GOATS

HEY larry@stinescorner;
My wife and I or may I say my wife IS wanting to start buying goats,
for our selves: for milk-meat-butter and cheese
A lot folks say buy nubeions and cross them with a meat type billy goat, and do I have to feed the goats, goat feed or can I feed them crack corn and oats.HEEEEEEELLLLP ME,
I guess when we get married The words I DO
goes for every thing
MANY THANKS MY GOOD FRIEND andHAVE A GREAT DAY
JR FRYE

I have been around goats and have had them in some way or the other since I was just out of diapers. My grand father had them my parents had them and I have them. Nubian's or Alpines mixed with Kecos work well. Or for that matter the wife has found the Kecos do a fair job of producing milk. We have 2 Keco nannies and a Nubian buck and the nannies are very fat with kids. We feed them the same feed we have for our horses. So any good horse feed mix worked well for them

I have had a large herd of Dairy Goats had a Grade A Dairy and cheses that were winners in National competition. Milked nothing but Purebred Toggenburg Dairy Goats They are small and great producers.They need plenty of good quality Alfalfa hay. Goats are just small dairy cows so that is how you feed them. The flavor and taste of the milk is determined by what you feed them. Junk in junk out.Let them eat weed and really complain about how the milk tastes. Do not let the buck run loose he will make everything smell and taste including the milk. If you want milk & cheese why breed tp a do called meat buck? You can butcher a dairy goat but have a hard time getting milk out of meat goat except the Nubian which has ben bred as a dual purpose goat for years, Got everybody mad?
gitrib

Here are the 3 goats we have. That black one if the billy and the other 2 are nannies both are Kecos

I grew up with goats, and have shipped milk to the local cheesemaker. Only thing I would add is my tip to keep the milk from tasting "goaty": COOL IT QUICKLY. Instead of putting it in a jar in the refrigerator, we cooled it in pint jars in the freezer. Put them in right after milking, set the timer for 45 minutes, and they'll be cold/ slushy. Transfer to quart jars in the refrigerator, and you can't tell it from cows milk.

Here is a picture of a amall part of my herd on Alfalfa. These are all does The Buck is kept in a Nitrogen Tank in the barn.


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gotta watch them on feed, they are easy to founder on corn

I live next to a place that has dairy goats, dirtiest most disgusting place I've seen. Your place looks nice and clean, wish I lived next to you.

Ya the wife does not keep the back in a different pen and she says the milk taste just fine. Due to problems with my stomach I do not drink any milk that is not pasteurized and she does not do that to the goats milk so I can not drink it. She has even had people test her goat milk and also store milk and few can tell which is which

My wife has the da-- things. The ARE THE DIRTIEST MOST FILTHY Animal god put on this earth. They will eat almost anything, sure to destroy any trees, shrubs or garden plants you set out. If you are totally sure you want to loose a lot of money quickly, buy some of the damm things.

What do you do with meat goats after you raise them? Is there any kind of market?

The kids are raising bottle calves for 4H but the wife wants them to try goats too. I really don't care as long as I can sell them after they are grown.

Hey Old do you know why youu can drink goats milk. it is because the milk modual are softer and easier to digest Had a lady raise a baby on goats milk. We would freese new plastic quart bottles in the Deep Freeze and she would get enough to last a couple of weeks. irl has groen up and id Dtate Dairy Queen and highschool football Queen I call her my Goat girl.Here is a picture of her and older sister showing one of our Guersey's at Madison.
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We do try to keep our place clean.

Not that you asked, but my advice if you're going to get goats:

before you buy your first goat - install a GOOD fence system.

Don't cheap out and use thin gauge weldwire with skinny little posts 12' apart. They'll rub on it for months till it finally rips apart.

Cows will break out of an enclosure just out of dumb luck sometimes - goats on the other hand, they have magical powers, and an amazing amount of determination.

And once out they have a nack for finding what they're NOT supposed to eat. They will eat all your vegetables down to the roots in a matter of minutes, girdle your fruit trees the next minute, and destroy anything you have in the way of landscaping before you even know they've escaped.

I'm sure there's a difference between different types of goats. I have a small flock of nigerian dwarfs with a few pygmies. Mainly just pets/4h projects for the kids. Before I upgraded my fencing, I wasted sooooo many hours mending and patching fence.

It costs more up front to do it right the first time, but it's cheaper in the long run.

We have had dairy goats for the past 15 years. Hay (alfalfa/grass mix), corn/oat grain mix once a day, and a mineral block and they"ll be happy. Just make sure you have a well-built enclosure, and a good hay feeder (they'll waste a lot of hay otherwise, and don't like to eat it off the ground). In my view, they are the smartest farm animals around. You can see the wheels turning full speed when you look into their eyes, unlike sheep that just give a blank stare (sorry to any sheep folks out there). If there is a way for a goat to sneak out of their pen, they"ll find it. Had one old nanny that figured out how to use her horns to open gate latches.

Ah but you missed it I said I CAN NOT drink the goats milk but not because of what it is but because of the fact my wife does not pasteurize it and with the problems I have I do not dare drink it because it is raw

why don't you boil some for yourself.? Then you can have the cream with bread and jam.Yum

We have been raising dairy goats for quite some time now. I think they are great animals to have around. At our peak we had 200 head on a dairy milking twice a day in a 12 up parlor. Milking was the best part of the day. Just me and the girls trying to scratch out a living, but I enjoy milking. Some people don't.
They are a little too smart for their own good though and good fences are a must or you will make your self crazy trying to keep them in. They quickly figure out weak spots and gate latches.
Good quality alfalfa and a 12% to 16% grain mix is all they need along with a good loose mineral.
Be careful with too much corn. They can founder just like a horse and be crippled for life. My grain mix has rolled corn in it. They don't digest whole corn well so it is a waste and hard on teeth. As for the bucks and weathers, don't feed grass hay and grain. It increases chances of urinary stones and can end their life quickly due to the calcium to phosphorus ratios being out of balance. If you are going to feed grass to the boys feed no grain. If you feed alfalfa a little grain for them is okay. If you are milking the girls feed good alfalfa and grain and they will make great milk.
All breedings were planned via live cover or AI. We would hand breed or AI all the doe's each fall and would run a cover buck in with them after that just to be sure. The milk never changed flavors just because there was a cover buck in the pen. We would milk the girls up to six weeks before kidding and then dry them off and give them a rest. Some refused to dry off and would milk straight through.
The dairy is gone now, but we still have a small herd at home (30 head) and enjoy the milk, cheese, ice cream, and meat. Can't imagine life without them. Just a sucker I guess.

Greg

We raise registered Sannan dairy goats. We keep 8-12 dairy goats through out the year We make all our butter cheese and ice cream also supply all our milk. We raise bottle calfs with exess all the whey from cheese making goes to the pigs. I actually really enjoy them. We are currently expanding into Boer goats (the number one meat breed)

1. No you can not feed cracked corn and oats it does not have the necessary protien and nutrients. also goats do not digest corn well. Purina makes a great dairy mix but you can have your local mill mix some for you, check out this site for specific mix requirements for dairy goats. and they need alfalfa hay or alfalfa pellets and access to grass hay

www.dairygoatinfo.com/

2. Yes there is a HUGE market for goats especially with hispanic and middle eastern populations. The US has not met the demand for goat meat in years the USDA predictions are that the market will continue to increase for forseeable future. Also 70% of other countries goat meat is more common than beef. And it tastes wonderfull.

3. goats are hard on fences for our dry lots we use cattle panels with wood post every 8ft and 2 6.5ft T-posts inbetween our main pastures are normal red brand field fence 47in tall with 1 strand electric near the top and one 18inches off the ground

good luck

Well since I almost never drink milk any more there is no reason to do so. As I get older it seems me and milk do not get along well any more so I might drink a glass a week and that is a sip or to here and there

We just got 3 does, after not having any since we bought the present farm. So no goat facilities, but an extra horse stall after getting rid of a lot of horses.

Coupla things: I built a little hay feeder for grass hay- measured their little noses, made slats just far enough apart, etc.- and they just pull the hay out for sport and lay on it. So have a better solution now- the aisle fence was a livestock (corral) panel, which won't hold a goat, so we put hog wire on the inside. Then put a bale of hay up against the panel, in the aisle, and they eat it through the hog wire. Very little waste.

Also, the key to fencing is an electric wire at "butt" height (with stand-off insulators), and another on the top. They HATE juice- couple of jolts, and they will treat your fence with complete respect.