[farmershort]

So, this is what I've been up to for the last couple of months... public statement copy & pasted below... I thought would be a great idea to join the Old English Goat Society up with the Lynton & Lynmouth town council... as is always the way with these things, both parties then took a small step back and suggested I run the project! 

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 2017 Lynton Goat rehoming project
I wanted to write a small public statement about a project I have been working on – to rehome some of the wild Lynton goats. I am member of the Old English Goat Society (OEGS) as well as the Devon Association of Small Holders (DASH). To cut a very long story short (ish), the “Old English” goat is a pre-war goat which is believed to have been a common sight in the UK on smallholdings around the country. A Nannie can provide around 2 pints of milk per day, and can go on milking for much longer than most modern breeds between kiddings. This vision of a somewhat ideal cottagers/smallholders goat, combined with a vast number of smallholders within the southwest, seemed to lend itself to a plan. Certainly not all of the goats in the valley of the rocks could be called “Old English”, as there have been other breeds involved, but I believe that a good number of them conform to the breed specification laid down by the OEGS.
The Original pre-war Old English goat was thought to have derived mainly from the wild herds of Celtic goats around the country. Additions were made along the way by Vikings, Romans, and no doubt a few Royal or European introductions. This means that the OEG is not a pure british feral goat, but one that is very close to it. It could be said that the OEG is the first practical domesticated evolution of the feral goat.
The OEGS is a very small society, with only a few breeders, and small numbers of animals. If this breed is to survive, we need to increase the population in line with the breed specification, and also increase the geographic spread. In conjunction with this I understand that Natural England (NE) have advised a 50-goat limit, in order to maintain a healthy conservation grazing status.
In line with the above I put together a proposal for the Lynton & Lynmouth Council. This proposal consisted of a plan to rehome a “helpful” number of goats from the valley, with mainly local homes. The exceptions being some members of the OEGS, who tend to be based further north. I received very positive responses from the OEGS, DASH, and the Council. The result of this is that we have now agreed with the council that local & OEGS rehoming provides a high-welfare option to reduce goat numbers in the valley, and that the council would like to try to reach the target NE number by the end of the year. With this in mind, we have 2 opportunities for rehoming the goats this year. The first opportunity is at the round-up on 20^th April, with the second being the round-up towards the end of the year. For this first round-up, I will be running the rehome project, and will be a single point of contact for that interest. For future rehomes & projects, I have happily secured the help of DASH, who will be setting up an account for goatrehome@devonsmallholders.co.uk . Using this email address, DASH will be able to act as a single point of contact for future projects.
It is hoped that a good April round-up will results in a few positive outcomes; 1) A number of OEGS registerable goats being found, suitable for rehome and to add to the OEGS herd book 2) A number of healthy non-OEGS registerable goats being found for grazing projects locally 3) A reduction in the numbers of goats in the valley, in an attempt to help the council to meet the 50 animal limit advised by Natural England.
Finally, it is my hope that the wealth of goat knowledge within DASH, OEGS, and Lynton/NE will be pooled to ensure a continued and sustainable wild goat population in Lynton. I do not imagine that this is a 1-time, 1-way rehoming.
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