The Rural Voice, 1980-03, Page 17Specializing in goats
Orville Rodges has converted the local church into a barn
-- where the congregation used to sit
are now the stalls for his Nubian goats
BY ADRIAN VOS
"I was 17 years old when I bought my first goat," Orville
Rodges, 71, said, "It was in 1925 and I traded my gold watch for
her."
Mr. Rodges lives with his wife in a converted schoolhouse on
highway #8, just seven km west of Holmesville.
In front of the house stands the former "Zion Community
Church," and, just as the schoolhouse's days as shelter for the
children of the community are over, so are the wallsthat once
echoed the hymns of the worshippers now put to a different use.
Where the minister's pulpit once was is now a storage area for
feed, and where the congregations used to sit are now the stalls
for the Nubian goats of Orville Rodges.
They are prize goats, these Nubians. This year alone they took
first prize at the Clinton Fair on June 1st, and on July 21st they
repeated this at the Listowel Fair.
"They are champion milkers," says Rodges proudly.
In addition to the milking goats, the kids also won honors, and
Rodges has the "Rosettes" to show it.
His herd consists of 30 purebred Nubians, the dark goats with
the hanging ears.
He has an additional 13 grade goats, for he does some dealing
and trading.
It was 13 years ago that he bought his first pure Nubians, and
since has imported new blood from time to time, from outside his
herd and from the United States.
It is not too surprising that there is much demand for his
stock, his fame reaching as far as Jamaica, where he sold seven
breeding goats last year with prices ranging from S250 to $350.
Rodges says that goat prices in Ontario range between $200
and $400 for purebreds, depending on the quality. His highest
price was S400.
"That Jamaican buyer must have had a bit of money," Rodges
chuckles, "for he had to pay an additional $1.25 a pound for
airfreight. You figure out what that costs extra for a 200 pound
goat."
"Don't think that keeping goats is cheap," he warns. "The
cost of feeding one animal is between $15 and $20, and that adds
up.
Orville didn't make his living from goat farming all his life.
Until 1943 he did mixed farming. After that he took a course to
become a missionary for the "Full Gospel Conference of the
World," travelling and preaching in Canada.
Today he shows his goats at fairs in the area, going no further
than Listowel or Palmerston, but his travels don't end there. He
is valued as a judge, for the important Fall Fair at Aberfoyle,
near Guelph, invited him back to judge again after a satisfactory
performance in 1978.
He is now seriously thinking of reducing the herd, for at 71 he
feels that is becoming just a bit too much. He gives his wife full
credit for doing most of the chores in the church -barn.
"Diseases? No. If the animals are properly fed, there is little
to worry about. We worm them three or four times a year with
tramisol. We give the occasional penicillin shot. But nothing
worri some."
He regrets that there is no dairy around that will process goats
milk, like the goat dairy in Ilderton where they make ice cream
from it.
Mr. Rodges is a successful man who gets along well with his
neighbours and who is happy with what he's got.
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THE RURAL VOICE/MARCH 1010 PG. 15