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For Milk, Meat and Fun - the Joys of Goats
On her hobby farm on Bourgon Road, east of Telkwa, Monica and her daughters, Christine and Sylvia, raise goats for their own dairy, and for sale. This year's babies (called kids), are cross-bred. The nannies are of Alpine descent, the fathers are another breed known as Boor goats, which are raised mostly for meat.

I learned that there were several breeds of goat, that goats can be raised for several different purposes, and that they are personable animals that can be a lot of fun to be around.
"Momma" goat with baby Choco
Monica's goats are primarily Alpine, but her daughter Christine also raises a couple of Saanen goats, for their especially good milk. There are also Angora goats, raised for their hair, known as mohair, which is used to make wool for knitting and weaving exquisite sweaters.

Christine is also training her two Saanen goats, working with them to pull carts for pleasure. Once the goats are trained, they should be able to pull carts as horses do, except for the size of the cart, of course.
This goat wears a bell while at pasture, makes it easier to find them.
On the day we visited, Monica escorted me to her pasture, where I watched the nannies and their kids graze for a while. Some of the little ones were already several weeks old, and were beginning to look taller and fuller than infants.

My great joy was her twin newborns, Choco and Molly, who were only 4 days old! They weigh only around 4 pounds, and snuggle close like a kitten - provided that you can catch them! I laughed at my children and myself, as we ran across the field and back, finally rewarded with a few moments of enjoyment with these special babies.

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