Dear Fellow Reader and Goat Lover,

I was six years old when my mom bought her first milk goat, but I didn’t realize how extensive goat ownership could be until I acquired my own homestead. Emergencies arose and I needed help! Local goat owners were still miles away, and some didn’t have the answers I needed.

Even small-town farm girls like me need communities and information focusing on what we raise. And the goat world is vast.

I love the personalities of dairy goats, and the potential for the best milk and cheese. But there are also breeds for meat and for mohair and cashmere yarn. Goats control weeds, pack gear for camping trips, help disabled individuals, or just provide companionship. What about those adorable fainting goats in all the viral videos? Even the dairy world includes long-eared Nubians, short but adorable Nigerian Dwarfs with high butterfat, strong Saanens, and super-hardy Alpine goats.

Kids, the human kind, grow up in the 4-H and FFA environments and raise their goats for shows, county fairs, and even for profit to help pay for college. Mothers with allergic children may keep a doe in milk, to provide food for their families. Goats serve as companion animals for sheep. I even read about a disabled veteran who trained her doe to follow her around while carrying small items in a pack.

I constantly learn more about the goat world, about reasons people keep their beloved caprines or about new information regarding goat illnesses and treatments. And it helps to have a resource like Goat Journal.

Help and Advice for Every Goat Farmer

Goat Journal stays up-to-date, providing information about caring for goats, selecting breeds, or constructing shelters for the animals. No other resource delivers expertise, advice, and camaraderie to all goat owners. Whether you’re new or experienced, a dairy farmer or a backpacker in the Rocky Mountains, we’re here to offer ideas and solutions for you.

We don’t provide one small magazine section for goats, among stories about other livestock. Goats are the only animals we write about!

Goat Journal will help you …

• Solve all kinds of problems that arise when raising goats, such as feed, milking, behavior or health.
• Learn the best breeds of goat for making cheese, collecting fiber, producing the most milk with the least acreage, or surviving in a harsh climate.
• Share the joy – and frustration – of raising goats, with people just like you.
• Raise healthy goats for milk, meat, fiber, shows, breeding programs, packing, companionship … or just for fun.
• Save money with practical, DIY tips for shelters, feeding, and keeping your caprines healthy.
• Craft and enjoy fruits of your labors: milk, cheese, yogurt, goat meat, and more.

Have you just started keeping goats? Goat Journal offers the basics of caring for goats, such as housing, hoof care, successful kidding and milking, and managing diseases. You don’t have to guess or scramble for advice; leave it to us, and our experienced goat-owning writers, to make your life easier!

But be aware: the more you learn about goats, the more you’ll enjoy them…and soon you’ll want more goats…and you’ll need more Goat Journal!

An Answer for Each Question, A Solution for Each Problem

Our caprine consultants answer your goat questions, such as:

• Can you use herbs to treat sick goats?
• How long should you let new kids suckle before using the milk for your family?
• If your goats eat your landscape plants, which are safe and which require veterinary care?
• How does caring for goats change season by season?
• Why do wattles even exist?
• How have other owners used their livestock to turn a profit?
• Can you keep goats with chickens or cattle?
• How can you deal with a buck’s odor so neighbors stay happy?

There are no stupid questions in goat farming, and we have all the answers. But, after you’ve learned the basics of caring for goats, where do you go from there?

All Things Goat, From Basics to Beyond

If you raise goats to feed your family, we offer instruction in clean milk and meat harvesting, making cheese, culturing other dairy products, and pairing goat meat with garden vegetables for a succulent dinner. We even give advice on marketing goat cheese, with stories about creameries that turned dreams into legacies.

Perhaps you want to learn how to make goat milk soap. Is it difficult? How do you work with milk in soap, add natural colorant or fragrance, or even add oatmeal and honey? And how can you market your soap to help pay for goat feed?

Farmers often turn to agrotourism to pay the bills; goats are a strong part of that! We cover stories about goat-rental programs for weed abatement or to carry gear for hunting trips. Or we can help you learn what programs to offer on your own farm, such as goat yoga or petting zoos.

If you show goats, we can help you figure out what to pack for traveling with your goats, where to find the best sales and shows, and have a listing to some of the nation’s best breeders.

Once you learn about rare goat breeds, some of which are critically endangered, you may want to contribute to conservation efforts. Goat Journal provides regular breed profiles, which help you choose between common farmstead animals and those that need intervention to avoid extinction. And we list what you need to know about each unique breed.

Goat Journal delivers everything from kidding stories…to stories about human kids with their goats…to best farm management practices…to crafting dairy products…to choosing the best farming equipment to make your job easier!

Every Stage of Goat Farming, Every Type of Goat

If you’ve never read Goat Journal, prepare to be impressed. Our focus on “all things goat” promises lively, interesting content about the different facets of keeping goats. It’s like living next door to the most experienced goat farmer, someone willing to run out to your homestead and sit with you during kidding, milking, weaning, or training times. No other publication provides this much focus on helping goat owners, whether they have one goat or one hundred, Pygmy or Boer. We are the goat-loving community you need.

Why not subscribe to Goat Journal, today, and join the fun? We all know raising goats is a labor of love, and we can help make it easier and more rewarding. Keep healthy, happy and productive goats, no matter what!

May all your goat farming adventures be the best,

Marissa Ames
Editor