I had the great fortune of touring the Oakland based Indigoat Farm. Owner Nicolas Sheon showed me the amazing set up he and his wife Susannah Levy,  and two children have in the Dimond Park neighborhood. You’d never know when you round the corner of this quiet street that you are about to encounter the most creative and functional goat farm this side of the Mississippi.

Just past the native grasses you find a gorgeous oak tree and stacks of hay at the entrance. Your eyes quickly spot a platform wrapped around the tree and to the side, a long narrow ramp. Your eyes follow this quick line down smack dab into a goat barn.

I entered the farm and was greeted first by a flock of curious ducks. Amidst colorful plants were chickens roaming around. Apparently Indigoat Farm is home to a flock of eight laying hens. The goat barn runs along side the front yard for about twenty feet and contains two adult females and one female kid. The Levy-Sheons chose to build there since large trees shade that area to much for planting a garden. Though the barn area is about 20′x8′, the ramp, bridge and tree platform (a former treehouse) extend the running/climbing space. The secure platform, ramp, barn and various work stations were all designed and built by the Levy-Sheons themselves. Though not carpenters by trade, it is something they like to do. Clearly.

Once on the platform, the goats also have access to the sturdy tree limbs. The goats enjoy a lovely view from that vantage point. I hope they can appreciate it.

I asked Nicolas the question that I’ve gotten quite often myself, “What made you want to and believe you could keep goats?”

Nicolas explained that he and his wife, Susannah, had been curious about goats for a while though they had not thought they’d be able to keep them while living in an urban area. Yet, once they visited their friend’s visited their friends’ Jim Montgomery and Mateo Rutherford, (who keep the urban farm, Green Faerie Farm, in Berkeley, CA) they were inspired to move forward with it. They started with their goats Eve and Kiah in October 2009. They immediately bred Kiah in October, which led to the birth of Indigoat this past March. Being the totally cool people that they are, they recorded the 4:30AM birth and posted it for all to learn from (click here)!

The Levy-Sheons’ goats are full sized Oberhasli. Most people I know in Oakland keep Nigerian Dwarf goats as they are half the size and good dairy goats. Nicolas pointed out that dwarf goats tend to be much noisier than the Oberhasli which doesn’t work for his proximity to neighbors. He also pointed out that with this quieter gentle giant, he gets a gallon of milk every few days. This is from one goat alone! They milk twice a day at 7AM and 7PM. Neighbors, Emma Pollin, Scott Yundt, and Kenda Burke have regular milking shifts to share the work, and the milk.

The farm has no fence separating front from back so it is one continuous space. There is a gorgeous duck pond toward the back.

The tour’s grand finale was learning to milk Kiah. Nicolas walked me through the steps of setting the goat up in the stanchion with distracting snacks. In Kiah’s case, he strapped one of her back legs to a post to prevent her fidgeting which keeps her from placing her hoof in the milk bucket.

Her udders got wiped with a mild bleach and dishsoap solution. Her teats got dipped in a shotglass of hydrogen peroxide. Finally, after thoroughly washing my hands and using a lotion called Udder Butter, I was able to do the massage, constrict and squeeze-but-don’t-pull motion required and a frothy stream of fresh goat milk was collected!

I am greatly inspired by the creativity in constructing an urban goat barn. I too have been in a quandary about how exactly that would work out. Building up rather than out makes brilliant sense as goats also love to climb. Perhaps if the cards fall right, the Pluck and Feather Farm will include goats one day.