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Barnyard Buddies:  Need help with goats.....  |
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Lavender Rose
True Blue Farmgirl
1979 Posts
Brenda
Jackson
MI
USA
1979 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 04 2014 : 4:52:39 PM
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My husband suggested we get a goat for milking. I have lots of questions since we have never had a goat before. First of all I started to read the Thread about everything dairy and decided it was to much information to sort through.
Here some questions I have.
Where would be a good place to start learning about raising goats? Is there a good book out there or a website that would be trustworthy.
Would it be best to have more than one goat? Would a couple of goats produce enough milk for a family of three adults? We drink milk everyday.
What kind of equipment would be necessary for raising and milking?
Which breed would be best?
I would appreciate any help that any of you would be willing to give me.
Farm Girl Hugs,
Brenda
Each day we add to our legacy-good or bad. Our Daily Bread |
Edited by - Lavender Rose on Mar 04 2014 4:54:13 PM |
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magnoliakathy
True Blue Farmgirl
453 Posts
Kathryn
Magnolia
Texas
USA
453 Posts |
Posted - Mar 05 2014 : 06:57:07 AM
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1.Storey’s Guide to Raising Dairy Goats and Raising Goats for Dummies are a good start. I read everything my local library had and then several online articles.
2.Two, goats are herd animals and need another one of their own kind to be happy and healthy
3.Remember you have to breed a doe to have milk, keep or sell the kids she delivers.
4.How much milk do you drink in a day? ˝ gallon, 2 gallons. Look at the information on the dairy breeds online and see which breed will produce what you need. Remember extra milk can be easily made into yogurt and cheese.
5.Shelter is necessary, goats don’t like being out in the rain if they can get inside, fences need to be sturdy, and mine like to rub the fences to scratch their sides, so we use tock panels instead of welded wire, milking stand, feed storage (metal trash cans), hay storage, water buckets, hoof trimmers just to mention some of the equipment.
6.I use http://goatdairylibrary.org/ and goatwisdom.proboard.com for a lot of information I need and use.
7.I chose Nigerian Dwarf goats because they are under 100 pounds each, friendly, and produce about 1 quart each a day (two adults in this household) and I usually have two does milking at a time. Also, Nigerian will breed all year, so you can stagger production.
Good luck
When you free your mind your heart can fly. Farmgirl # 714, |
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Lavender Rose
True Blue Farmgirl
1979 Posts
Brenda
Jackson
MI
USA
1979 Posts |
Posted - Mar 05 2014 : 7:37:13 PM
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Hello Kathryn,
Thank You for all the great information you posted. It is very helpful. Will go to the library and check out what they have. We want to be sure we really want to do this before we get any started.
Thanks again,
Brenda
Each day we add to our legacy-good or bad. Our Daily Bread |
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magnoliakathy
True Blue Farmgirl
453 Posts
Kathryn
Magnolia
Texas
USA
453 Posts |
Posted - Mar 06 2014 : 06:23:26 AM
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We brought our first doe and her twins home on May 5th 2008. The average time a family does dairy goats is 3 years, by that time all of the work has fallen to one family member who gets burned out and quits. Daily chores here are feed twice a day, clean out shelter bi-weekly, trim hooves as needed. When milking the chores go, feed everyone else (non-milking girls and the boys), then milk, first thing in the morning, take milk in the house, strain it, pour in glass jars (quart canning jars here) refrigerate it immediately in a bowl of ice, go back in the afternoon, remove "today's" jar from ice and rotate the jars in the fridge, to be sure and use the oldest jar first, (I put a piece of freezer tape on the lid and write the date on it. I keep one kid (sell the spares) on my milkers until they naturally wean. I milk in the mornings only, pen the kids away from the moms at night and let the kids take care of mom during the day. After the kids wean, I still milk in the mornings only, my girls are used to this and we haven't had any problems. At first I did milk twice a day but changed to once a day. Some days I could get rid of all of the goats but that passes and I am down there taking care of them and glad I kept every one. Especially since Sunday (3/2/14) twins (1 of each) and a buckling were born that day. The weather was cloudy and gloomy but after seeing the new kids, everything became all right in our little corner of the world. I called my hubby, on my cell, and when he saw my name he was worried we had a predator in the hen house again, but when I said" kids" he came right down and we picked them all up and checked under the tails and laughed. Usually, we pray for doelings, but this year we wanted a registered buck and had been pricing them on the internet ($200-500). Whichever boy we keep will be Salvador, he saved us some money
When you free your mind your heart can fly. Farmgirl # 714, |
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Lavender Rose
True Blue Farmgirl
1979 Posts
Brenda
Jackson
MI
USA
1979 Posts |
Posted - Mar 12 2014 : 6:51:20 PM
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I'm thinking at the ages of 61 and 66 my husband and I really don't want the responsibility of goats. Guess, I will just buy goat's milk and cheese once in awhile. It was my husbands idea. He had heard me talking to our daughter about goat's milk and thought maybe we could have goats of our own. I'm thinking with a garden and canning, yard work, flower beds, dog, etc. we really don't need more work. I fix almost all our food from scratch. We try our best to stay away from processed foods. It makes for more work in the kitchen, but we feel so much better. We do want to have chickens again though. Hopefully, this summer that will work out for us.
Kathy Thank You so much for all the information you posted for me. It has been very helpful. Congratulations on the new additions to the family of goats. Salvador, what a great name. I do like living in the country.
Farm Girl Hugs, Brenda
Each day we add to our legacy-good or bad. Our Daily Bread |
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Dapple Grey Lady
True Blue Farmgirl
725 Posts
Betty
Goodrich
Texas
USA
725 Posts |
Posted - Mar 12 2014 : 7:20:58 PM
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@ Brenda ~ We have been in dairy goats full time now for two years. When our kids were young we had two as pets. Never bred them or milked them. Yes, it is a lot of work, BUT we enjoy them. Plus the health benefits of having fresh milk. Kathy gave you good information. I make yogurt and soft cheeses. We also started out with just two and now have 21. Not all are milkers. I fix a lot of our meals from scratch also and try to stay away from processed foods. It has helped our health too.
@ Kathy ~ We lived in the Tomball/Magnolia area for years till we moved here, so know just where you are located. Hubby grew up in Tomball. We have lived in Goodrich (blink your eye town, near Livingston) for almost 18 years now. You said it all on the care and maintaining a herd. We are getting ready to dry up the last four before our kiddings begin, then we will have 15 in milk.
We have a lot of family nearby, (seven grandkids, soon to be eight!)so the milk is used. What is not used by us or the kids being milkfed, gets fed to the pigs and chickens. I also make soft cheese, yogurt and goat milk soaps.
~ Betty ~
Farmgirl Sister # 5589 |
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SandraM
True Blue Farmgirl
295 Posts
Sandra
Coldwater
Michigan
USA
295 Posts |
Posted - Mar 16 2014 : 7:30:16 PM
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We have Oberhasli and Toggenburg goats.
My daughters like to show goats for fair.
We are lazy milkers. I keep the babies with mom.
When the babies are 2-3 weeks old, I remove them from their moms at night and milk the does in the morning. I put the babies back with mom and they are with her during the day. When we are not home, babies stay with mom the whole time.
That is the only way I can keep goats. I could not commit to milking twice a day.
I like the fresh goats milk, we make a lot of yogurt and soft cheese.
Sandra
www.mittenstatesheepandwool.com |
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Lavender Rose
True Blue Farmgirl
1979 Posts
Brenda
Jackson
MI
USA
1979 Posts |
Posted - Mar 17 2014 : 7:53:05 PM
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You are all giving something to think about. Guess it boils down to how committed we want to be.
Goat's milk is good and I do make yogurt. Staying away from processed foods and eating organic foods and non-GMO food has made us feel better. I cook from scratch and can most of our food. Have for years.
We would have to buy all the food for the goats. We would need to check into the cost to see if it would be wise for us and also find all the necessary equipment needed.
Thank You all for the information.
Farm Girl Hugs,
Brenda
Each day we add to our legacy-good or bad. Our Daily Bread |
Edited by - Lavender Rose on Mar 17 2014 7:54:36 PM |
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Lavender Rose
True Blue Farmgirl
1979 Posts
Brenda
Jackson
MI
USA
1979 Posts |
Posted - Mar 17 2014 : 7:55:48 PM
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Sandra you live quite close to me. Maybe sometime we could get together and talk goats. Will email you. Signed up for your blog.
Brenda
Each day we add to our legacy-good or bad. Our Daily Bread |
Edited by - Lavender Rose on Mar 17 2014 8:06:45 PM |
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FARMALLChick
True Blue Farmgirl
978 Posts
Lora
Alexandria
IN
USA
978 Posts |
Posted - Apr 01 2014 : 11:41:55 AM
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Recently bought 2 goats. 1 - 10 mo old doeling and 1 4 day old buckling. Lizzie is in the barn in a horse stall and she is kinda sick. Maka is in the house - kept in a dog crate when he's not playing or outside. He had a cough but the vet gave him a shot and I wormed him - he's fine now. Lizzie is still coughing and snotty. I keep them separated and we change clothes after handling her before we handle him. Any advice on what might be wrong with her?
"Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway" -John Wayne
www.farmallchick.blogspot.com www.farmallchickphotos.blogspot.com |
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Barnyard Buddies: Need help with goats..... |
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Need help with goats.....
