How We Got Our Goats: Meet Vinny, Banana, and Marshmallow

When Sarah and I first started homesteading, one of the first animals we knew we needed was goats. Not only are they full of personality, but they’re great for clearing out some of the less desirable plants on our property—things like poison ivy and poison oak. What we didn’t expect was just how effective they’d be at keeping the blackberry bushes under control too!

We decided to get our goats from a swap meet I used to visit as a kid. For anyone who’s never been, a swap meet is basically a giant garage sale. People set up tables in a gravel lot, hoping to sell their unwanted treasures and make a few bucks. But it’s not just about old tools or kitchen gadgets—you’ll find all sorts of animals there as well. As Sarah and I wandered through, we saw chickens, peacocks, rabbits, pigs, donkeys, and of course, plenty of goats.

At the time, we weren’t goat experts and had no idea which breed we should get. There are so many! Eventually, we came across a group of Nigerian Dwarf goats that seemed perfect for us. After a little haggling, we ended up with three of them—two nannies and a young Billy. The easy part was over. Now we just had to figure out how to get them home.

Without a livestock trailer, I didn’t want to risk putting the goats in the bed of my truck, imagining them jumping out along the highway! Fortunately, my sister came to the rescue with an aluminum livestock box that was made to fit in the truck bed. After relocating about ten black widow spiders from the bottom of it (a minor adventure in itself), we made our way back to the Mary’s swap meet, loaded the goats up and headed home.

Once we got home, the kids were excited to meet our new additions. Naturally, we let them name two of the goats. That’s how we got Banana and Marshmallow. Banana earned her name because of her uniquely shaped horns—they curve like bananas. Marshmallow, on the other hand, looks just like a burnt marshmallow with her dark coat and lighter patches. The third goat, a young Billy, was named by Sarah. With his regal and majestic appearance, she christened him Vincent Van Goat—Vinny for short.

As much as we love our goats, our kids have had to develop a healthy respect for them. If you’ve ever been around goats, you know they love to headbutt, and Banana is the biggest offender. It only took one incident of her headbutting one of the kids as they walked by for us to realize she could be a bit of a menace. Thankfully, no one was truly hurt—just a few tears, and nothing a hug and kiss couldn’t fix! Now, we keep a close eye on her to make sure she doesn’t cause any more trouble.

Another thing we quickly learned about goats is that they love to eat just about anything. They were happy to munch on poison ivy, but they were just as eager to eat our clothes, cardboard boxes, and, of course, our blooming flowers. To protect our plants and keep the goats out of places they shouldn’t be, we had to get them properly contained. We bought some electric fence netting and a solar-powered fence electrifier, which allowed us to move them around the property safely. It worked well—except for Banana. She’s an escape artist! Despite being only about three feet tall, she somehow manages to leap over a five-foot fence. We’re still working on how to keep her in check.

And just like that, our little goat family was complete. Banana, Marshmallow, and Vinny were put to work to keep the weeds and bushes at bay, and they’ve added so much character to our homestead. We’ll discuss how we built their cozy little goat house in a future post.

-Love

The Homestead Heroes