Carla D-Great new adventures and an Amazing Life

[Southern by choice]

Maybe my comment in the other post better brings better understanding. We rather put a wether/buck in the freezer than go through the "what is going to happen".
Standard bucks are rarely pets. That is just a fact.
Standard bucks in tact are used for breeding, most are selective of a buck they choose.
People need to eat, food is good.
A friend of mine doesn't feel she is skilled enough to determine whether a buck born is "good enough" to be intact and bred. All her bucks are castrated at 8 weeks, they are given great care, fed well and at 80 lbs they are processed. That valuable meat feeds her family for months.
Although we all look at our goats as pets, they are still livestock.

I think it is wise for you to reduce. As the area you have will not be sufficient at 1,200 -1,300 SF that works out to about 35 x 35. This will not be enough for 2 male goats of 250# size to utilize the area for food, so although they can live in it all their nutrition will come from hay, grain... mostly hay because too much grain can cause Urinary Calculi ( I gave you a link in another thread).
You will need to monitor for parasites.

So far I think you are learning and doing well, many things you didn't know but you do now. You have time to make decisions, to rehome some etc. Keeping 2 and learning from them I think is a great idea. You have put a lot of love and time and energy into them.

Why can’t I write simple short replies or posts? I’m starting to think that may be my method of working through issues or questions. Why can’t I just write this stuff in a journal?

I also think "outloud" and it is a working through process. Nothing wrong with that other than you may get too many responses and think... oh goodness, I wish I hadn't said anything.

 

[Carla D]

Being honest with yourself is not always the same as being hard on yourself. Recognizing that there is an "issue" is the first step to correcting it. Sorry that your significant other is upset right now. From the little you've shared, he's dealing with some personal issues as well and everything that's been happening might have overwhelmed him a bit too. Slowing things down a bit to think things through, and getting the present stuff all under control and back to a stable place should go a long way toward making everything else better.

I think it's safe to say that we're all glad to have you here with us and it's already been stated; we're here to help! Relax, slow down, reflect, think things through, write things down. Maybe start a personal journal (private as opposed to this public one) where you can write out thoughts so they don't get lost in traffic.Take the hubby and daughter and go sit with the goats I always find myself much calmer and more relaxed after a "goat sit down session". Might help him mellow and de-stress as well. Hard to stay angry when you have little animals demanding your attention. And they're fun, and interactive too!

That really funny you mentioned a “goat sit down session”. Before I got these little guys I’d frequently visit and discuss things with Halfy. Halfy is a special sow. I visited her daily and shared with her my thoughts, frustrations, emotions quite frequently. She was very therapeutic for me. If she wasn’t 400# of dirt pushing, excitedly running around ball of pig I’d have brought her home with me. Even let her sleep in hubbys spot on the bed. She got injured the day we let the girls out of their farrowing crates. We don’t know exactly what happened. The vet couldn’t determine the injury, but felt if we moved her to a smaller area of her own, that was less muddy it might help her heal faster. So we did it. Anyways Halfy got the royal treatment while she was recovering. We’d go into her area talk with her, tell her what a great piggie she was, told her she’s beautiful, brought her wildflower bouquets to munch on, scratch her and pet her. She ate it all up. She got to the point where all I had to say was “Hey Beautiful.” And she’d come running to greet me. Yes, one on one sessions with a special animal does work wonders for a persons roughed up soul and spirit.

 

[Carla D]

Maybe my comment in the other post better brings better understanding. We rather put a wether/buck in the freezer than go through the "what is going to happen".
Standard bucks are rarely pets. That is just a fact.
Standard bucks in tact are used for breeding, most are selective of a buck they choose.
People need to eat, food is good.
A friend of mine doesn't feel she is skilled enough to determine whether a buck born is "good enough" to be intact and bred. All her bucks are castrated at 8 weeks, they are given great care, fed well and at 80 lbs they are processed. That valuable meat feeds her family for months.
Although we all look at our goats as pets, they are still livestock.

I think it is wise for you to reduce. As the area you have will not be sufficient at 1,200 -1,300 SF that works out to about 35 x 35. This will not be enough for 2 male goats of 250# size to utilize the area for food, so although they can live in it all their nutrition will come from hay, grain... mostly hay because too much grain can cause Urinary Calculi ( I gave you a link in another thread).
You will need to monitor for parasites.

So far I think you are learning and doing well, many things you didn't know but you do now. You have time to make decisions, to rehome some etc. Keeping 2 and learning from them I think is a great idea. You have put a lot of love and time and energy into them.





I also think "outloud" and it is a working through process. Nothing wrong with that other than you may get too many responses and think... oh goodness, I wish I hadn't said anything.

Actually it wasn’t your comment that gave me the impression many people think wethers are only good for burning your money away. A couple of people have said it in here, I’ve seen comments saying very similar things on some of the online articles I’ve read as well. I’d be really happy if people didn’t think that way. But I guess they are right to a degree. They can’t produce babies, they can’t be used for breeding. Thought of them basically only being good at eating your feed and not being able to give back anything that’s considered valuable. I do have to disagree with you on one thing however. I know my goats aren’t any different or more special than anyone else’s. But to me they are overgrown dogs that you love to death, but you have to feed them as you would livestock. But, yes going down to 3-4 goats is probably the best for me and our little farm. My husband tells me anymore than three is considered livestock, less than that can be pets. Honestly if I did have fewer goats under my care I would have all that much more to give to a select few. That in itself makes a lot of sense to me. Now I just have to figure out what I’m going to do with them. Bucks vs wethers. Pets vs meat for us or sell to someone else for meat. Maybe I can get lucky and find a couple of people that will need a companion animal or two. Too many things to think about tonight.

 

[Carla D]

Being honest with yourself is not always the same as being hard on yourself. Recognizing that there is an "issue" is the first step to correcting it. Sorry that your significant other is upset right now. From the little you've shared, he's dealing with some personal issues as well and everything that's been happening might have overwhelmed him a bit too. Slowing things down a bit to think things through, and getting the present stuff all under control and back to a stable place should go a long way toward making everything else better.

I think it's safe to say that we're all glad to have you here with us and it's already been stated; we're here to help! Relax, slow down, reflect, think things through, write things down. Maybe start a personal journal (private as opposed to this public one) where you can write out thoughts so they don't get lost in traffic.Take the hubby and daughter and go sit with the goats I always find myself much calmer and more relaxed after a "goat sit down session". Might help him mellow and de-stress as well. Hard to stay angry when you have little animals demanding your attention. And they're fun, and interactive too!

I have done a little bit of that. But, I’m not very good at giving myself feedback like other people are. But, yes I do see your point. They certainly are fun. I do find my husband paying quite a bit of attention to these little guys. Even my FIL gets a kick out of them. They love cheese balls, and Papa Harvey knows it and where I keep a stash of them for the goats.

 

[greybeard]

Maybe my comment in the other post better brings better understanding. We rather put a wether/buck in the freezer than go through the "what is going to happen".
Standard bucks are rarely pets. That is just a fact.
Standard bucks in tact are used for breeding, most are selective of a buck they choose.
People need to eat, food is good.
A friend of mine doesn't feel she is skilled enough to determine whether a buck born is "good enough" to be intact and bred. All her bucks are castrated at 8 weeks, they are given great care, fed well and at 80 lbs they are processed. That valuable meat feeds her family for months.
Although we all look at our goats as pets, they are still livestock.

In it's most basic element, this is simply what the centuries old domestication of livestock is all about at all levels and in most countries and cultures, it encompasses all species of fowl and livestock.

 

[Southern by choice]

I do have to disagree with you on one thing however. I know my goats aren’t any different or more special than anyone else’s. But to me they are overgrown dogs that you love to death, but you have to feed them as you would livestock.

I don't think we disagree on that. Ours are too.

 

[Baymule]

I raise sheep. Lambs are so adorable and cute, I love to hug them. I castrate the boys and name them Dinner. I love them, I care for them, I feed them, scratch and pet them. They have a good life. They have one bad day and even that is over quick. I sell the meat and we eat it. I give some away. I know what they have been fed, I know how they were cared for and I know they were loved.

@Devonviolet and her sweet husband started with 4 pet wethers. When they were ready for their dairy does, they realized their pets would have to go. it was an agonizing decision for them. They could not bear to take them to slaughter. They sold them and the buyers said they were going to slaughter the goats. Time passed.....they had the cutest little boy baby goat you ever saw. They were going to keep him forever. Their herd increased and so did the feed bill. Reality has some hard knocks and they painfully realized that they just couldn't keep them all. They talked about it, hard decisions had to be made.

Their freezer has goat meat in it, Goat meat from goats they raised and loved. They treat their goats exceptionally well, they love their goats. There is that reality thing again, they reasoned why should they feed, water, care for and love goats to sell them at a loss for someone else to eat? DV and her husband are proud of the meat they put on the table. When they take one to slaughter, the young man there always comments on how clean the goat is, how well cared for it is and compliments them on how healthy it is.

DV I hope you don't mind my sharing your journey with your goats. I know how hard it was and still is for you. Indeed, I feel bad sometimes when I take lambs to slaughter. But I can't keep them all.

Carla D I tell you this because you can only keep so many pets. There is nothing wrong with keeping pet goats. I think you are on the right track in cutting back on how many you have. Keep 3, love them, spoil them and enjoy them. I honestly do not think that you would be able to put any in the freezer. You just aren't there. You may never be there and there is nothing wrong with that.

People here have given their advice and help and you have a lot to process and think about. Whatever you decide to do will be what is right for you and your husband. You have our support and friendship.

 

[Devonviolet]

Well said, @Baymule!!!

No, I don’t mind you telling our story. It was well written and expressed my feelings very well. But, then you do know me really well.

It WAS a hard decision, but like Bay said, we have to be realistic. We moved here to grow our own food, and have dairy goats, for milk and cheese. To produce milk & cheese our does have to have kids every year. That means having more goats than we can afford to feed.

We all have to make choices, that are right for us. You most likely will never be able to butcher your animals. And that’s okay.

 

[Carla D]

I raise sheep. Lambs are so adorable and cute, I love to hug them. I castrate the boys and name them Dinner. I love them, I care for them, I feed them, scratch and pet them. They have a good life. They have one bad day and even that is over quick. I sell the meat and we eat it. I give some away. I know what they have been fed, I know how they were cared for and I know they were loved.

@Devonviolet and her sweet husband started with 4 pet wethers. When they were ready for their dairy does, they realized their pets would have to go. it was an agonizing decision for them. They could not bear to take them to slaughter. They sold them and the buyers said they were going to slaughter the goats. Time passed.....they had the cutest little boy baby goat you ever saw. They were going to keep him forever. Their herd increased and so did the feed bill. Reality has some hard knocks and they painfully realized that they just couldn't keep them all. They talked about it, hard decisions had to be made.

Their freezer has goat meat in it, Goat meat from goats they raised and loved. They treat their goats exceptionally well, they love their goats. There is that reality thing again, they reasoned why should they feed, water, care for and love goats to sell them at a loss for someone else to eat? DV and her husband are proud of the meat they put on the table. When they take one to slaughter, the young man there always comments on how clean the goat is, how well cared for it is and compliments them on how healthy it is.

DV I hope you don't mind my sharing your journey with your goats. I know how hard it was and still is for you. Indeed, I feel bad sometimes when I take lambs to slaughter. But I can't keep them all.

Carla D I tell you this because you can only keep so many pets. There is nothing wrong with keeping pet goats. I think you are on the right track in cutting back on how many you have. Keep 3, love them, spoil them and enjoy them. I honestly do not think that you would be able to put any in the freezer. You just aren't there. You may never be there and there is nothing wrong with that.

People here have given their advice and help and you have a lot to process and think about. Whatever you decide to do will be what is right for you and your husband. You have our support and friendship.

Question: is goat meat tasty? Young goats that are 4-5 months look like they wouldn’t have enough to feed a small family one meal. Will mine once their parasites have been managed start to fill out or are they still too young to fill out? I’m assuming they will start to fill out shortly. That 6-7 month old MN looked like he had a few meals on him. I had thought 6-7 month old goats may be too old to eat? Is there an ideal age to process a goat? Honestly I had seriously considered either selling them all or putting them in our freezer. I don’t feel competent enough to be able to keep them happy and HEALTHY this entire winter. Nor do we have enough decent hay to feed and provide bedding to get us through this winter. We may have enough hay/straw/bedding for 4-6 weeks. We jumped the gun and didn’t have enough time to gather what is needed to get them through the winter. We are able to produce and harvest more than enough hay during its growing season. We have enough to feed and bed all of our animals for a year or two right now. But it has been stored outside, uncovered and unprotected. The top and bottom layers of bales are moldy. I don’t know about the inner bales of the pile though. It’s ok for the pigs to eat and sleep with. But not the goats. We had been storing feed/grain in our barn until now and it is also the workshop on our farm where we have been building stalls, repairing equipment we buy on auctions. We didn’t have the space to store more than 50-60 bales of hay and straw. Over half of that is gone and we are only entering the winter months. We are slowly getting the barn/shed into functioning space so we can stockpile necessities for next winter. I’m pretty sure my husband and I could keep the goats alive this winter. But, I’m not so sure about keeping them healthy and thriving. I did some very serious thinking about this situation. I was convinced we had to do something distasteful with them so we could keep the rest of our animals in good shape and condition. I’m uncomfortable ‘winging it’ much longer than we already have. I know I’ve done some flip/flop lately. But I’ve tried to think objectively about this. After all we haven’t had them disbudded or dehorned yet at six weeks. We are trying really hard to figure out how to get that accomplished in the next few days. Plus we are going to need medication for them now. I’m not sure which would be more cost effective. Getting them from the vet or a farm supply store. I have WAY TOO MANY questions and unknowns right now to think that we could keep them fed, healthy, and thriving to feel comfortable and capable to do it. That’s why some of these questions about schedules/timelines and equipment for care and prevention has become pressing for me. Keeping them healthy is likely the only way we can keep them financially through this winter. Simply for the fact that prevention is typically less expensive than treating. Then I could also figure out how we are going to pay for them, their, care, and needs for the next year. All stuff we/I failed to consider prior to getting these cute little guys. I need to find some answers to at least a few of my questions so I can figure out how to make this work. I may be way off base with their size. I have a feeling the baby goats will weigh a minimum of 100-125 pounds by the time March or April arrives. I can’t see it working this winter. I’m not giving up on the idea of having goats on the farm. But waiting until spring is what we should have done.

 

[Southern by choice]

I responded to some things in your other threads.
Goat meat is tasty but once they get old enough intact buck tastes gross.

Slaughter weight is generally between 60-70 lbs 80 tops.
You must however make sure of meat withdrawal times for any meds you give him concerning the coccidia treatment and worm treatment.