Urban goats for organic raw milk in a San Francisco backyard

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-...

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• backyard goats
• urban livestock
• milking goats
• urban goats
• urban chickens
• backyard chickens
• urban farmer
• urban farming
• organic milk
• raw milk
• urban homestead
• organic food
• backyard farming
• heidi kooy
• san francisco
• california

[PositivelyHealthy]

Thanks for your fast reply. I was afraid of that. I could not butcher them...I am vegetarian. Can you breed and sell in the city? I could possible do that...

[kirstendirksen]

@PositivelyHealthy I just filmed the video so I don't have as many details on this as I'm not a goat owner myself. I would assume you could sell the kids, or at least give them away.

Some cities are more organized to help out with this than others. I know that Denver has a "chicken swap" on the 1st Saturday of every month where you can buy, sell or swap animals like chickens and goats.

[PositivelyHealthy]

I was wondering about breeding goats. with chickens they don't need a rooster to lay eggs but goats must have kids to produce milk. How do you deal with that in the city? You are allowed 2 goats so what do you do with the kids? I so want goats ♥

[kirstendirksen]

@PositivelyHealthy You have to get rid of them. So you either give them away or butcher them, depending on your feelings around that. It definitely gets you closer to the realities of farm animals and the cycle of life.

[kirstendirksen]

Just to clarify the goats are allowed some free range time. As Heidi mentioned in a video she did for Whole Foods "Since we do have limited space we do give them time in the upper yard during the day or in the neighbor's yard. The neighbors let us use their yard for the goats to graze and eat down all the weeds. And sometimes we take them for little walks around the city."

[eangeles92]

@kirstendirksen do you film every video?

[kirstendirksen]

@eangeles92 Nearly all. 3 of them were filmed by the interview subjects, but other than that yes.

[AshyMishyMashy]

@elainelw in never understood why people keep their dogs crated either... a puppy, yes. but an adult dog should be able to roam the house freely without getting into any kind of trouble. if a dog doesn't know better by the time it is an adult, then that is the owners fault for improperly training the dog. and if a person doesn't have the time to properly train the dog, then they shouldn't have the dog in the first place.

[farmsidney]

fantastic video. Congratulations.

[piazza1129]

Nice set up! Great way to show people you don't need a large space to grow food. We always share with our neighbors. Last year had the kids do a produce stand a couple times & the neighbors asked us to do it again this year. Growing food really brings the community together

[needparalegal]

Finally an excuse to buy a breast pump!

[lokidj01]

@lokidj01 milker even...

[lokidj01]

Thats great!! Where can I find some instructions on how to make that liker you have?? Thanks!!!

[futureusmc100]

how much does each chicken/ goat eat in a day? (im obsessed with this kind of stuff)

[PinkShirtz]

Yay im the 100th person to like this XD