Our rhôs pasture needs grazing to maintain it and to keep the brambles and willows under control.  In good years the horses graze here in the summer, but in wet years that simply isn't enough to look after it.  We were puzzled what to do until we discovered Old English goats.  This breed is closely related to wild goats and they can therefore cope with the wet conditions in Wales, unlike other goat breeds which need to come in in wet weather.  There are only around 100 breeding females in existence, so this is a very rare breed indeed.

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Effie, Esme and Frida are breeding nannies and Ezra a wether (castrated male).  We also have four kids born in March 2025, Heidi, Helga, Heulwen and Hector, plus Gertie, a young nanny who will meet a billy for the first time Autumn 2025.  The plan is to leave the kids with their mums and take a small amount of milk just for our own use.  The girls will be added to our breeding herd, and the boys, unless we get any good enough to be registered for breeding, will be eaten.

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The goats' grazing is controlled by NoFence collars, a sort of audible electric fence which can be moved on an app.  This means we can control exactly where they graze on a day to day basis to maximise their positive impact on the rhôs.