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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We currently have three goats, Effie and Esme who are breeding does, and Ezra, a wether (castrated male).  We intend to breed from the two girls to both help the breed and increase the size of our herd.  The plan is to leave the kids with their mums and take a small amount of milk just for our own use.

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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.