The Authors of It All

A Saanen billy tries to get Phoebe to come a little closer. Don't do it, Phoebe!

Quite a strong odor emanated from the billy goats, who were penned separately at some distance from the dairy building. The beard in a billy goat is a potent scent distribution system. He puts various umm... fluids on his beard, and anoints his back and chest with it. I'm told that some French cheesemakers use the billy's beard to swipe through their cheeses for extra authentic flavor. I hope it isn't true. It certainly isn't true of Pipe Dreams Fromage.

The goats at Pipe Dreams Farm are all Swiss Saanan goats, named for the valley in Switzerland where they originated. They're big, tall, usually white animals, and they're the champs for milk production: the Holsteins of the goat clan. An Australian Saanan doe produced 7,714 pounds of milk in a single year. Their milk is sweet and odorless. Goat milk is more easily digested than cow's milk, because the fat globules are smaller and more easily dispersed. It's good for babies, small children, the elderly, and anyone with allergies to cow's milk, or a compromised immune system. But mostly, it's really, really good for cheese.

Brad told me that Saanens come in white, and that the brown ones used to be culled. Now, though, they're calling brown Saanens "Sables" and actually selecting for color. It's silly, when all that really matters is their sweet temperament and great milk production. I just couldn't believe what nice animals these goats were. They seemed so happy to see us, as friendly as dogs, but with a delightful, gentle reserve. Good thing. You wouldn't want a goat jumping up on you.

This billy is a sable Saanen. Here's another sable Saanen in the lower right corner of the picture:
This is a group of kids that squeeze under the fence and lead little goat parades around the farm, free of confinement. Goats will go out of their way to climb on strange, treacherous, high, odd things, and they're great fun to watch. Games of King of the Mountain spontaneously begin and end. In stark contrast to horses, they don't hurt themselves very often. You could never allow horses to mess around things like this.

I can attest that both billies were very sweet, and did not pee on me. Brad said this was probably because it's not breeding season now. He said they will try to pee on you if they succeed in luring you close enough. Nice. And I thought spitting llamas were a drag.Do I look like someone who would pee on a person? Don't believe the bad press Farmer Brad hands out. I wish I could get my horns through this fence so I could whisper in your ear.


I love this big nanny goat with UglyDolls on her black coat. Goats and weathered barns, ahhh ahhh ahhh.

Goat #43

Playing King of the Mountain on a pile of coolers. Goats love to get up on things.Goat #43 is, I believe, the highly personable creative genius behind the small band of jailbreakers who roam Pipe Dreams Farm, slipping under the fences and getting into all kinds of goaty mischief. Although just a kid, #43 is smart and sassy and very, very sweet.
She kept approaching me, just wanting attention. Her horns were startlingly warm in the chill winter air, a detail I always forget about until I'm around goats. I guess there's blood supply in horns, because they bleed if they're broken or cut.

It wasn't long before I got down to #43's level and gave her some proper lovin', including nose kisses.photo by Phoebe Linnea Thompson
I could really get into keeping goats, if I could figure out a way that it was compatible with traveling oh, nearly constantly. Maybe I could be a nomad, and drive my goats up the jetway with a stick, just take them along. It's a thought. I'll have to check the regulations.photo by Phoebe Linnea Thompson

A goat, I think, is much like a dog, except that it gives useful milk.