Bay of Plenty animal rescue organisation Rescue, Revive, Rehome is looking for homes for about 100 baby male goats.

RRR’s Rowan Elliott says the goats – black, brown, white and mottled – were acquired about six weeks ago from dairy goat farms. They were surplus to requirements and would have been culled or used for meat.

“The farmer let us take them,” says Rowan. So she did.  “Some of them were one-day-old.”

She’s found homes for about 60 of the wethers but still has 40 to go.

Castrated male goats make fantastic pets, says Rowan. They get on well with other animals and eat weeds.

But it’s not easy finding the perfect goat owner. Rowan says RRR doesn’t want to send the goats to homes where they are just going to be tethered up all day.

“The ideal owner would be someone on a lifestyle block or farm, and have a large paddock with plenty of forage.”

Feeding 100 extremely friendly and tame baby goats is a mammoth task and requires deep pockets. Rowan says it costs $113 for a 20kg bag of milk powder every two days. “It’s our own money at the moment.”

But she is immensely appreciative of so many volunteers who also help out. “Mandy Priestley donated a huge amount of her time, milk powder and a large feeder. Her whole family came to help.”

Rowan says they were successful last year rehoming baby goats. “The goats are great at weed control. And they make fantastic companions for horses and other animals.

“But this year it’s been awful. Because of Covid-19 and because of the bad drought, no one’s got grass. It’s getting better though.”

It’s not by chance that the acronym of GOAT stands for Greatest Of All Time, says Rowan, as they were one of the first animals to be tamed by humans and were being herded 9000 years ago.

The baby goats that RRR are wanting to adopt out are all Saanen and Toggenburg-cross. Rowan says they are generally good animals to have on a lifestyle farm because they are placid and intelligent and don’t require shearing or Tb testing.

“Hand-reared kids make good pets for children. They can be taught their name and to come when called, their lifespan is about the same as for a dog, and they are herd animals which means they like to have companions.”

To adopt a baby goat, contact Rowan on 027 461 0888. If goats aren’t your thing, then there is also 300 hens to find homes for, some sheep and a horse called ‘Nacho’.