Goats:

My original goat was a handsome lady called Poppy.  She has a British alpine/anglo nubian cross.  She was also a maiden milker which meant that she came into milk every year without having a kid.  This became a real problem for her previous owners who had had milking goats before but just wanted pets now. She was living with some pygmy goats and really dominated the whole place. So she came to live with us. She was producing a good four pints daily and this was being fed directly to the pigs most of the time, but I also kept some back for making cheese.

Sadly Poppy had a tumour on her udder and after a couple of years this suddenly grew and we were forced to make the decision to have her put to sleep.  She was such a character and good company.    She always seemed quite happy living alongside the sheep but she was very particular about who she maked friends with and acted as the perfect burglar deterrent.  She also enjoyed terrorising all the horse riders who went by.

She was antagonistic and a menace but I liked her – maybe she was a bit like me?

In an attempt to replace Poppy I took on a kid, called Lupin.  She was only five days old when she arrived, however she needed company and the sheep would not suffice for her.  So I put word out that I was looking for a companion and Snowdrop arrived.  Snowdrop was a saanen goat and a trouble maker.  She had been left to roam and was in a terrible condition.  She thought nothing of escaping from any enclosure and we spent hours chasing round the countryside trying to find where she had taken Lupin to next.  In the end we had to make the decision to re-home them both.  I do sometimes wish I had another goat, but not Snowdrop!!