Here on Porpeang farm Thailand, the primary focus is on our beloved mixed breed goat herd. It has been incredibly easy to fall in love with these fantastic animals. In a short time, we have formed a strong bond with all of them, that is apart from our aloof young Billy goat, Mr Tumnus.
Raising goats in Thailand suits us
Keeping goats on the farm fits us like a glove. They are immense fun to be around, can be both smart & silly & on the whole, very kind natured & caring animals.
Each day, they are a joy to be around. It such a short space of time, it feels like we've been raising them for decades.
Our first goats on the farm
We acquired our first three young female goats back on the 06/08/2019. Names of Black Jack (because of her black & white patches), PJ (she looks like she's wearing pyjamas) & Hoover (she never stops eating) were quickly chosen.
Increasing the herd numbers
Just one month later we added a further 3 females (all of which were already pregnant.) Names were quickly were allotted - Brownie & Blacky (obviously for their colouration) & YoYo (because she was always standing up then immediately sitting back down).
Purchasing a Billy goat for the girls
A few weeks passed by until we managed to acquire a young billy we named Mr Tumnus (Toon's favourite film is Narnia.) He's handsome chap that's 70% Boer breed. He tends to like his distance & even now, not very forthcoming.
Ideally, we would have preferred a billy goat that was 100% Boer. The problem is that they are quite expensive here in Thailand, retailing at around 8,000 - 10,000 Thai baht. Boer goats are a heavy South African breed commonly associated with goat meat production farming.
Small converted goat house
The seven goats were initially housed in an old converted chicken coop that we recycled from our village house. We constructed a raised table/bed for them, made out of timber & bamboo cut down from here on the farm.
2 months later, as the goats began to grow larger, it soon became apparent that larger housing was required to prevent squabbling & bullying.
Bigger goat house required
A 'cheap as chips' 8m x8m raised wooden house was constructed over the coming month. All the posts & supporting timbers were sourced from here on our farm.
The wooden planks used for the flooring were sourced free of charge from an abandoned temple on a nearby mountain.
They had been kindly offered to us by the local monk. All we had to do was to remove them, cut them & transport them back to the farm. It was a hard job in the heat.
Help from a friend
Luckily transporting most of the reclaimed timber was made easier by one of our YouTube subscribers, Eddie. He kindly gave up his time & travelled from his home in Chiang Mai to come & lend a hand. His trusty Tata truck was amazing!
Protecting the goat house from termites
Termites are a huge issue in most of Thailand, so all timbers were treated several times with a protective spray accordingly.
Separate goat birthing rooms
To protect the expecting nanny goats & their kids, two birthing rooms were also constructed in readiness.
Purchasing older pregnant goat
Once the new larger goat house was completed, we rehoused the seven goats, along with another three newly acquired pregnant females.
The following names were given: Geraldine (Leigh's mum's middle name,) Donna (named after Leigh's late uncle Don,) & Saam (Thai word for three because she has three nipples!)
These additional females were all older than our original herd members. Being that bit older & larger animals made integrating the new girls much easier & was a relatively peaceful transition for all.
Our goats preferred habitats
During most of the day, the herd splits its time browsing in between our bamboo plants & eucalyptus trees, munching on the grass around our house, & roaming on Goat Island.
Goat Island is located on our 'soon to be completed' fishing lake (date to be confirmed.)
There's so much room on there for them to explore, browse, play & rest . . . a real Goat Eutopia if ever there was one. Apart from a gate, no fencing is required. Goats don't like to get their feet wet, so an island makes perfect sense to us.
Myth busting - Goats do NOT eat everything
Our goat herd are a happy-go-lucky bunch, although a little stubborn & naughty at times. Although it's a misconception that goats eat everything, they do like to nibble on lots of things. This includes old rice bags & blue plastic watering cans to name but a few.
Our first kid goats are born
21/12/2019 saw one of our nanny goats, Blackie, give birth to our first kid on the farm.
A spritely little white & brown boy was soon named Scape. We chose the name after asking for suggestions from our YouTube channel viewers. The name Rusty came in a close second.
The very next day brought our second kid. This time proud mum Brownie gave us a little girl.
She was almost a carbon copy of Scape (white with a brown head.) She was immediately named Owenetta (a kind gentleman called Owen had pre-sponsored the name of our first female kid.)
By now, we felt like we were floating on a cloud. Two straight forward births & two healthy kids & strong, attentive mothers with lots of milk.
Our first twin kid goats are born
05/01/2020 was a great way to begin the New Year on Porpeang farm. Our biggest & oldest nanny goat, Geraldine, gave us two girl kids. Both were very small & the birth was far from straight forward.
The first kid's head appeared, then disappeared. When it reappeared, it was with four little hooves that wanted to come out at the same time!
With Geraldine not being in the strongest of conditions (we think she has previously been over-bred without much recovery time in between pregnancies), we decided that we needed to act quickly & help her.
In time with Geraldine pushing, Toon pulled on the four hooves & I tried to ease the head out gently from you know where.
After a bit of huffing & puffing, out popped the smallest baby kid Toon & I have ever seen. A dark chocolate brown little girl with a small patch of white on her head. She was closely followed by her bigger sister, almost totally white with a black pirate's patch over one eye.
Toon & I sat in the sugarcane on Goat Island with Geraldine & Co all afternoon. We brought her some of her favourite treats while she cleaned up her two kids. She loves slightly unripe bananas & dried slices of limes. Needless to say, both are grown here organically on Porpeang farm.
Goat midwives & a sense of pride
What a truly fantastic experience that was. To be on hand to help such a lovely animal in her hour of need was heart-warming. Toon said she felt so proud playing such an active part of the birth.
It's something that we'll never forget, regardless of how many more births we witness.
Official Goat Sponsorship
The tiny chocolate kid's name had been pre-sponsored by a kind guy who follows us on YouTube. Matt had chosen the name Ruby for his 10-year-old cousin, who has the same name. Ruby watches our videos together with Matt back in the UK.
We took some photos, put together an official Goat Sponsorship certificate & made a video with a shout out for her. Hopefully, she enjoyed it & will be following Ruby's progress here on the farm for years to come.
As I write this, the white baby girl goat is still waiting on a name. Hopefully, after we publish our Ruby video, someone will become our third sponsor to date. If not, Toon has ear-marked Jasmine as her name.
We currently don't accept sponsored names for males, the only reason being is that the majority of males will be sold on at about 5 months.
Although we really do love all the goats, they are now our most important income for the farm.
Big plans for expanding our goat setup in 2020
Fingers crossed, all our girls will be with us for many moons to come. We plan to increase the numbers in the herd to well over 100 strong.
Other plans include a substantial 'goat proof' fencing project & to begin incorporating cell grazing throughout the majority of the farm's 50 rai.
BUT we have an even bigger plan on the horizon . . . Goat Island is to be totally remodelled & will become the location of the 'Goat Ship.'
Integrated livestock systems on the farm
The Goat Ship, as well as being very large, will have integrated manure, biochar & vermicomposting systems incorporated underneath. Rainwater catchment & a charcoal making area are also planned.
Continued & improving goat care
Until our expansion plans come to fruition, we will continue to look over our ever-increasing herd, play with the baby kid goats whenever we get the chance, & give extra care & attention to Geraldine. Hopefully, we can get her into the condition that she should be in.
Counting our blessing
We'll also continue to be thankful for being blessed with such a fulfilling farm life. We take nothing for granted & appreciate how lucky we are.
Sponsor a Porpeang goat
If you would like to join our official Goat Sponsorship set up, all you need to do is contact us through an email, telling us your chosen girl kid name, along with a donation of your choice.
Donation options:
PayPal to kartoonthai@hotmail.com or
Email us:
You will receive a certificate in PDF format via email, along with regular updates on how your bundle of joy is progressing.
Follow our goats on YouTube
We also have a dedicated YouTube video playlist on our herd here on the farm. It's well worth checking out & shows our goat journey right from the beginning.
Keeping Goats in Thailand:
Come & see the goats on the farm
If you wish to visit us here at Porpeang farm Thailand, you'll be able to get to meet your goat face to face & give them some tasty treats.
You may also be roped into helping clean out the Goat ship!
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Accommodation availability & discounts
We have accommodation available three minutes drive from the farm in our village house. It has two double bedrooms, airconditioning, tv & fridge.
Prices start from 500 Thai baht per night (maximum of two people.)
Patreon members (tiers 1 - 4) receive a 25% discount on the duration of their stay.
Patreon Gold members (tier 5) receive 1-week free accommodation that includes free breakfast with us each morning with complimentary motorbike pick up service!
For 3-4 people staying there is an additional 200 Thai baht per person per night.
Please email us for bookings & availability.
Kind regards, from Toon & Leigh & the herd.
Porpeang farm Thailand.