Farms: Urban goats for organic raw milk in a San Francisco backyard
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Heidi Kooy lives in a fairly dense part of San Francisco- her row house touches her neighbors'- with just 1000 square feet of backyard, but she manages to squeeze in an organic garden, fruit trees, chickens and, most recently, a pair of goats. When she began her experiment in urban farming, the goats were really an afterthought. "I was obsessed with having a chicken for awhile... and so I told my husband we were going to get chickens and he said 'Ew, chickens smell. I want a goat'." Kooy did some research and found a San Francisco Health Department clause that allows for "two female goats for family purposes". Two years ago she bought two Nigerian dwarf goats and today, they provide anywhere from 1 to 3 quarts of milk per day for her family (drunk as raw milk and used to make cheese). She loves her fresh goats' milk, but Kooy admits the price is steep. The goats themselves usually cost about $500-600 each. Then there are the vet bills and stud services (to keep them lactating). And then you need to milk them twice a day, every day. Kooy's goats have also cost her money in damage to her yard and house. And besides the daily milkings, she takes them a mile away (often by car) to a nearby park to exercise. "The amount of work that I put into this, it's much easier for me to go get some silly job and go over to the big name box store across the street from me. It's a much better deal for me to go over there and buy my cheese for $5, for a brick, rather than spending 2 days making cheese from my own goats milk that I had to milk the goats 4 times to get enough milk to produce it. It doesn't make any kind of sense on any level except that I now know what goes into it and i appreciate where my food comes from a lot more and I appreciate what farmers do." In this video we visit Kooy at her Excelsior District home in time for her morning milking. Original story here: http://www.faircompanies.com/videos/view/urban-goats-for-organic-raw-milk-in-a-san-francisco-backyard/
Comments
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06.21 goat wheelie
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Btw, for the haters who say the goats live in a confined space. The space they have is more than enough. What you see is an illusion of tightness because they live in the city. Goats and chickens and other small farm animals do not need to live in huge space like cows and horses. Those goats are living the good life.
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Awww. That's very sweet. I can tell you love your goats. They're living the good life. How many goats can boast of city life. :)
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8-15-16. where is the calf [baby goat ], does that goat have milk even without baby
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What is the "cheating" device?
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so if a goat can be kept in that kind of space then.........Alleluljha!!!!!!
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Most pygmy goats produce far more milk than that, must be old
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Love that bum crack. Goat milk is good for maintaining a healthy weight. This lady is in top shape.
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Im a good judge of character and I would say you are a gem...
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It is commendable you have figured out a method to do this operation. It is obviously bringing you pleasure and really this is what life is about. Yes, you can go buy the cheese but the satisfaction and pleasure comes from being a person that can do this sort of craft. My hope for you is you dont get neighbors that are haters.
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People are complaining about these goats the goats looked like they gave zero cares about anything so
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I love what she is doing at least she is taking care of them considering all the animals in shelters that wasn't taking good careby there owners and pretty soon we all will have to do backyard farming considering all the cancerous stuff they put in our food
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How cruel to keep the 2 goats locked up in that small space. They can't run around, not enough room to play properly or jump on things as goats love to do. Poor things. What else can we expect from selfish humans.
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although you don't directly mention the housing space required for goats to live in what you show in this video as great for my purpose. thanks!!
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Hi, I was interested in getting fresh goat milk and if you have any I would gladly purchase some!! I live in SF
Thanks a lot! -
goats are amazing for helping with anxiety and kids so goats are amazing i have goats in the city too but i live in oregon
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I love that she is being more self sustained even on her city lot. I agree we should all produce something that we consume. A garden is the perfect start.
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can we buy some?
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I like the big weed plant in the garden lol