# Why do you have goats?



## dianneS (Nov 10, 2010)

People ask me all the time why do I have goats?  I think why NOT have goats!!!!

I don't milk my goats (yet) I don't breed or sell, and I don't have meat goats.  I just have a farm and lots of pasture and need some help with the mowing and weed eating (literally EATING of the weeds!)

I couldn't sit in this house and look at those pastures all empty and pay someone to mow them several times a year!  It would cost more for me to pay to mow my pastures than it costs to keep ten goats fed and cared for in a year.  So my goats are "landscaping goats".  

Most people don't understand how personable goats are and how much fun and entertaining they can be either.  I'm surprised at how many think that farm animals are just "dumb" animals with no personality or capacity for affection.  Anyway, most people think I'm nuts for keeping livestock that I'm not making money off of.

So, why do you keep goats?  Do you turn a profit off your goat operation or are they just pets or for fun?


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## warthog (Nov 10, 2010)

My goats help keep my bush down, which would otherwise cost me a lot of money to have chopped back several times a year.

They as you say are fun, lovely creatures.

But most importantly I LOVE THEM.


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## jodief100 (Nov 10, 2010)

We originally got them to keep our land classified farm for tax purposes. I had pigmy goats as a child and enjoyed them so we got goats.   

We are about breaking even on our goat operation and should be turning a profit next year if the prices stay where they are.  

I keep goats because I enjoy them and hubby tolerates it for the tax break.


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## ohne (Nov 10, 2010)

I have goats because I enjoy showing them. I started raising goats when I was in 4-H and have just stuck with it. It is an enjoyable hobby for me. I love showing, I love fitting, and I love setting up my matings for the year. Really there isn't much that I don't enjoy about my goats, aside from the smell of a buck. Easy solution to that one, I AI everything. For me there is nothing more enjoyable than going out to a barn and seeing a herd of does that show conformational improvement generation after generation. 

The farm I am currently helping run has several goats that are utilized in the commercial garden. They help clear out rows once they are harvested and graze the orchard so we don't have to mow. They are biological weed control.


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## freemotion (Nov 10, 2010)

ohne said:
			
		

> They help clear out rows once they are harvested and graze the orchard so we don't have to mow. They are biological weed control.


Graze the orchard?  What keeps them from pruning and girdling the trees?  Mine would skip the grass and eat the trees!


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## mabeane (Nov 10, 2010)

The milk.  The milk.  The milk!  I so missed have daily fresh milk when we went out of the large goat business a few years back that this past May I acquire a small herd of ND's.  Aw..I love the milk.


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## cmjust0 (Nov 10, 2010)

Because I'm apparently a masochist at heart.

ETA -- that's merriam-webster.com definition **2** for 'masochism', btw -- not definition **1**.


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## Emmetts Dairy (Nov 10, 2010)

Because goats rock!!!!  And I love them!!!!!!


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## elevan (Nov 10, 2010)

Cause I love my goaties!!!



They provide great weed control, are an endless source of amusement and just make life better to have them around!


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## chandasue (Nov 10, 2010)

Initially I got them for home milkers and hoped that the sales of the babies would pay for the feed, but upon finding out via experience that ND's are not always great milkers and the market around here is saturated with them, it's getting hard to sell the babies for enough to cover their costs, but they are fantastic pets. We just love having them for sheer entertainment and affection. I'm not giving up on the milk yet though. I'm getting a lamancha in the spring and changing my herd direction accordingly.


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## Ariel301 (Nov 10, 2010)

I always wanted a pet goat when I was younger. I tried to get one in college as a companion for my horse, but no boarding stable would ok that, so it never happened.

Then, my husband and I knew we would be moving out to the country, so he said, "hey, let's get some livestock, maybe sheep or something." Ok....I found a lady I was acquainted with who was selling goats. We bought some, thinking we'd raise them for meat, and I could milk them too. Well, turns out dairy goats aren't a great steak dinner ...but now we are hooked on them. Hopefully in the next year I'll be getting a Boer or two to fill in the meat end of things. 

So, we keep them for a food supply. We also use them to cart and pack. And they're just plain fun to have around too.


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## ohiofarmgirl (Nov 10, 2010)

free dairy baby! 

and i didnt have pasture for much-longed-for-cows... sigh.. one day there will be moo's..........


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## Roll farms (Nov 10, 2010)

I have goats because everything else poops too big.

F'real.  Big honking piles of steaming poo freaks me out.  Tiny little berries...not so much.

And...for milk...for laughs...for a SMALL profit...for a hobby...for their loving personalities....for a reason to run to the barn 56 times a night in the dead of winter....

Anyone who doesn't *get* goats....probably won't *get* me, either so...meh...who needs 'em.


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## ohiofarmgirl (Nov 10, 2010)

> I have goats because everything else poops too big.


ha! aint that right


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## Kenneth Flippen (Nov 10, 2010)

ohne said:
			
		

> Really there isn't much that I don't enjoy about my goats, aside from the smell of a buck. Easy solution to that one, I AI everything. For me there is nothing more enjoyable than going out to a barn and seeing a herd of does that show conformational improvement generation after generation.


whats the best way to learn AI? I had plans to do that this year but it fell through getting the semen had problems hauling it after three attempts we gave up. I have a local who is willing to help but said the success rate is low which I expect to be while learning. I only have a few does and think AI would be the best way to improve quality in my goats as I would have swap bucks out every couple of years to keep from inbreeding.

I just enjoy goats like the milk although my present herd is my first dairy goats and first registered. and having them around kidding season is always a plus 


                                  Kenneth Flippen


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## Mea (Nov 10, 2010)

I have goats becaus: i like 'em  . I enjoy interacting with them.  Watching them interact.  For the milk !  ( and yogurt, cream etc,)  For the cute babies !!   To help keep the weeds back a bit.   For extra milk to feed any bummer lambs.  And did i say cuz i like 'em ? !!


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## dianneS (Nov 11, 2010)

ohiofarmgirl said:
			
		

> > I have goats because everything else poops too big.
> 
> 
> ha! aint that right


Hey that is true.  That's one reason why I have ten goats and only two horses.  I tell everyone that the two horses produce all the poop I really want to deal with at this time.  A third horse would mean one extra trip to the manure pile each day and that manure pile is a _long _walk from the barn!  No thanks!


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## Melissa'sDreamFarm (Nov 11, 2010)

I have goats because I caught a bad disease, "goat-fever". It took one look at those goat baby pictures and goats on top of barns and I was hooked. Dang internet is to blame. The only thing that keeps me sane with goat-fever, ............... more goats.


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## dianneS (Nov 11, 2010)

Melissa'sDreamFarm said:
			
		

> I have goats because I caught a bad disease, "goat-fever". It took one look at those goat baby pictures and goats on top of barns and I was hooked. Dang internet is to blame. The only thing that keeps me sane with goat-fever, ............... more goats.


I have to admit that I have goat fever now, but I didn't actually want goats at first.  I made the mistake of telling my husband all of the crazy stories of the goat/goats that I had when I was a kid  .... how bad they were and all of the mischief that they got into.  This only intrigued my husband, making him want goats even more!!  

I had one goat when I was about six.  It was my trial run before getting a pony.  Well you know what happens to goats when they are kept alone... they escape.  This goat was a nightmare.  She broke _out of _every fence and pen and broke _into _the feed storage all the time!  She climbed on cars, tried to walk on the swimming pool cover, falling in and nearly drowning.  She and her kids would run across the patio and jump over our poolside guests on their chaise lounges!    We gave up trying to keep them contained.  These goats were some sort of magical Houdini goats who could break out of fences and pens, yet you could never determine how or where they got out!  

I told my husband "No goats!"    but he loved hearing about them and insisted on having goats.  I tracked down our first pair of does and got goats for my husband.  I was totally expecting the worst, fully prepared to tell my husband "I told you so!" when the goats became holy nightmares!  Actually, these two does were so well behaved, they would stay inside split rail horse fencing with no wire fence at all!

Since then, the herd has grown, we have a nice big pasture and secure goat fencing and I don't have any of the problems with these goats that I had with my childhood goats.  

No escapes, no breaking into the feed, no climbing on cars.  None of the horrible things that goats often are accused of.  I have perfectly well-mannered, model citizen goats... _this time around_!   I'm so glad I agreed with my husband on the goat issue, they are such a joy!


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## miron28 (Nov 11, 2010)

we started off with one goat so we could milk her. the reason we got one is cause my youngest daughter can not drink cows milk makes her body break out in hives. now we got the goaty fever and we now have 5.


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## ohne (Nov 11, 2010)

freemotion said:
			
		

> ohne said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


There are small fences around the trees so that they cant get a hold of the trees. At least the ones we don't want them in.


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## Jupiter (Nov 14, 2010)

Brush eating, milk, smaller size than a cow, and I thought....how adorable.  I saw a bunch of goats at a county fair, and thought...those Oberhasli's are my favorites. I lucked out when I did some research, met some more and discovered they really ARE my favorites!

They are family members that make me laugh and my human kids hang out in their barn reading them stories when it's raining


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## poorboys (Nov 15, 2010)

love em!! started with five, now we are up to 12 breeding does, and some kids, a couple of bucks, and some pygmys. All have names and are just so darn loveable. It has became a passion, who would of thought I'd be raising milking goats. we do it for the milk, cheese, and ice cream. hope to turn profit this year by selling all kids, looking at 24 kids being born come 2011, Just hope I can get them sold to good homes!!!!!!


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## Iwantgoats (Nov 15, 2010)

because I needed more animals NOT!
Seriously, because I love their zany personalities and cuteness. I find them much like dogs, except you keep them outside and they give you milk, I have yet to find a dog that does that


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## savingdogs (Nov 16, 2010)

Melissa'sDreamFarm said:
			
		

> I have goats because I caught a bad disease, "goat-fever". It took one look at those goat baby pictures and goats on top of barns and I was hooked. Dang internet is to blame. The only thing that keeps me sane with goat-fever, ............... more goats.


It must be highly contagious because I caught it too! I was at the county fair and made the mistake of wandering over to the goat barn....and I was history!


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## homesteadapps (Nov 26, 2010)

Goats Milk Ice Cream


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## rebelINny (Nov 26, 2010)

I have goats because I wanted the milk and cheese and soap and everything else you can do with the milk. I have had two children that couldn't handle my milk and thrived on goat milk! Since I have started raising them, I went from 2 does up to 26 total goats with 23 being does and 2 bucks and 1 wether pet. We now are trying to start a small scale dairy and trying to get licensed to sell off the farm to "city people" that come up to their second and third homes on the weekend and love our "healthy, fresh" produce and dairy items  and are willing to pay nicely to get it.  I LOVE my goats and their funny personalities and stinkerish ways of getting loose or finding the molasses balls in my pocket or untying my shoes . I also LOVE breeding season and deciding who is getting bred to whom and kidding season when all those beautiful kids are born and when the virtual shows are up on MDGA.com for my favorite little mini-Alpines  It's just soooooooooo much fun!


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## Calliopia (Nov 27, 2010)

Because I LURVE them!   

 I have had goats since about October 09.  Because of various circumstances nobody had been bred until now and they've been kind of a money pit. 

   Yes, yes I know.. goats are _never_ a money pit and they never ever get kicked in the head by a horse and have to be hand fed for days and have bone splinters pulled out of their cheek and get more antibiotics then all of John Hopkins combined and and... 

 We have some friends living with us while they get back on their feet and she had said, "I understand the chickens because those are eggs and meat, but what do you get out of the goats? It's been a year and they aren't doing anything, why do you still have them?"

 I couldn't really explain it to her.  It's just a goat thing. 


I had plans but nothing so far has come through.  I have all the dreams of milk and meat and soap and kid sales and manure and they were completing my  image of our back yard homestead that is still in the works. 

However, and my husband agrees, even if these old girls NEVER produced anything. I'm happy with them as lawn ornaments.  I don't think I'd go get any more than what I have but I am so totally in love with their personalities.   They're Nubians so I get to hear that classic mmmblaaah noise every time I go out the back door. I call to them and they answer and we have conversations over the fence.  Plus one of them will do Shake/paw like our dogs. 
They are just part of the family.  I could no more get rid of the goats for not producing than I could get rid of the old dogs for sleeping on the couch all day.


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