Milk and Meet program brings people to MSU Tollgate Farm

NOVI — Hundreds of people came to MSU’s Tollgate Farm over the last month for an opportunity to feed the baby goats through the Milk and Meet program.

Thirteen bouncing baby goats were born on the farm this spring. The Milk and Meet program gives the community the opportunity to interact with them while feeding them a large bottle of milk.

“That’s fun to see,” said Kathryn Currier, who volunteers on the farm as a master gardener. “I mean, how often do you get to do something like that?”

During the early afternoon April 22, approximately 25 people were ushered into the barn to feed the lively bunch of kids. The baby goats eagerly chugged the 1-liter bottles of milk via a rubber nipple. The greedy little goats then proceeded to try to get one of their siblings’ bottles. The curious goats were jumping up and down from the bales of hay and tried to nibble on guests’ hair, clothes, etc., much like their human counterparts of the same age.

As guests feed the goats, their caregivers provide the guests with some basic knowledge about the goats at Tollgate Farm. The farm has one buck (male goat) and eight does (female goats). Six of the does were impregnated by the one male to produce the 13 kids.  As they feed the kids, guests are taught why bottle feeding is done, why the goats are disbudded (horns removed), the types of goats on the farm, and the differences between goat breeds, as well as overall care.

“Most of the time when people come here, it is just for the experience of getting around the animals, so we don’t get super complex in what we are teaching,” said Destiny Pearson, livestock coordinator/assistant farm manager at Tollgate.

Pearson founded the Milk and Meet program as a way to educate the public. She said she tried to do a Lamb and Me program, but sheep are not as friendly as goats.

“Goats just have a dog-like personality, where they want to be your friend,” she said. 

Greta Reimold, of Novi, said she heard of the opportunity to interact with the goats and thought it would be fun to take her daughter, Mathilda, 3.

“I know she’s curious about animals. She’s just cautious and a little scared, and I just wanted her to get a little bit more opened up to seeing animals in person to kind of quench her curiosity,” Greta Reimold said.

She saw the opportunity online on the farm’s website and thought it would be the perfect event.

“It was fun. It was intimate. I haven’t been around a baby goat in a long time, and I was just laughing the whole time,” she said. “And I think it was good for my daughter. It was something she’d never done before. She loved it.”

Currier said she thought her great niece would enjoy the goats and wanted to introduce her niece and great niece to one of her favorite places — Tollgate Farm.

“She calls me and says, ‘Do you think Elizabeth would like to go feed the baby goats?’ And I was like, ‘I think so. If she doesn’t, I certainly will,’” said Christy Smith, Currier’s niece. 

Smith said it was “a really cool experience.”

“How often do you get to feed a baby goat? The fact that they allow you to come out here and do that is amazing,” Smith said. 

“I wasn’t expecting them to drink so fast, though,” she said. 

Smith and Currier both said they were glad they purchased a bottle for each of them. The bottles cost $20 each, but two people feed a goat with one bottle. However, Currier said you might as well get your own to make the most of the 30-minute experience. 

“They’re hungry. Baby goats are hungry,” said Elizabeth Smith, 2, Currier’s great-niece.

“Baby goats are napping,” Elizabeth said after the event.

Pearson said that the majority of the kids will leave the farm. She said they will keep a couple of the does on-site as replacements for those that age out. The others will be sold to 4-H kids and some to private farms.  One of the kids has a mutation in his foot and, as a result, will go to a goat sanctuary in Pinkney.

“The Milk and Me has been a huge hit. I love it. I love to be able to get folks in the barn,” Pearson said.

She said that during the first year, between 500 and 600 people came to feed the goats. She is not sure of the program’s attendance in recent years. The 2026 program, which had its last session scheduled for May 9, had sold out, according to the MSU Tollgate Farm website, 

Pearson said her goal is to be able to get as many people through the barn as possible while being conscious of biosecurity and keeping the animals safe at the same time.

Currier said that once one sees the farm, one can’t help but fall in love with it.

“It is a hidden gem. For years, I lived down the road and drove past those beautiful white wooden fences and didn’t know what was going on,” she said. “I saw ‘Michigan State’ on the sign and assumed it was private property, until I had my (master gardener) class here. It’s the best thing. I hope everybody gets to share it sometime.”