I want to spend a little time each month highlighting one of the animals on our farm. If we didn’t have livestock, we wouldn’t have a business, so we want to give them some recognition!
Holly is the February feature! She loves the camera and likes to have her picture taken. I’m sure she knows she’s pretty!
The animal of the month for February is Holly. Holly is a 4-year-old registered Lamancha dairy goat. She is our friendliest goat because she was a bottle baby. That means she is also the one who is always in the way and “helping” when we are doing something near the goats. We have her one and only daughter so far, on our farm with her. Her birthday is April 29th.
Holly had a bit of a rough start and was rejected by her mom at birth. Her back legs didn’t work when she was born. Colton spent quite a bit of time working with her to get her up and going. She spent some time living in a box in our kitchen until she started walking on her own. I always said I would never have sheep or goats in my house…never say never! I wrote about Colton saving her here: Colton and Holly.
Colton has shown Holly at our county fair a couple of times. She never places well because she is cow-hocked (back legs turn in at the hock) and doesn’t have the best confirmation but he still loves taking her. She is his favorite goat with her daughter, Ivy, a close second. Holly loves food and is almost always the first one to the feed trough or hay feeder when they are refilled. Pumpkins or winter squash are a favorite snack for her. She will almost always have an orange face when we treat them to winter squash because she rubs her whole face in it.
Holly has only had one kid, Ivy. She didn’t breed the first year we tried but did last year. She is also bred this year and due to kid in March. Some of our goats have miscarried their babies this year so we are watching her closely. Colton is hoping she has at least one doeling so he can keep it in the herd.
Holly is one of the dairy goats that provides milk for all of our goat milk soaps and lotions. She is usually the third one to be milked. It is amazing how the goats quickly learn the routine and will line themselves up at the gate and for the most part stay in order. They are smart creatures!
Her favorite treats are pumpkins but if those aren’t in season she also likes orange peels. Holly enjoys the leaves of thorny Locust trees and helps to keep them under control by regularly eating the saplings down in the pasture. She is almost always cooperative while milking unless she runs out of alfalfa pellets. When that happens she refuses to stand still until her feed bin is refilled.
When you purchase one of our goat milk soaps or lotions, there’s a good chance that some of Holly’s milk is in it! You can check out all of our goat milk skincare products as well as our other products here https://14handsranchks.com/ranch-store/.
Here are some pictures of Holly over the years. She is well-loved and will hopefully have a long, happy life here at 14 Hands Ranch!
