Nowhere near self sufficient

[tortoise]

Hi and welcome. Sounds like you're doing really well in your SS efforts! Goats are awesome - I highly endorse them and think everybody should have a few!

^^^^ this is why so many people on this forum have goats. Consider yourself warned.

 

[Mini Horses]

But......goats are really nice animals! . Some have quirks....

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Some have quirks....

Shhhhhh! Maybe it's the goat owners who have quirks, lol!!

 

[Esker Ridge]

Thank you all for the warm welcome! When my husband and I first bought this place, he was very straightforward "we will not have goats." And I completely agreed for years. They can be ..a handful. My grandparents used to have them & they had a habit of eating everyone's clothes, while they were wearing them...Though there was that time Grandma hung the clothes out and Billy escaped....

But I have a ridiculous poison ivy rash right this moment from putting up the chicken run before things fully leafed out, and I'm thinking a goat could sure help us out with things out here. So I will just have to keep working on the hubby on that one. He might cave. Hehe.

I look forward to getting to know you all more. Thanks again!

 

[Chic Rustler]

welcome from Texas! it sounds like youre doing alot more than you give yourself credit for. we arent anywhere near self sufficient either, but i think we grow/raise around 40% of our food and it REALLY helps these days with groceries being so high $$$.

goats are neat, but i choose rabbits and meat chickens. rabbits make lots of gold for the garden and the meat birds get moved through my orchard daily to fertilize there.

 

[tortoise]

Thank you all for the warm welcome! When my husband and I first bought this place, he was very straightforward "we will not have goats." And I completely agreed for years. They can be ..a handful. My grandparents used to have them & they had a habit of eating everyone's clothes, while they were wearing them...Though there was that time Grandma hung the clothes out and Billy escaped....

But I have a ridiculous poison ivy rash right this moment from putting up the chicken run before things fully leafed out, and I'm thinking a goat could sure help us out with things out here. So I will just have to keep working on the hubby on that one. He might cave. Hehe.

I look forward to getting to know you all more. Thanks again!

You could try sheep? They're much easier to fence in than goats and will eat your poison ivy. I used to adore goats obsessively (and I do have 2 old goat wethers), but sheep are just as sweet and much easier to live with. If you buy an orphaned or bottle-raised ewe or wether, they are usually very tame and easy to lead train. That might work best if you are thinking to tie-out a sheep in a specific spot to eat down weeds.

I use my sheep to clean up windfall apples and clear my lawn of dandelions. But watch out - they love hostas almost as much as dandelions, your landscaping is not safe with free-range sheep.

 

[Chic Rustler]

You could try sheep? They're much easier to fence in than goats and will eat your poison ivy. I used to adore goats obsessively (and I do have 2 old goat wethers), but sheep are just as sweet and much easier to live with. If you buy an orphaned or bottle-raised ewe or wether, they are usually very tame and easy to lead train. That might work best if you are thinking to tie-out a sheep in a specific spot to eat down weeds.

I use my sheep to clean up windfall apples and clear my lawn of dandelions. But watch out - they love hostas almost as much as dandelions, your landscaping is not safe with free-range sheep.

lamb is also delicious

 

[baymule]

I have Katahdin hair sheep and love them. Hair sheep browse like goats and also graze. They don’t challenge fences, stay where I put them and don’t stay awake all night plotting against me. LOL I’ve had sheep 8 years and have never assisted a birth. I had 2 bottle babies last year, first ones, both were triplets. I can’t say enough about my sheep!

 

[flowerbug]

Shhhhhh! Maybe it's the goat owners who have quirks, lol!!

if i ever meet a normal person i'm going to run away as fast as i can. in my whole life i've never met a normal person. have you?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

if i ever meet a normal person i'm going to run away as fast as i can. in my whole life i've never met a normal person. have you?

Wha'ts normal? Sounds boring to me, lol!