Goats

How did we buy 302 acres? What were we thinking?

No more questions. We did it. Time to act. First things first.

We closed on the Ranch in the midst of the Dixie Fire. First priority is to reduce the brush, reduce the grass, reduce everything.

Time for some goats. 850 goats. Six weeks. A goat herder from Peru who saw his first bear while he was with us. Two massive Pyrenees guard dogs. One herding dog. Lots of chewing. Less brush.

The goats arrived in the middle of September. The goat herder moved them from patch to patch — setting up another electric fence, herding them in, letting them eat. Then on to the next patch and on and on and on. The goats loved the grass, the trees, the blackberries. Well … just about everything.

Over time, more goats arrived. We had a range of ages. The youngest were about eight months old. The oldest a few years. There were a couple of big billy goats along.

In late October, a fast moving storm came though. The temperatures dropped to the mid-thirties and there was a hard, driving rain most of the night. Sadly, we lost a few goats to exposure. The next day, their owner starting loading them up and they were gone.

We understand that another 1200 goats were born to this group this year. We are planning to have them back in the Spring to eat more blackberries.

— KLM