Northwood’s chapter of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) purchased three dairy goats this winter from Lily Den Farm, a local farm, in Pittsboro. These goats provide a great hands-on learning experience for the students here. Students will raise and sell them once fully grown in order to fundraise for FFA. Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Davis, Northwood’s agriculture teachers, will help to oversee this process.
“Once the goats are weaned, which means they are no longer on the bottle and they are eating hay and grain… they will be sold or rehomed. Our program has to be self-sustainable,” Mrs. Smith said.
The goats are named Freya, McMuffin and Herman. The three of them are about seven weeks old as of the publishing of this article. “They all have little horn nubs growing in,” said sophomore Joshua Madarasz, one of the students looking after the goats. Freya is named after the Norse goddess. McMuffin is the smallest of the three and Herman is much more aggressive than the other two.
“[Herman] likes to headbutt the bottle and seems to be decently playful,” said Madarasz.
There are six students, two assigned to each goat, who are tasked with feeding and caring for them. Students feed them a mixture of whole milk, buttermilk and evaporated milk each morning and night.
The goats are currently housed in the barn, but there are plans to move them outside. Fence posts are already in the ground, while the gate and wiring is waiting to be built and installed.
