HURRICANE —If hugging a baby goat sounds like your idea of a good time, this farm is for you.

From colorful chickens to dwarf goats, it’s all possible at Desert Bloom Farms, a boutique farm hidden in a Hurricane residential neighborhood. 

“We raise Nigerian dwarf goats,” Rachel Postma, owner of Desert Bloom Farms, said. “They come from really great milk lines, really great bloodlines, but most of all, the babies are kind of the cutest thing that has ever walked the face of the earth.”

The homestead currently has three adult goats and seven kids around 3 weeks old. The kids came from two different goats with four born one day and two another. Postma said the goat lines are ADGA registered and purebred. 

After posting photos of the kids online, Postma said she received an outpouring of messages asking if they could see the goats in person. When she realized she could also educate people during their visit, she decided to offer the option to the public for a small donation.

“It gives me the opportunity to educate people about this life that we’re living and how simple it is to add that level of self-sufficiency,” she said. “If you didn’t grow up with animals, it seems like this crazy thing that only a farmer can do, but it’s just not. Plus, people want to snuggle cute animals.”

With 10 goats, 12 quail, 15 chickens and a rooster named Lavender – who isn’t the friendliest of the bunch – each animal at Desert Bloom Farms has an individual name and personality. With more on the way, the farm plans to expand the number of animals soon.

“The average human can run like 8 miles an hour, and the average chicken can run like 9, and that’s why we all look like such idiots trying to run around and catch them,” Postma said, picking up a chicken.

What inspired the couple to start a boutique farm in the first place?

Both from southern Nevada, the couple each grew up on small farms. Postma said she’s always been involved in “growing plants and animals” in one capacity or another. Her parents had a farm in Logandale that sold produce to restaurants in Las Vegas, and her mom — a master gardener — has been helping put the Hurricane farm together. In less than a year, the couple’s backyard was turned into a garden and farm animal haven.

“We just really wanted to get back to the more small town, rural, self-sufficient life after me being in grad school for the last forever years,” Postma said about moving to Hurricane.

While Postma was raised around farm animals, her family goats were used as pets and not for milk. She said learning how to milk goats and ensure they produce quality milk has been an adventure.

With more goat milk than they knew what to do with, she learned how to make yogurt, cheese and soap. Soap made from goat milk is available for purchase, while raw milk products are currently unavailable until they can navigate the legal side of raw milk production.

“I have super sensitive skin and with the goat milk soaps, it’s really high in fat content, so it’s super moisturizing. It’s awesome,” she said.

Now that it’s warming up, Desert Bloom Farms is in the process of putting in its spring garden. They will have an additional garden in the fall. Postma said their goal is to scale up their production in order to participate in local farmers markets around May or June of this year.

Teaching people how to run their own operations safely and effectively without needing a full-time commitment is something she said she’s passionate about. She plans to tap more into the educational side in the near future.

“A lot more people are getting into gardening and chicken keeping especially with the egg prices what they are,” she said. “But the milk side of things is so much fun, too. That doesn’t feel as accessible for people, but it can be.”

To schedule a time to play with baby goats or purchase eggs, goat milk soap and more, message @desert.bloom.farms on Instagram. Products are available for pick up in Hurricane and can be delivered to the St. George area. 

Every spring, the farm plans to have new sets of baby goats available to visit or purchase.

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