More and More and More Goats!

By: Amanda Phillips

When Terri Kees was a young child, her father brought home a goat “one random day” to help eat the weeds and grass around their home. She grew to love that goat, as she said, but unfortunately, there were never any more to follow. That is until she “grew up.” Today, Terri Kees, a single mom of three, and her family at Skylett Ridge Goat Ranch own over 150 goats and about 10 livestock guardian dogs and puppies in training to protect them. Skylett Ridge Goat Ranch, located in Ripley TN, raises Kiko, Savanna, Nigerian Dwarf, and Pygmy goats, and they breed for hardy, low maintenance, quality goats. When we asked how she got back into raising goats, Bailey, her daughter shouted:  “She bought one, it gave birth and she kept getting more and more and more!” Though this version isn’t untrue, that is the short version.

Terri decided a few years ago, about 2007, that she wanted to have a pet goat again, as she remembered how much she had loved her childhood pet. However, this one came with a twist! Her new goat was pregnant, and shortly afterward she gave birth. This is where the more and more and more comes in! She posted a photo on Facebook of her baby goats to show her friends how cute they were, and to her surprise, two days after the birth of the bucklings (baby male goats) she had already sold them. That’s what planted the seed that grew into a ranch with 150 goats! She now raises and breeds them to sell for breeding, pets, milk, and occasionally meat.

Terri has a handful of dairy goats that they use for their milk. Though they do not make goat products like soap or cheese, they do use the milk to drink, cook, and bake. Goat’s milk is actually sweeter and creamier than cow’s milk and is naturally more homogenized. That makes it great for cooking and baking, as it won’t separate! “We use it for anything: cereal, Hamburger Helper, mac and cheese, chocolate milk… you can use goat milk for anything you would use cow’s milk for!”

However, there was a learning curve for switching to goat’s milk when it came to her kids… “I had to trick them. I would wait until they went off to school to go milk the goats. Then, I would fill up the milk jug and not say a word. They never noticed! They drank this milk for three weeks, and I finally told them.” The kids were shocked, to say the least, as one would expect! “The date has been out for three weeks, guys!” And of course, you have to know how to milk a goat if you want goat milk! While we were there, we had a private lesson on how to properly milk a goat by her daughter, Bailey.

Throughout our time at Skylett Ridge Goat Ranch, Terri showed us how to call and feed them, what they eat, how and when to clip their hooves, and how to milk them. We figured that more went into taking care of goats than the average “goats of Instagram” lover (me) would think. We were right. Goats are “picky eaters” as Terri says. For instance, they will eat Bermuda hay but they will not eat Bermuda grass, unless it is a last resort. “If you want pretty Bermuda grass, put a goat in your yard. They will eat every piece of clover, every wild leaf, every weed, and they will leave Bermuda grass, and you’ll have to cut it!” Her goats are fed a mixture of Bermuda hay, alfalfa pellets, sweet feed during the winter, and pasture during the summer. They have loose minerals available 24 hours a day. Their diet is what makes their milk sweeter than normal cow’s milk.

Goats also need their hooves to be trimmed, just like people’s nails. However, unlike people, they only need to have them trimmed twice a year. That didn’t sound like much to me, but I quickly understood why more than twice would be a hassle. When you have 150 goats, in 90-degree weather, it can take weeks! For other grooming and care needs, Terri is basically her own vet. But, for special circumstances, she always seeks the help of Dr. Brent Pugh of Millington.

During our “lesson” though, we may have gotten a little distracted from time to time by all the baby animals around us! They have baby goats that were born TWO days prior to our visit AND baby guardian puppies! The newest female babies, or doelings, are half sisters and are ¾ pygmy and ¼ dwarf. The adult goats and older kid goats grazed in the field while the adult dogs protected them, and the newborn baby goats played in a separate area while the guardian puppies...well...mostly played too, but also protected the baby goats. How sweet is that! And the very sweetest part: we got to hold the doelings during our time there, and every now and then they would reach up and sneak little baby goat kisses!

Finally, as a "Goats of Instagram" lover, I had to ask about the goat yoga. If you haven’t heard about it or seen it, it is exactly as it sounds: goats and yoga. When we asked the family about their thoughts on goat yoga, they laughed. Least to say, they have never done goat yoga officially, though many a goat has climbed on them throughout the years making it feel like every day is goat yoga! “If you are anything below the upright position, the goats will seek the opportunity to climb. When it's the small babies it's usually fine, but when the 50-60 pound ones started doing it, it got old fast.” With that being said, Skylett Ridge Goat Ranch will have goats at the Millington Goat Days specifically for goat yoga! Is there a better time to try? I don’t think so! And you may even get a kiss every now and then! When asked if they would be participating in the goat yoga, the family said: “We just supply the Goats!”