A very uneducated guess is that it is a general collective expression
especially since it doesn't mention sheep - - which I would think were more
important than goats. Calf and kid has an appealing sound. Besides which
there would not have been any calves or kids until the spring since any such
that were taken from the old place would by the following spring be
yearlings.
Anyway there are problems with this whole shebang. I question how these men
could put out this superhuman effort while recovering from terrible wounds
to their Achilles tendons.
Grace