Our Herd

Meet the happy LaMancha goats behind our soap.

The Happy Goat Creamery Story

Jessica (my friend that I started the goat dairy with) started making soap about 14 years ago (2010 ish) for me. I have very sensitive skin and could not find any store-bought soap in any store that would not make me break out. I even tried health food stores and those little soap bars at Cracker Barrel. They all made me breakout.

During my search, I met a young lady at work (a customer at the retail store I worked at) who said she had just the thing…. “my grandma makes Lye soap, and it works for me. I’ll bring you a bar.” I was willing to try another bar but was hesitant to switch from Ivory because it was the best I'd found.

So I tried it, and it worked! No breaking out, and it was better than the Ivory. Only one problem….. the young lady did not leave any contact information for buying more soap….. once the bar was gone it was back to Ivory.

This is the part where I enlisted Jessica to keep an eye out for Lye soap. Keep in mind at this point she had never made soap. One day she was out riding her bike and saw a soap booth at the Farmer’s Market and decided to ask, the response was…”NO!! I don’t have Lye soap!!!! I wouldn’t carry that. It is bad for your skin. Glycerin is the answer to everything.”

So feeling thoroughly scolded she rode home and began pouring through the Internet trying to figure out what the heck all this crap is about….. she found out that Lye is simply a hardner (originally made by pouring water over ashes, over and over again) that when mixed with water or goat milk, it creates heat. Then once this milk and Lye mix is added to oils it begins to solidify the oils while you mix it. This is called trace.

This left her with “What the heck is glycerin?” so she dove deeper and found out that glycerin is a natural by product of making Lye soap. Each Lye soap bar naturally contains about 13% glycerin. The glycerin can be removed from the soap with some extra processing and be used for making glycerin soaps. (which by the way still have lye in them.) And yes, I have seen Fight Club and no, glycerin and nitro glycerin are very different! Apparently the process that glycerin must be put through to get the “nitro” added to it is not only extremely expensive but also quite complex. Sorry to burst your bubble but there really is no risk of explosion when making soap.

Once she found all that out, she began making soaps based off of what is said to be the easiest on sensitive skin and giving them to me to try. After about 4 attempts, she came up with an olive oil, coconut oil, and peppermint essential oil soap that I really liked and made that for me for a few years as needed.

However it had one flaw….. It was such a soft bar that it would turn to a clear slimey goo a few days after it got wet. Now a new mission….. Make a bar that does not turn to goo that also does not irritate my skin. Jessica found out that the problem was the quantity of olive oil combined with the coconut oil that has a low melting temp of only 75 degrees. Over time she found that palm oil was great for firming up the bar and with a little added soybean oil the bar was perfect. taadaa! No gooey soap.

Now I have a vegetable based bar that works for my skin and remains firm like it should. This is the recipe that all of our vegetable base soaps are based off of.

Contact Happy Goat Creamery By Mail

629 Maple Valley Dr.

PMB 13

Farmington, MO 63640

FAQs

Farm Tours?

By request with limited availability at this time, I'm still working on infrastructure since the big move.

Bulk Discounts

Pick up in person for best pricing, however, you must call ahead for availability and bulk pricing guide. 636-706-2372

Do you have goats?

Yes I have a small herd of Lamancha milk goats.

Do you sell goats?

Yes from time to time I have goats to sell. This usually happens in early spring when I sell doelings and bucklings so I can milk the moms to make soap.

Are your goats ADGA registered?

At this time my does are not, but I have a registered Lamancha Buck that I plan to use in 2026 breeding season.

How many types of soap do you have?

Almost 70 types with an ever expanding repertoire. Feel free to ask me to make you a custom batch, but I require up front payment for production of a ,special to you, batch.

How many bars do you have on hand?

This varies according to type, some types get made a bunch and others are just a few bars.

Most frequently asked questions are addressed on my youtube channel - A Happy Goat Creamery