Mount Gilead Estate goats don’t kid around when it comes to retirement village living

Introduction

Taking “pet friendly” retirement villages to a new level, Mount Gilead Estate has its own living fur family (or should we say wool family).

Embracing the rural style living that makes Mount Gilead Estate a stunning village to live in, we have our own resident goats. But before you say they aren’t really pets, you should come down and talk to our residents. They would tell you otherwise.

Nursing Baby Goats, our residents pitched in

Two of our residents have been hands-on in helping raise baby goats. James and Karen live in a villa that sits next to a large grass area where the goats often go to eat. One day they noticed that the mother goats were exhausted keeping up enough food for their new babies. The kids didn’t look fat enough as a result.

That’s when they decided to step in and give them a helping hand

James and Karen supplemented the kids diet with some bottle feeding, giving the mums a bit of a break. Getting them fat and helping them get used to being handled, cuddled, and patted, James and Karen would bottle-feed the kids daily.

What they didn’t expect was how they brought their little community of friends and other residents together.

Bringing the community together

These unlikely companions have brought members of our community together, all pitching in to get food for them and look out for them when needed.

“When they were just young kids, everyone would stop by to see them because they were pretty cute. As they got older people started to bring around scraps for them to eat,” said James. “This was particularly important as we were just coming out of Covid 19 restrictions and we needed a sense of community”.

The novelty of the goats doesn’t seem to have worn off either. Since then, it appears the scraps collecting and feeding the goats has continued.

“We still get scraps given to us for the goats most weeks. We love to go up and feed them. They’re very friendly and affectionate animals,” said James.

Today, they still love a scratch behind the ear or a scrap from the café and they are a great novelty for grandchildren when they visit.

Why we have goats in the first place

Truth is, as loved as our four-hooved friends may be, they didn’t come here with the intention of being pets. They had a much more practical purpose planned.

Our estate is built over 55 acres of land. Designed with big wide-open spaces the village sits next to green paddocks and a national park. Only 60km out of the city, the estate offers rural-style living right in a suburban setting.

This is one of the reasons many of our residents come here. They love the idea of a green tree change for retirement. Offering privacy, tranquillity, and feeling as if you’re away from the hustle and bustle of city life, our estate is still close to many of our residents’ families, shops, and transport into town.

Conclusion

With this rural style of living comes a lot of grass. With grass comes additional maintenance. That’s why the management team devised a clever way to keep the grass cut short. That is, they invested in a family of goats.

It turns out they are handy for getting rid of some extra scraps from the residents and café too. Keeping waste down, they really are an environmentally friendly addition to the estate that we just love to have around.