Rebel Goat Ranch

10/10/2026

Flashback to spring kidding season and Summer’s triplets!

All our spring baby goats are approaching 6 months old and I’d thought it would be fun to look back and compare what they looked like as newborns versus today.

All the babies this year had names starting with the letter I, and this first set of triplets are named Ira, Irwin and Irene.

10/08/2026

Have you ever cured your own meat at home? Or ever tasted homemade, nitrate free bacon?

It so simple to make, and insanely better to eat. We use the equilibrium method, with 2% salt and 1% brown sugar. That’s it.

You don’t need a big meat slicer either, you can just slice it with a knife. You’ll wind up with thick slabs that are perfect for sandwiches!

If I’m going to go to all the trouble of raising my own pastured pork, why would I let it be adulterated with unnecessary chemicals? This is the only bacon I’ll eat from now on.

10/07/2026

We’re trying something new this year that we have read a lot about but haven’t put into practice - winter bale grazing. As the temperature drops, less and less forage grows, so we need to supplement our goats with additional hay. Typically we try to prevent waste, but this season we are embracing it and using the goats to help spread it on our pastures as mulch and fertilizer. We might even get lucky and drop a few seeds from the orchard or crab grass in these bales.

We tried this with sheep in the past, and they would completely ignore the hay and instead try to eat the grass roots right out of the ground. We always had to pull them off the pastures in winter or they would destroy them. The goats in contrast only seem to like the tips of fresh growth on the grass and are much gentler grazers in that they leave more behind. And they love this hay.

We will have to wait and see if our efforts pay off come next spring.

10/06/2026

Did you know we used to raise sheep?

We finally watched The Sheep Detectives a few nights ago, and it has me all nostalgic and missing my flock.

Back in NC we raised Katahdin hair sheep, and had a flock of about 120 at one point. They all had names and we loved each of them, but there was one special ewe in particular that I will never forget.

I remember the day we brought Delilah home. We had stumbled upon the opportunity to purchase some very high quality ewes right at the perfect time from a respected lifelong breeder who was dispersing his herd.

He took us to a pasture filled with gorgeous pregnant ewes and told us to pick out whichever ones we wanted. To this day one of my biggest regrets in life is not finding a way to buy that entire flock. Sadly we only had enough money budgeted to buy 3.

Delilah told me she was going to be one of them. She marched straight up to me, stared directly into my eyes and baa-ed repeatedly. She let me give her a quick scratch under the chin and then stomped her foot as to say “let’s go”. When I told the owner I chose her, he said “oh that one, watch out for her. She’s smarter than the rest but she usually raises me a nice set of triplets.”

I picked out another 2, and with Delilah in the lead all 3 jumped on the trailer about as fast as I could open the door.

From that day on she was my best girl. She did indeed bless us with triplet lambs a few months later, one of whom (Adam) grew up to be our primary ram for many generations. I don’t know that I’ve ever been so happy as I was holding those lambs next to Delilah. It was something I had wanted for so long and she gave it to me in the best possible way.

Delilah lived a good long life as the matriarch of our flock, and I looked forward to seeing her every day. When she passed at around 13 years old, I was devastated, and truthfully I never felt the same way about the sheep after that. I still had some I cherished, but none that I bonded with like her, and going out to care for them and not seeing her was painful for a long time after.

When we decided to move to KY, we had to downsize for practical reasons, and it was easier to let the sheep go at that point.

I might own sheep again, maybe a dairy breed next time, but I don’t think I’ll ever know one as special as Delilah.

10/05/2026

Sometimes little mistakes turn into something wonderful that you didn’t even know you wanted!

10/05/2026

My Oberhasli goat Heidi was injured a few weeks ago and has been recuperating on stall rest ever since.

She started to show more strength and balance on our daily walks, so we took a chance and let her go out grazing with the herd, and she is loving it!

The goats are in a smaller pasture right now so she doesn’t have to walk too far, plus the barn is easily accessible if she needs to rest. When everyone is out grazing they are so focused on eating that no one pays any attention to her, but she still needs the protection of a private stall at night while they are in the barn.

Progress is slow, but she is recovering ❤️‍🩹

10/04/2026

Accurate 💯

Keeping him on his toes 🤣

10/04/2026

We have 3 Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dogs on the farm, and they definitely keep us entertained!

10/02/2026

Yes, I’m ordering a new k**b. But come on, how many of you have ever had this happen? What about 3 stoves in a row? Someone does not want me cooking 👩‍🍳

10/01/2026

Introducing all my senior does, my main mommies and the milking ladies of our farm.

There’s a lot to get through, and although I did try to be quick, it’s hard for me not to talk all day about how awesome my dairy goat girls are. I think of them as family, so I hope you enjoy getting to know them a little bit better.

Let me know if you have any of the same names or similar personalities in your herd!