Five Acres Farm: Alberto von Danswan

Alberto von Danswan in all his (smelly) glory.

Alberto (Albie to his friends) is something of an experiment in miniature-goat breeding. His ancestry includes a range of breeds, from Boer to Angora. While he doesn't meet the official criteria for 'miniature', Albie stands slightly less tall than Helen (who is small for her breed anyway).
A recalcitrant teenager, Albie had been evicted from his first home, and arrived ready to take on anyone who got in his way. Albie hadn't reckoned on Mr Farmer getting in his way, and since their first encounter (in which Albie ended up hog-tied in the back of a ute), Albie has turned over a new leaf and become a charming, though hygienically-challenged buck. Albie loves Helen and apples, and has been seen lately doing some manly bonding with Roger the ram in an effort to stop being referred to as the World's Neediest Goat (his ultimate goal is to be known as a Total Stud, but as Helen says, he has a lot of work to do before that ever happens).

How it all began...

Originally the East Friesian Ewe Fund, this blog began as a fundraiser to replace dairy goats with dairy sheep. Despite the brilliant milk-producing efforts of the Saanen does, and my equally brilliant cheese-making efforts, when our electric fence broke and the garden became too tempting for the goats, Mr Farmer put his foot down. The goats had to go, he said. We needed to stick to sheep, since sheep don't demolish fences to demolish vegetable gardens (something of an over-exaggeration; Katie was curious, and the others just followed because no goat wants to be left on its own). Dairy sheep seemed like an excellent compromise, but true dairy breeds are rare in New Zealand, and cost upwards of $NZ 250 each. Mr Farmer was finally dissuaded from his anti-goat status in early 2011, and the East Friesian Ewe Scheme was laid to rest. A goat quota of two was set, and Helen and the buck of her choice were given full residency status…

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Alberto von Danswan