Why We Started Keeping Goats

Two City Kids and Twelve Roosters

Two city kids moved outside the city and never imagined what life would bring.

Like many people, we started small. We bought twelve baby chicks at an auction because we thought it would be fun to have fresh eggs.

There was just one problem.

All twelve chicks turned out to be roosters.

We quickly realized we had a lot to learn.

The roosters went back to the auction, and we replaced them with pullets from the local feed store. At the time, we had no idea those chickens would lead to goats, and goats would eventually lead to a home-based business.

A Dream That Looked Different Than Expected

As a kid, I loved animals.

Jack Hanna used to visit my elementary school with his daughter and bring animals with them. I was fascinated. I knew I wanted to work with animals someday.

I assumed that meant a zoo.

Other times, I imagined moving to Texas and living the cowgirl life on a horse ranch.

What I never imagined was owning goats on a small farm in Ohio.

Life has a funny way of taking you places you never expected to go.

The Goat That Started It All

At some point, I decided I wanted fresh milk.

A cow felt a little out of my league at the time, so I thought a goat would be a great place to start.

She was.

Star was the kind of first goat everyone hopes for. Gentle, easygoing, and patient while we figured things out. She's been gone a long time now, but she has never been forgotten.

Looking back, that one goat changed everything.

My Homesteading Dream

For a while, I was convinced I wanted to become completely self-sufficient.

I pictured a homestead where we lived off the land, disconnected from modern conveniences, and did everything ourselves.

It sounded wonderful.

Then an ice storm hit.

Our electricity was out for five days.

We had no water because our home relies on a well. The plumbing didn't work. Water buckets froze. Every chore became harder.

That's when I learned an important lesson:

I like modern conveniences.

Very much.

From Goat Milk to Goat Milk Soap

Even though full-time homesteading wasn't exactly what I imagined, one thing that did come from it was an abundance of goat milk.

Like many homesteaders, we started looking for ways to use what we had.

That's when we began making our own soap.

The homesteading spirit stayed. The electricity stayed too.

Over time, soap making grew from something we did for ourselves into something we shared with others.

The Beginning of Chickenmash Farm

What started with a few chickens and a goat slowly became Chickenmash Farm.

We sold soap at local craft shows, built a website, and eventually opened a gift shop in downtown Grove City, Ohio.

For many years, we owned and operated the shop. I loved that little store, but being away from home every day was hard. The animals still needed care, and I missed being part of the daily rhythm of life here on the farm.

Eventually, we made the decision to close the shop and work from home again.

Today, we continue making goat milk soap, sharing life on the farm, and offering our products wholesale to wonderful gift shops and boutiques.

Looking Back

It's funny how life works.

I never became a zookeeper. I never moved to Texas. I never became completely self-sufficient.

Instead, I became a goat farmer.

And honestly, I'm pretty happy with how things turned out.

What started with twelve roosters became a life filled with goats, chickens, soap, and stories that we never could have planned for.

And that's how Chickenmash Farm began.