Possum Kingdom Kreamery is no longer open to the public.
Have you heard of Possum Kingdom Kreamery? This goat farm offers tours and great products like goat milk, cheese, caramel and more. If that’s not enough, we can’t get enough of their adorable baby goats. And you can sign up to help bottle feed these adorable babies. KAG Contributor, Kristina Hernandez, has all the information on how you can sign up to visit with these cuties.
“There’s feet,” said Ali, the volunteer farmhand at Possum Kingdom Kreamery in Belton, as she poked her head into the room where I was sitting and chatting with the owners of the farm, Tanya and Scott.
Um, ok?
Tanya quickly explained that the phrase meant a mama goat was just about to give birth, as in the feet of the baby were showing. I nearly ran out of there and over to the pen with Ali, thrilled to witness the birth of quite possibly my favorite animal on earth: a baby goat.
I wasn’t disappointed. It didn’t take long for mama to push the little guy out, with an audience no less. The tiny goat was just precious, a miracle of nature, sweet and adorable. He joined the other 41 baby goats in the makeshift nursery, where it just so happened to be feeding time. Seriously, this day at Possum Kingdom Kreamery was about to get even better.
Hold a baby goat and bottle feed it? Sign me up.
Birth of Possum Kingdom Kreamery
What started as a Drum Horse farm quickly became a goat dairy farm once owner Tanya discovered her love of goats. Drum horses are magnificent creatures, part Clydesdale with an unmatched regal beauty. These Drum horses were mostly used for weddings. Now, the horses still reside at the farm and will pose for photos but it’s the dairy goats that do the majority of the work.
Eight years ago, a few goats became a few more goats and then those had baby goats and well, you get the picture. Tanya is an excellent cheesemaker and she’d make goat cheese and bring it to events and people wanted to know how to buy it and so the creamery side of the business took off. I tasted this goat cheese and it is amazing but more on that in a bit.
The goats at Possum Kingdom Kreamery are La Mancha, which are known for not only for being excellent dairy goats but also because they have super tiny ears and sometimes look like they don’t have ears at all. This also makes the baby goats even cuter if that’s possible.
Feeding the Baby Goats
A farm is a lot of work as it is. Add in around 80 newborn goats and it becomes an overwhelming task. Baby goats are bottle-fed for ten weeks, three times around the clock for the first several days. A few years ago, a farm in Virginia made national news when they announced that “goat cuddlers” were welcome to help feed and care for baby goats during kidding season.
Tanya reached out to a local news station here in Greenville who covered that story, offering them the opportunity to talk to her own local farm about their baby goat feeding opportunities.
The story ran on a Sunday night and by Monday morning, Tanya had 250 emails in her inbox and 7,000 by the end of the day. People really wanted to feed baby goats.
I get this. There’s something about holding a baby goat that is calming. Babies are so trusting and little goats are extremely playful and fun. I’ve had bad days melt away when I get to hold a baby goat. And feeding one? Well, that’s a whole other level of awesome.
What to Expect
So many people want to come and help Scott and Tanya bottle-feed their baby goats that Tanya created an online reservation form to handle the influx of people. For $25, anyone age 12+ can come as long as they follow the rules that Tanya sets out upon entering the nursery. For children between the ages of 3 and 12, there is a special Kids Baby Goat Experience with prices are $25 for one child and one adult and you must sign up online.
Kids ages 12 and older can come with their parents on feeding days and help out though. The kidding season runs from late January through February and they are expecting just over 80 babies, depending on how many mama goats give birth to multiples.
When you show up for your slot, you’ll go to the nursery where all the adorable baby goats are and receive instructions from Tanya or Scott. The group will be split in two and the first group will feed the goats while the second group helps clean out the pens (you didn’t think you were just going to show up for a selfie did you?). Then the groups switch jobs. And if time allows, they let the baby goats run around and play with you.
Tanya and her volunteers are happy to take photos of you feeding baby goats so you can share and make all your friends jealous. Don’t try to take selfies because you’ll probably drop the bottle or drop the baby goat – both bad scenarios. Enjoy the moment because it is truly so awesome and unique.
So how do you sign up to have the best day ever and feed baby goats? Possum Kingdom Kreamery posts the sign-up on their Facebook page, as well as on the Possum Kingdom Kreamery website. Since there is a lot of interest, reservations go fast. People come from all over the place to feed these baby goats. One couple drove eight hours one way from Tennessee last year to do it.
Tours [Currently on hold for 2023]
If you have a school group, homeschool group, scout troop, or even a group of senior citizens, Possum Kingdom Kreamery offers tours of the farm from March through October. It’s $5 per person with a minimum of ten people.
The farm is really neat. Tanya loves animals. Both she and Scott felt passionate enough about their food that they wanted to know where it comes from, so not only do they make their own cheeses from goat milk but they also raise chickens for eggs and have a couple of cows for meat.
They also have a llama on the farm whose name is Teddy. Teddy is a unique one. He stared me down like I was an ax murderer. I was intimidated.
They also have a few spider monkeys and a rescued deer. Note to the public: you can’t have a deer as a pet so don’t go rescuing every Bambi you see out there. There are special regulations that the farm follows.
Tours last about 90 minutes and end with a cheese, caramel, and goat milk tasting.
Awesome Goat Cheese and Other Goodies
I love goat cheese but this goat cheese from this farm – specifically the garlic and basil soft spread goat cheese – is out of this world. The creamy texture enhances the garlic and leaves you wishing for more.
They make everything on site so it’s very fresh. You can buy the cheese and other products on the farm when the store is open. The Swamp Rabbit Cafe & Grocery also carries their products, and these local stores carry Possum Kingdom Kreamery products. Over the summer, head to the Greenwood and Simpsonville farmers market to pick up the delectable goat cheese.
The farm also carries Grade A Raw Goat Milk, which is delicious. They have goat milk kefir, caramel sauce, both marinated and dry feta cheese, farm-fresh eggs, and soap.
Learn About Goats, Buy Goats
And if you just fall in love with a few baby goats, you can buy a couple as well. They are sold in pairs (goats are social animals and will literally fall over and die if they don’t have at least one other goat with them). Just contact the farm if you’d like to purchase the little guys.
Possum Kingdom Kreamery, since they pretty much do everything else, offers goat caretaking classes where they teach you how to properly care for the animals. They also teach you to make cheese, which is totally worth it. Keep an eye out for these classes on their Facebook page or Upcoming Events section on their website.
Ready to make your dreams come true and bottle feed and play with baby goats? Sign up online. Spots are going quickly! And if you miss it this year, you can always watch our video of our trip to the farm and then sign up for a tour!
Possum Kingdom Kreamery
520 Acker Road, Belton
864.423.4048
Possum Kingdom Kreamery Website
Possum Kingdom Kreamery Facebook