A warning to all urban chicken owners: they can be a "gateway farm animal."  One day you have a small flock, and may be contemplating installing a beehive, and then suddenly you find yourself the proud owner of several goats and an ironclad milking schedule. It's a slippery slope.

Farm animals have been showing up with increasing regularity in East Bay backyards - not just chickens and bees, but quails, rabbits and even snails.  The newest frontier is goats, and a handful of intrepid homesteaders have been reaping the benefits - chevre, mozzarella, caramel - and also at times chafing under the responsibility of running a dairy in an urban setting.

Abeni Ramsay, Community Market Farm Coordinator for City Slicker Farms, has owned goats for a year, purchased from her neighbor Novella Carpenter, who writes about her Ghost Town goat experiences in her recent memoir Farm City.  Abeni plans to bring them back from their current San Lorenzo location to her West Oakland home in three months. "I suppose initially my motivation was that I wanted to provide my own milk & dairy products," she says.  "For me it's about self-sufficiency."

With just one goat currently producing milk, she's fine handling the work on her own.  However, she acknowledges it is hard at times. "It's a lot of commitment: what are you going to do if you go on vacation, how are you going to breed them to keep them producing milk ... . Some days I'm like 'This is completely crazy.'"

Why goats?

Jim Montgomery, a high school math teacher and co-owner of Green Faerie Farm in West Berkeley, was an early adopter and has owned goats for eight years.  He estimates that of the 30 or so people who own goats in the East Bay, about 10 raise them for milk.  

"Goats are an appropriate livestock for urban living," says Montgomery.  "They have about as much impact on your yard as a dog.  They can be as personable for company, but they're herbivores and are domesticated to provide milk and meat.  They're an excellent complement in a gardening situation, producing manure that is perfect to go right into the soil.  Their milk is also more digestible than cow's milk for many people."

Kitty Sharkey, owner of Havenscourt Homestead located in East Oakland near the Coliseum, has other motivations for keeping her four Nigerian dwarf goats.  She is on medical leave and keeps them as therapy animals, even cuddling with them in her hammock.  However, in addition to their status as pets, they are a key component in reaching her goal of 75 percent self-sufficiency.  "Aside from the love, joy and therapy they provide, I want them to produce," she says.  She currently estimates that she produces 50 to 60 percent of her food needs.

Others acquire goats as part of an educational mission. Jeannie McKenzie and Frankie Morrow of Pineheaven Farm in Montclair seek to set up an example homestead in the Oakland Hills, giving tours to local schools and helping Girl Scouts earn the newly re-introduced Farm Badge. They teach the Backyard Chickens class at the Institute for Urban Homesteading and became interested in goats after making goat cheese at a friend's farm in Marin. 

Morrow and McKenzie leaped into goat ownership and laugh now at their introduction - their goats initially ate their electric fence, so they had to babysit them for three days, even sleeping outside with them. Over the course of a year, their initial herd of two goats quickly grew to 10 goats, a number that felt unmanageable even on their fairly large property. They quickly realized they needed to assemble a team of volunteers to help with the milking shifts. They recently sold two goats and are looking to reduce the size of their herd further.

"I don't think we realized how much work it was going to be," says Morrow. "But working with the animals creates this state of groundedness - after all the chores, I take a few deep breaths and realize: this is amazing."

Coping cooperatively

Goats are legal under Oakland's Animal Control Regulations in the Municipal Code, but a good relationship with neighbors is crucial. Owners can be cited for noise or neighborhood blight if the city receives complaints.  Without exception, all the goat owners contacted reported improved relations with neighbors as a result of owning goats.

"It's a wonderful way to meet more people in the neighborhood, especially young people," says Molly, a North Oakland resident. She and her husband, Crow, have owned two Oberhasli goats for over two years.  Walking the goats on leashes around the neighborhood, Crow reports frequently getting asked, “What kinds of dogs are those?  Are those Dobermans?"  (Oberhasli have brown and black coloring, reminiscent of a Doberman.)

Molly and Crow have tapped into their community in important ways to make it possible for them to own goats while taking care of a toddler and maintaining busy lives of their own.  They currently have a solid group of 10 milkers who take much of the burden of twice-daily milkings off their hands, and in exchange gain experience with livestock and the ability to try out goat ownership without the full commitment.  

"This is an improvement over old-style farming in that we can go out at night," says Molly.  "Real farmers can't, which makes the lifestyle seem unappealing."

Crow also receives help with mucking out the pens, since three different people asked for goat manure at the end of the rainy season. 

"I felt like a big old Tom Sawyer sitting there getting my pen mucked," said Crow, smiling.  "They kept thanking me!" 

In the end, is it worth the effort?

Most of the goat farmers contacted felt that the financial return on the goats was about even.  Molly and Crow calculated that the goats cost $75/month in hay and food supplements, and that they received at least $160 worth of milk from the goats.  The calculation is based on the cost of non-organic pasteurized goat milk available at the store, whereas the couple enjoys organic raw goat milk daily.  However, because they're unable to sell their product except as pet food due to stringent FDA regulations surrounding raw milk, they don't see a financial return, but rather are convinced that the benefit is to their health.  As Kitty Sharkey says, "These guys pay for themselves in chevre and companionship."

Abeni Ramsay has advice for those considering getting goats: "Think about it, think about it, think about it.  You have to really be sure it's something you want to do.  Be honest about where you are personally, and do not get into it because it's a trend or fad."