First the Ladies !

More than 80 goats live on Orange Hill Nature Ranch today. Each goat has her own name and is very close to Josefa, her primary caretaker, and to her sister goats. Our goats are "free roaming", which means that they have the run of the estate during the day. At night they sleep in their own pens, to which they return each afternoon together with their kids. The goats feel secure in their pens, which makes the goats and their owner happy.
This way we are able to control each animal. Problems can quickly be spotted and help will immediately be at hand. Only this way a goat can have a content and happy life. She is supposed to stay productive into old age and give us her good, rich milk from which we make the tasty cheese and many other products.

Our goats, we call them a Tobago-mix, are cross-breeds such as British Alpine, Saanen, Toggenburg and Anglo Nubian. Through cross-breeding over the years, disease resistant and acclimatized goats have developed. They are of course not high-performance goats, which would be incapable to roam the approximately 150 acres.

Lucie with daughter Lilly- Anglo Nubian-	Tira Anglo Nubian/Boer Mix-
Misu,Tira's sister	Paula- Tira/Misu & Pilou's mother - Saanen/Anglo Mix
Pilou, Paula's daughter- Anglo Mix	Heidi Br.Alpine/Toggenburg Mix

 

The Gentlemen!

I used to keep two bucks for sufficient ..................Ein Anglo Nubian und ein British Alpine Bock. Einige Töchter der beiden bleiben auf der Farm und deshalb habe ich mich entschlossen die Böcke zu verkaufen.
Jero der Anglo Nubian hat ein neues Zuhause ganz in der Nähe und ich kann ihn zu jeder Zeit ausleihen.
Da es immer noch ein Problem ist Arbeitskräfte auf der Farm zu halten, habe ich mich entschlossen keinen Bock mehr auf Dauer hier zu haben.
Gute Freunde sind ebenso bereit mir ihre Böcke zur Verfügung zu stellen.
Was will ich noch mehr.

The animal called Goat
Hardly any other house animal has received as bad a reputation as the goat. From where originate the bad names and figure of speech in our language?

Scapegoat- to be held responsible for other people's deeds
Get someone's goat- to irritate somebody
Old goat- an old lecherous man
Separate the sheep from the goats- separate the inferior members of a group (the goats) from the superior members
Act the goat- fool around
A goat- a fool
Put goat mouth on somebody or something - Talk about something bad before it actually happens and then it will happen

Yet, the goat is one of the most intelligent of the ruminants. She is constantly testing her adversaries and senses every uneasiness and nervousness in her keeper. She is curious, friendly and very capable in all matters. It is a joy to watch goats jump, run and play together. Sometimes it appears as if they put on a show just for the benefit of the observer.

It is a constant challenge to keep goats. Only if one loves animals and as such the goats, one can rise to that challenge successfully.