Adding to our (Goat) Tribe 

Yesterday was a great day at the farm, we went to our first livestock auction as a family and…

We bought goats!

This place holds the best childhood memories for my husband. They would wake up early in the morning, pile in the pickup, and head for the auction.

Tradition runs deep at a livestock auction, from the freshly brewed coffee to the smell of the arena, it all brings back memories.

Yesterday was one for the books. We shared a home cooked breakfast at the auction diner, and it was seriously delicious. I was told it tasted exactly the same as it did 25 years ago. Isn’t it amazing how our senses can transport us back in time?

Then we climbed the bleachers to our perch to watch the auction. Our son held onto his toy tractor and played on the bleachers just as his dad had done. We were wise to bring along Grandpa; he was as excited to be back at the auction as my son and I were to be there for the first time.

We had scoped out the goats and had our eye on two friendly girls who were calm and sweet. Grandpa said it’s important to check them out ahead of time because, as they run through the auction ring, it isn’t as easy to get a good read on them.

However, sometimes you make an impulse buy when you see an animal that you get a gut feeling about. It’s amazing to me, how much old farmers use their gut, which is something that I strive to do more of.

One time, when my husband was less than 10, he was at the auction with his dad, who had stepped out of the arena momentarily. My husband saw a little runt calf run through the ring, and without asking, he took it upon himself to buy it for just $10. From outside of the arena, his dad heard their bidder number being called as the winner of a calf. He was so surprised! They named this little calf, “Tenner,” and he ended up being a great cow.

This intuition has served him well, and I was hoping it was right on with the goats we had picked. We kept a lookout for our girls as they ran the goats through the ring. We finally spotted them, and they had been paired with two others. We caught the eye of the auctioneer and threw our hat in the ring. My heart raced as the bids flew. Finally the gavel slammed and we were awarded the bid!

We had a friend drop our goats off and we spent the day becoming fast friends.

Clearly, I have a lot to learn about our new girls and about goats in general. Now I can add goats to my research, right along with my chickens.  As I get to know these goats, I will be excited to tell you more about them.

I will tell you this, we were able to milk two of them and the milk was delicious! Hopefully there is some homemade chevré in our future! I’ll keep you posted.

PS- Did you know a group of goats is called a Tribe? How cool is that?!?

++++

What childhood memories are your favorites?

Is there a sight, smell or sound that takes you back in time?