Donna, from Dandridge, TN

[babsbag]

think, sadly, that nowadays, in any kind of farming, if you don't go big you might as well go home. Can't make it as a small operation.

I just finished a licensed Grade A goat dairy and you may very well be right. I'm not even in production yet and haven't crunched the numbers but my gut tells me that there is going to be a fine line between profit and loss.

 

[Donna R. Raybon]

I just finished a licensed Grade A goat dairy and you may very well be right. I'm not even in production yet and haven't crunched the numbers but my gut tells me that there is going to be a fine line between profit and loss.

Are you going to be making cheese? That is biggest problem with goat dairy is that often whoever is buying your milk quits and there is no other buyer.

 

[Baymule]

Just stumbled across this. I have already enjoyed reading many of your posts on other threads. Welcome and I am glad that you joined!

 

[babsbag]

I will be making cheese and bottling my own milk. So as long as I can find some customers I should be good. I stink at marketing.

 

[greybeard]

Late but welcome!

 

[Donna R. Raybon]

Appreciate the welcome. I enjoy reading and learning from all of you, too. I will be 60 in September, and dh 65 in July. So we have slowed down a bit from our prime farming years. He and I were just talking about how we used to go cut two or three truckloads of wood in morning before the dew dried and then on to the hay field to bale, load, unload, etc... I look back on all I used to get done and can hardly believe it.

But, will (hoping) to have goats and poultry until death do us all depart. This fall and winter we are planning to do the garden in raised beds to make it easier to weed. A friend did hers in 12 inch high 4 foot by 4 foot beds and it did well for her this summer.

Milked for my friends both milkings Sunday and yesterday morning. Had a hot case of mastitis in one of our best cows. So far she isn't acting sick, but oh boy, nasty black strings, bloody liquid, took me about fifteen minutes to get it all milked out. ICKY! Only one quarter affected and she was treated and milk dumped. She was OK at Sunday evening milking and Monday morning not. I will stop in later and see how she is doing as I go to feed store.

 

[Donna R. Raybon]

Happy to add that cow with mastitis had no lumps this morning and has been treated. I will milk Thursday morning, so will see how all is going then. Also had two more cows to freshen, so we are milking over 30 now!!

 

[bethh]

Welcome, I look forward to your posts. I'm new to farming. I have chickens and a sweet LG puppy, Gracie. I love gardening, need to improve on it. We moved in September so this is our first garden in our new place. We placed our planters too close and its a jungle trying to get between some of them to harvest. Then I found the chickens were getting in and wrecking havoc so a fence went up.

One day I may like to get a few goats. Can you recommend what to read to learn about their needs, tests, finding breeders, tests? Anything someone with no knowledge aside from them being cute would need to know before embarking on that endeavor.

 

[Latestarter]

ummm You're in a pretty good place right here to learn a whole lot, AND you have the benefit of being able to ask questions and get answers! Can't do THAT with a book... Browse the goat forum threads and learn away!

 

[bethh]

ummm You're in a pretty good place right here to learn a whole lot, AND you have the benefit of being able to ask questions and get answers! Can't do THAT with a book... Browse the goat forum threads and learn away!

I agree about the site. I just wasn’t sure if there was a goat book for dummies. When I’m training people at work, I try and teach them everything I know because sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know.