Dairy Goats?

[Wolf-Kim]

I was curious, because I'm dying for a dairy animal and a cow is a bit much to swing lately, especially since my pasture needs some recooping...

I would prefer to get one goat and pasture it with my horses for companionship. Maybe if it bonded to the horses, it would be less likely to wander off?

I know most people say to get two, so they keep eachother company, but with two goats I think they would take any opportunity to run off together. Also, two goats eat more than one and I need to keep my feed bill down as much as possible.

Would a goat be satisfied with a couple of gelding horses as companions? Would it be less likely to test the fence for escape and run off?

 

[lupinfarm]

Come on, how can you call goats a pain the arse!

Dace, Dace, Dace... You have no idea how addictive goats can become. THEY WILL RULE YOUR LIFE.

I think there is a good chance my goats are more addictive than my chickens!

Look at their faces and tell me they're a pain! Do it! Doooooooo it!

Yeah, I thought so... too cute right? Cissy (the big fat one) and Mione are Pygmy's and they love to sneak out the gate while my arms are filled with feed pans/buckets/water/whatever but they come back with no trouble at the shake of a feed pan On their second day here I came home to an open pen gate and 2 missing goats. Turns out they reeeeaallyyy wanted to hang out with the horses and we caught them trying to break into the horse pasture hehe but again, they were easy to catch with some feed and chased me back up the hill to the pen for some yummies. I think my chickens are more of a pain re: escape than my goats

And the nicest thing? My goats are actually relatively cheap to feed. My hay is inexpensive and we currently have about 25 small square bales of alfalfa hay left. My feed is cheap and they currently share 2 cups of goat grain in the evenings. My mineral lasts forever because they don't eat as much as my horses do their mineral blocks (goats are on loose mineral). Plus they're a ton of fun.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Look at their faces and tell me they're a pain! Do it! Doooooooo it!

http://i892.photobucket.com/albums/ac122/lupinfarm/Misc Farm Photos/IMG_0213.jpg

They look like trouble to me!! That's why they are in maximum security prison! Just look at those cute and innocent faces! They say to me "open the gate, I dare you"


They are terribly cute trouble makers.

 

[savingdogs]

 

[enjoy the ride]

Goats are so addictive as lupin said. They are funny and personable. I can't even see them without laughing at something and nothing in the world is as cute as a kid. And they are incredibly productive.
But if you have a dairy goat, you will have kids. That's the way it works. And at least half will be buckings- what will you do with them? If you can eat them, you're OK. But if you can't do that, don't kid yourself (pun) that they will all find loving homes as pets. I see too many goats tethered out in the rain all by themselves. And don't get me started about roping practice. Not happy lives at all.
Just something to think on before you head down that road.

 

[The Vail Benton's]

Just thought I'd weigh myself in here!
I love, love, love my goats. I have 2 - Annie & Emmie. Annie is a 3 year old retired Alpine who I bought/rescued with a horrible case of mastitis which is why she is now retired although technically, I think she should be in her prime. Emmie is her daughter, is about a year old now and (hopefully) bred for the first time & due in June (I should have planned better because of what the weather will be like in June).
My goats aren't a pain in the keister at all. Okay, well maybe Emmie but lack of manners is a man made problem, or in this case, a teenager (previous owner) made problem. I keep mine behind chainlink but before we were allowed to bring Emmie home, we just had Annie and she lived in our infamous pig pen - the one our pig jumps out of. She was just too sick to want to leave. My girls don't eat alot at all. I don't have to supplement with grain yet, but I will when Emmie starts milking.
The terrain in my goat yard is such that they wera down their hoofs naturally and I don't have to trim them. They have a shed for a shelter with a shingled roof so they stay warm & dry during the 3 days it rains and is cold here in the winter, then during monsoons IF the storms don't hug the mountains and go around us.
The biggest management problem we have is that we don't have an appropriate feeder and although we don't feed much alfalfa, it seems like some of what we do feed is wasted.
We recently went to our local butcher shop and purchesed a goat shoulder roast, discovering that we really like chevon so we no longer dread kidding time and discovering that we have boys. They will honor us with meat and we will honor them with a good life while they are here.
So, I say GO FOR IT!!!

 

[enjoy the ride]

I love goat meat- I just made a batch of goat sloppy joes and have some chops marinating. Yum yum. But not everyone likes goat meat.

 

[The Vail Benton's]

I love goat meat- I just made a batch of goat sloppy joes and have some chops marinating. Yum yum. But not everyone likes goat meat.

ETR you're making me hungry!

 

[ksalvagno]

Goats really do need another goat buddy. If you are concerned about a feed bill, then go for Nigerians. My Boer doe eats as much as my 6 Nigerian Dwarfs all together. If you look for good milking lines, you can get about a quart a day from a Nigerian. But like someone else said, you do have to breed them once a year and have kids. So you will have to do something with the kids.

 

[Blackbird]

If you get a milking breed that produces a lot of milk and you can find a buyer, you'd be made! I would be rolling in the money if I ever found buyers; $10.00-$16.00 a gallon for goat milk in our area.