A group of young goats with distinctive black-and-white, white, brown-and-white, and mixed black-brown coat markings stand on a grassy dirt path near a white wooden fence and barn in an overcast summer farm setting. 5:06

Baby goats race to yoga class on a Maine farm

Twice a week, the goats at Sunflower Farm in Cumberland, Maine know exactly where they're going. They get there at full speed. more

Hope and Chris run the farm, a dairy with a busy herd of Nigerian Dwarf and Alpine goats and plenty of kids underfoot. Goat Yoga is their kind way of handling a hard part of dairy life. Goats who have grown old, can no longer have babies or don't make enough milk still get a happy life here, along with a steady stream of visitors.

Several goats stand on a wooden deck beside a lawn, with houses behind them, in bright sunlight. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Part of the Sunflower Farm herd, out on a deck in the sun.

Class is Thursday evening and Saturday morning, and the goats look forward to it. When they head out, nobody walks. The kids bounce in every direction at once, and the mamas keep up at a waddle. These goats seem to have only one speed.

A group of young goats with distinctive black-and-white, white, brown-and-white, and mixed black-brown coat markings stand on a grassy dirt path near a white wooden fence and barn in an overcast summer farm setting. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Twice a week, the goats at Sunflower Farm in Cumberland, Maine know exactly where they're going.

Out on the grass, the yoga crowd is waiting. Some people sit and stretch, and some bend down to say hello. The goats love company, and the visitors smile and hug whichever little goat comes close. For the people who come, it works as a kind of therapy, and the goats get all the attention they could want.

People and goats gather on a grassy field near trees. Some people sit while others bend over to touch the goats. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
On the field, visitors sit with the goats and lean down to greet them.

Afterward the mamas and kids head back to the barn for breakfast. Junie B, one of the Nigerian Dwarf mothers, has a habit. She waits for her kids in the same spot every time, the place where she feeds them.

The rest of the day is for roaming the farm, and in the evening the mamas feed the kids and let them play. The kids play the only way they know, flat out. Then all that running catches up with them. The little ones gather together and fall asleep, and for once nobody on Sunflower Farm is in a hurry.