This farm needs volunteers to snuggle with its baby goats this winter

January 11, 2016

Perry Stein, Washington Post

Even goats need winter snuggle buddies sometimes.

A Virginia farm has put a call out to volunteers willing to cuddle with their newborn goats during the winter months.

Caromont Farm in Esmont, Va., which specializes in fresh and aged cheeses, says it expects 90 goats to be born on its farm in the coming weeks, NBC29 first reported. The farm uses much of its adult goats’ milk for cheese production, and needs volunteers to bottlefeed the kids, help maintain pens, and, yes, snuggle with them.

“It’s cold, it’s winter, there are going to be a lot of babies,” said Izzy Zechini, the sales and events manager at the farm. “Our main goal is to just keep them healthy and warm.”

Caromont Farm — which is 23 miles south of Charlottesville — set up a website where volunteers can sign up for four-hour shifts during daytime hours between Feb. 7 and March 13. Impressively, all slots are already full, although the farm says it’s considering opening up some more.

This is the first time the farm has pitched the task of keeping the goats warm to volunteers. Zechini says the goal is also to educate consumers about how their food is produced.

“We want to get our community more involved. We’re kind of out in the middle of nowhere,” she said. “I think it’s a good experience for the whole community.”