and Half-Pint (Laura) from the Little House series. But if we have more, we’ll definitely have to go more artistic like maybe Lady Arwen Undomiel. 😉
VCK says
If you’re going to name your goat Voldemort, be aware of the consequences: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVni_8VzsKI
laureen says
Love it, we got 2 Nigerian dwarfs last easter. They are so funny…but they do hate when I sleep in 🙁
Donna Runion-Bruce says
Danelle,
You totally rocked this one as usual. I found that when you become a goat owner, you automatically become a goat promoter.
I am in nursing school right now, I start many a conversation with “The goat ate my homework, because they like to eat all kinds of stuff” If there is an awkward silence you can say, “My goat is pregnant” That really starts the party! Then of coarse you can bring cheese and yogurt to share with your besties.
Controlled Jibe says
Ha! I love it! It seems like I always come across posts toting why you shouldn’t have goats so this was a welcome change. We have 5 Nigerian Dwarf goats and now I can’t imagine life without them. I think I would like to add one more item on list though:
#6: They make you laugh out loud. Every day. All the time. Oh, and nothing makes you feel quite as good as snuggling a goat. 🙂
– Katie and Mark
DaNelle Wolford says
Haha, love it!
Angélique says
Hey Danelle!
I already want chickens… and an awesome garden, once I have lots of land. But you’re killing me with the goats man! lol
My dream is to foster cats & dogs to help the humane society. I don’t know if I’ll have time for all my animals and Goats too! I have a feeling you’re gonna break me down, though. Looks like I will be taking an early retirement to the county… too many city bylaws, unfortunately.
Love this post btw!
Katie Madsen @twothirdscup says
Ha ha! Love it. These are dang good reasons to own a goat! Guess I better get one…or two…