Goatsbeard Farm

Hi, my name is Peter.

I'm five years old, and my parents and I live at Goatsbeard Farm in Missouri. We share the farm with 50 goats. We milk our goats and use the milk to make cheese.

Living on a farm is a lot of work and a lot of fun. Spring is the best time of year because that's when the babies are born. Baby goats are called kids, and they love to run , and jump, just like me.

The kids drink milk. We feed them three times every day. I help by climbing in their pen and picking up a kid, then handing the wiggling, squirming bundle to my mom.

The kids drink from a bucket with nipples, like on a baby's bottle. They're hungry so they eat fast.

Today it's raining, so the big goats stay inside the barn where it's warm and cozy. They eat hay from a trough. Most days they get to walk across the creek to our pasture, where they graze on grass until it's time for milking.

The goats are milked two times a day. Eight goats at a time walk into the milking house and put their heads through the hoops. They don't mind being milked, because they get to eat grain. Can you tell that goats love to eat?

I help my mom hook up the milking machine. It has two cups that draw milk from the goat's teats. The milk flows through a tube and into a metal can. We save some milk for the kids and for drinking, but we use most of the milk to make cheese.

We make lots of kinds of cheese on the farm. These soft cheese rounds have to dry for one more day before they're ready to eat.

We put some of the cheese into containers. I help by putting a sticker on each one. Then we sell the cheese to restaurants and grocery stores and at the farmers' market in town.

When I'm done helping, I play with the kids. They leap up to nibble my sleeves.

Then we chase each other all around the pen. I can tell the kids apart because I helped name them. Supernova is all white, and Wichita is brown with black-she's my favorite.

I have lots of favorite things on the farm.

This is the best tree for climbing. I can go so high.

And this is the fort my dad and I built.

I even have a trapeze. Watch me swing!

But the best thing of all is the goats. They're funny and curious and good to have as friends.

Thanks for visiting. Come back and see us soon.

Copyright Carus Publishing Company Sep 2006
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