Are you on the fence about adding goats to your homestead?
You’ve watched the adorable videos of goats in pajamas and know their cuteness factor is almost more than you can take.
Yet, what if you get them, and they turn into more than you can handle? I’m a goat-owner and love every minute of it (most of the time.)
I’m going to walk you through many reasons why goats are absolutely awesome!
1. The Cuteness Factor
Goats are cute. There’s no getting around it. If you’re searching for a cute animal to add to your homestead, they are it.
You may not be convinced an animal’s cuteness can be a benefit to your homestead, but it can! Having a cute animal on the homestead can brighten even the cloudiest of days.
2. Houdini in Training
This is an awesome fact about goats but isn’t necessarily awesome for the goat owner. Goats are amazing escape artists.
If you have the tiniest of holes in your fence, they’ll find a way through them. We use electric fencing, and I still have a few goats which like to shock themselves to get outside of the fence. The funny part is that they only escape to sunbathe on the opposite side of the fence!
3. Great Climbers
Goats are amazing climbers. They’re built to climb in the mountains which makes them climbing anything around the homestead a piece of cake.
I give my goats old wooden spools to climb around on and even an old pair of wooden steps to climb on, and they love it.
4. Small Milk Source
We originally got into goats because we’re trying to be as self-sufficient as possible. I didn’t have enough room, when we first began homesteading, to have a dairy cow.
Instead, we became proud goat owners and utilized them as a small milk source. They’re compact but still produce decent amounts of milk.
5. Super Smart
Goats are intelligent animals. They may drive you crazy sometimes because when they escape, they act as though they can’t walk through a gate to get back to their area.
Yet, they’re smart enough to stick with their herd and stay away from most dangers. If you ever doubt their intelligence, go back to their amazing escape techniques. You can’t pull those stunts and not have some intelligence.
6. Make Great Cheese and Other Items
Goat’s milk isn’t common in some areas. If you live in one of these areas, you may wonder how you could utilize their milk.
It makes delicious cheese, yogurt, and a variety of other items. Goat’s milk could become your new favorite type of milk.
7. Wonderful Pets
I can’t say it enough how wonderful goats are as pets. When we got them, they were intended to be livestock.
However, they’ve branched over from livestock into outdoor pets. They bring our family a great deal of joy, and we love them!
8. Cutest Noise Makers Ever
Some people will tell you to stay away from goats because they’re loud. Goats are loud at times, but their sounds are adorable.
When you walk outside, and they see you coming, they’ll call to you. They have different noises when they’re playing, and mothers have specific noises to speak to their babies. It’s an awesome thing to witness.
9. The Yawn Factor
If you have a dog, you know how adorable they are when they get tired at night. They start smacking their lips, yawning, and struggling to keep their eyes open.
When goats yawn, they look as though you’ve bored them to death. You can’t help but giggle every time your goat gets the yawns.
10. Kids
When goats have babies, they’re referred to as kids. They usually handle kidding quite well on their own and when the babies are born, it’s time for cuteness overload.
Goat kids are sweet in the beginning, and they become even more adorable as they get older. They’ll bounce around the field and look like little balls of fluff prancing through the grass.
11. Fire Prevention
If you live in an area where fires are common during the summer months, goats could be part of your fire prevention plan.
It’s vital to cut all trees down around your home, but once the trees are cut, place your goats in the area to clear out all the brush.
12. Poison Ivy Is Their Snack
Are you extremely allergic to poison ivy? My boys are. They can look at it (almost) and break into a rash.
If you want to get rid of poison ivy on your land, get a goat or two. They’re immune to poison ivy and will enjoy mowing it down around your property.
13. Great Entertainers
Goats are constant entertainment. They’re gorgeous as they walk around the field and graze. They’re funny when they jump off their climbing items and play with each other.
They’re also entertaining by the noises they make and as you watch them, you constantly learn more and more about their instincts and personalities.
14. Livestock BFF
Do you have a lone animal on your homestead? You don’t want to get a second of this type of animal, but the poor thing is lonely. What should you do?
You should invest in goats. They’re social animals and are great friends to a variety of other types of livestock.
15. Big Puppies
I say my goats are like large dogs. They follow you around as you’re outside working, they’ll eat right out of your hand, and they love to be petted. Their personalities are larger than life!
If you’re looking for a friendly type of livestock which will be loyal and love you, get a few goats. My goats are spoiled to the point, if they don’t get a treat while I’m doing my morning rounds, they’ll “yell” at me until they get what they’re after.
16. Fertilizers
Goat poo is a wonderful fertilizer. You can add it to your beds directly or add it to your compost pile. I love this because all the animals on our homestead must give back in some way.
Our goats are weed eaters, entertainers, a milk source, and a fertilizer source. Do allow the goat poo to breakdown before applying to your plants because it can burn them if too fresh.
17. Good with Children
This point may vary depending upon different temperaments of goats, but I’ve only had one goat which wasn’t good with my kids. He was quickly rehomed.
However, in my experience, if you’re gentle with your goats and train them accordingly, most of them love to cuddle and want to be your friend. This makes them a good livestock choice for children.
18. Very Alert
Goats are alert animals. They instinctively know to lookout for one another and pay attention if a predator is in the neighborhood.
When I look out my backdoor, see all the goats standing still, and looking in one direction, I know something is off. This alerts us to be on the lookout for a predator.
19. Easy to Care For
Many people will say goats can be sickly creatures and this is true if you aren’t aware of what their threats are on your property.
In our case, we’ve learned tetanus is a big issue on our property because horses were previously kept on it. Therefore, we regularly worm our goats, keep them vaccinated, keep their living quarters clean, and trim their hooves. Once you get past the learning curve, goats are easy to care for.
20. Inexpensive to Own
This point will vary based upon your situation. If you have goats on a smaller property, you may have to feed them hay year-round. This adds to their expense.
In our case, our goats are on pasture. Besides providing basic necessities, they cost us very little to raise and give back a ton more than what we invest in them.
21. There’s a Goat for Every Situation
Goats are versatile creatures. In fact, there’s a goat for every situation. If you have small children and live in an area with less land, you could get a smaller breed of goat.
If you live in an area with more acreage, there are larger breeds of goats which may work better. There are also specific breeds which are known for being better milk and meat producers.
22. Clothes Manufacturer
If you’re trying to be as self-sufficient as possible, goats can help you all the way across the board. They’re a great meat source, milk source, and can be great companions.
However, they’re also wonderful for fiber as well. You can use their hair to make your own clothes. Talk about an all-in-one package!
23. Their Milk is Good for You
The last point why goats are awesome is back to their milk. It’s common to hear negative things about cow’s milk this day in age.
Regardless of your thoughts on cow’s milk, goat’s milk is easier to digest than cow’s milk and better for you. Before you give up on milk altogether, consider doing some research on goat’s milk to see if it may be a better choice for you.
If you were on the fence about adding goats to your homestead, hopefully this will help push you over to the pro-goat side of things.
They’re fascinating creatures and can be a less intimidating way to expand your homestead. You may not be ready to add a dairy cow to your homestead, but a dairy goat is easier to manage, and more entertaining too, providing you with plenty of reasons why goats are awesome.
