A Foothills County family is rebuilding its goat operation with the help of the community after losing their six breeding bucks in a fire earlier this month.
“My mom (Holly) and I were woken up by firefighters at 2 a.m. on May 8,” said Danielle Bradish, who has lived on the farm her whole life. “We went out and this building was burned to the ground.
“Inside were six males that were consumed by the fire. And they were our breeding goats for the upcoming season in August.”
The family has started a GoFundMe page and as of May 26, $1,740, of its goal of $10,000 has been raised.
The funds raised are nice, however, Danielle said she would like to thank everybody who helped save the farm located west of Okotoks.
“Somebody on Highway 7 called the fire in and the firefighters responded promptly and by 2 a.m. everything was under control,” Danielle said. “I am amazed at how much we have been able to do (raise) and I want to thank the firefighters and the person who called it in.
“If they hadn’t called it in, I’m worried the fire might have spread to the rest of our farm... The response has been amazing.”
The Bradishes - Danielle’s dad David also lives at the farm - have just over 100 goats, consisting of nannies and their kids.
The farm operation is similar to cattle ranching.
“They are meat goats, so just like cattle you would sell them for meat,” Bradish said. “Because goat is one of the number-one consumed red meats in the world and with the diversity of people in Canada, goat meat is a vastly increasing market here in Canada.”
Some of the kids are sold as pets.
However, the Bradishs' operation has been stalled due to the fire.
“We are still trying to build our herd,” said Danielle, a Foothills Comp grad. “We had just gotten our bucks to kind of the best genetics that we could find at the time.
“Mom and I are devastated on the fact that some of those breeding bucks we raised since kids and genetic lines available to us.”
The Bradishs are heading out to Saskatchewan in the near future to buy two bucks with the money that has been raised so far through the GoFundMe page.
“With what we have (from the GoFundMe page) we are trying to split it with buying breeding stock and buying lumber to rebuild — I am sure you know lumber prices are extraordinarily high this year,” Bradish said. “Our goal is to raise enough money to buy the breeding stock for this season in August and be able to rebuild the shed to house the bucks.”
To donate to the GoFundMe page please click here.
