About Us

My husband and I are grain farmers in south central Manitoba on the western side of the Province. We live on 160 acres close to the beautiful and serene Riding Mountain National Park where we enjoy the fresh clean air and the quiet of country life. I did say quiet however it is far from leisurely! Our lives are very hectic and busy. With 5000 acres of crop land that has to be seeded and harvested, goats, dogs, miniature horses, cats and chickens to take care of. 

I have been an animal lover all my life and have this thirst to learn everything that I can about animals. My dream was to become a Veterinarian, but things happened in my life that were beyond my control and I couldn't fulfill that dream. In my late 20's I did graduate with highest honors in Animal Sciences. 

Our animals are treated with respect and they consume my day. 
They are our family.

How I got started in Goats

I LOVE GOATS!!! But I didn't start off that way.......

We began raising goats in 2000 and haven't looked back. I spent my entire life raising some sort of animal - I would be totally lost without animals in my life. I've raised rabbits for pets, hamsters, guinea pigs, Arabian horses, Appaloosa horses, Miniature horses, cattle, chickens, ducks, dogs, hedgehogs, sugar gliders, exotic birds - doves, pigeons, pheasants, peafowl and emus.

I NEVER wanted goats - I didn't even like goats. I believed everything I ever heard about them - except them eating tin cans - no animal will do that. My venture into goats began in 1997 when my husband and I decided we needed to "diversify" our farm with some kind of "edible" livestock. Cattle were not even considered because of size - pigs also because of their smell.

Our decision was either Sheep or Goats - leaning more towards sheep cause I didn't want to be chasing goats and have them climbing all over our vehicles!! Ha!

Well the more research I did the less we wanted sheep - goats seemed to be more suited to what we had pasture wise and where we needed to go in regards to disease status...so in June of 2000 we purchased our first 10 Boer cross kids to start our commercial herd.

Man were these kids WILD!! When we got them home and out of the trailer into their temporary stall in the barn - and it's a good thing they were in a barn!! - my husband and I just looked at each other and both said "What have we gotten ourselves into?!!" These kids were bouncing off the walls trying to get out of the stall. We just had this sick sinking feeling - we had made a very big mistake.

It took some time but with lots of tree branches as treats and patience we got those kids to settle right down - then began our journey.

I fell in LOVE with the goats! My hubby liked them too, but not as much as I did.
My biggest regret is that I wish I would have known what goats were really like 30 years ago - then I wouldn't have wasted all those years on my horse craziness!!

We were up to 200 head in a few years time and I had names for every single goat - I was having major problems selling stock for meat - I remember every single kid I ever put on "the truck" - three kid crops.

I couldn't do it anymore - my heart couldn't handle it - so the decision was made to sell off most of the stock a little at a time - keeping back our ... well my favorites! It was however two years before this time that I began to do research on the Myotonic Goat. I was very interested at first in the meat part of these goats and crossing them on my Boer does - I became very intrigued with the Breed.

My venture began......

I had no idea what I was in for......everywhere I looked for these goats I ran into brick walls. I was in total shock that there were very few of these goats in Canada - well very few that actually looked like what a Myotonic goat was suppose to look like. So I began to look in the US and bought my first 6 down there - 4 does and 2 bucks - they were born in the Fall of that year - and just before they were ready to come up here the border closed!

The Breeder was great about all this and agreed to hold the goats for me until Spring in case the border re-opened. It didn't happen and I lost the goats - I was heartbroken. Then began my search again for these goats in Canada.

Searching coast to coast finding an individual here and there in herds mostly consisting of Pygmys, sometimes finding several within those herds. It took 4 years to find 10 goats - goats that looked the way Myotonics are suppose to - not just goats that fell over.

I was extremely fortunate to find a blue eyed buck and he is the first registered blue eyed buck in Canada. Along with him I also obtained two blue eyed does, and a polled brown eyed doe.

My herd has grown and now fluctuates between 75 - 100 MGR registered stock.

These goats are my PASSION and are not given the respect that they deserve. There are lots of MYTHS out there about them and they are nothing like what you may hear that "fainting" goats are like. They are extremely intelligent, they are not always on the ground. Yelling, screaming, blowing a car horn to scare them does not make them "faint" it only scares them and causes them to be scared of YOU. They are no different than any other breed - if they are scared of you good luck catching them! And besides scaring them so that you can have a little laugh is just plain ole mean!

I love these goats and have dedicated my life to ensure that they are still here in their pure form for others to enjoy in the future. This is an Endangered Species - this is a Breed of Goat that Originated in Canada - we need to Preserve them.

We need Breeders who are serious about raising and preserving this valuable heritage breed. Breeders who will breed for the facial and body characteristics that make them what they are and not just concentrate on the "fainting" aspect.

Just because they "faint" doesn't make them a Myotonic Goat!!

Cheryl McKay
Manitoba, Canada