meat goats – In the Vintage Kitchen: Where History Comes To Eat

The other day Ms. Jeannie came home to this scene…

That’s Nyle, as you’ll recall from a previous post, the neighbor’s goat. The flora and fauna feast he’s enjoying are Ms. Jeannie’s scrub bushes in her side yard.

On first glance she thought “Oh look how handsome that goat is!” A second later she realized that seeing Nyle standing there in her yard chewing on her bushes, meant that he had jumped the fence and decided on a visit.

Ms. Jeannie called her neighbor to let him know that Nyle had a bit of wanderlust and was traveling southbound via the sideyard shrubbery.

While she waited for her neighbor, Ms. Jeannie went out to visit with Nyle, who of course, was perfectly pleased to share stories of his adventure…

After recounting the experience, hoof by hoof, Nyle decided that the ice cream topper on this festive occasion would be a good old fashioned game of hide and seek.

"Here I go , Ms. Jeannie. I'll hide and you find me," said Nyle. — “Here I go , Ms. Jeannie. I’ll hide and you find me,” said Nyle.

Nymph looked on from her side of the fence (the right side!) like she was watching a movie unfold.

The chickens were equally captivated by Nyle's antics. — “These leaves are just as tasty as popcorn. “

Even the chickens were captivated…

Just as Nyle was debating such proportions, Ms. Jeannie’s neighbor came to collect him.

There's no hiding from the hand that feeds you. — There’s no hiding from the hand that feeds you.

Back over the fence went Nyle.

“That’s one special character,” said Ms. Jeannie to her neighbor.

“Yeah that Billy Bob, he’s just about as friendly as goats get.”

And that’s the moment when Ms. Jeannie learned that her Nymph and Nyle are actually named Billy Bob and Betty Boop. She also learned that they go bananas for Saltine crackers, that before the end of the year Nymph (aka Betty Boop) will be a mom and (thankfully), that these two are bound for breeding and not table food. So we can all rest assured on that point. Ms. Jeannie can hardly wait to see the little tiny baby goats these two produce!

Thanks for the fun afternoon Billy Bob Nyle!

The other day, Ms. Jeannie’s next door neighbor came home with two new additions.

Ms. Jeannie heard them before she ever saw them. Crying and bleating for two days straight, Ms. Jeannie thought that what she was hearing were actually small children playing in the yard. Relatives, she assumed visiting their family. As it turns out – it was a different kind of kid altogether!

To give you an idea of what they sounded like, Ms. Jeannie found this video on youtube. They sounded exactly like that (minus the chickens!).

Poor things. These two were making so much noise because they are little baby goats and they were missing their mom and trying to adjust to their new surroundings. On day 3 though, calm came, they settled in and were as quiet as can be. Which is the preferred way to keep goats. Apparently a silent goat is a happy goat!

These two are Boer goats which is a meat goat, as opposed to a milk goat, that originated in South Africa. Ms. Jeannie really hopes that her neighbor has no intention of putting these two on the dinner table. They’ve only been in the neighborhood for less than a week, but already Ms. Jeannie loves them.

At first they were very shy and skittish and stayed back near the tree line on the other side of the pasture, far from Ms. Jeannie and the fence. But it just took a little bit of time and some natural curiosity before they made friends. Now whenever they see Ms. Jeannie, they come hopping, like bunny rabbits, over to the fence and let Ms. Jeannie scratch their noses. She hasn’t spoken to her neighbor to see if they have names yet – but Ms. Jeannie has given them pet names of her own. Nymph on the left, Nyle on the right.

Boer goats have only been in the United States since 1993, so they haven’t been around long. But they are gaining fast in popularity because they easily adapt to their environments, have docile temperaments and grow quickly. Ms. Jeannie was surprised to learn that these two will weigh anywhere from 190lbs. to 340 lbs. pounds once they fully mature. That’s one big goat! (or two in this case!). Right now they are the size of a medium sized dog and weigh in the 30-50 pound range. It’s hard to imagine them growing five to six times bigger!

Because Ms. Jeannie shares a fence-line with this neighbor, she sort of feels a little bit like these are her goats too. It’s fun to have new faces in the side yard! Ms. Jeannie will keep you posted all summer long on the progress of Nymph and Nyle as they grow up. Until next time, they both send a few bahhhs your way!