Frightened by friend

[freechicken]

My husband and I are currently readying our barn and property for dairy goats, reading like mad and trying to learn as much as we can as we go. I have a girlfriend who keeps goats so I emailed her to pick her brains about a few things and her response really surprised me. She told me that keeping goats is a major pain and really discouraged me from pursuing it. I have heard that goats are notoriously hard on fences. Is it really so awful that I will be going crazy in frustration?

 

[Southern by choice]

There are many of us here that would definitely disagree. Each persons experience will be different. Although I may complain sometimes I think goats are relatively easy.

My family and I have Nigerians (small Dairy), my partner on the farm has Kiko Meat goats. We have good healthy stock with excellent parasite resistance. None of our goats have been destructive on fencing, except when our bucks were in rut. Hot -wire took care of that.
I think a persons property, set up, and management skills are a key to how easy/hard it can be. I also think that the breed of goat plays a role in this.

Hay with free choice minerals, fresh water, shelter from rain and wind, and possibly some small amount of feed to supplement for areas with poor browse and pasture, and a yearly CD&T shot, and hoof trimming is it.

It will require you to love on them though!

 

[Suburbanfarmer]

My husband and I are currently readying our barn and property for dairy goats, reading like mad and trying to learn as much as we can as we go. I have a girlfriend who keeps goats so I emailed her to pick her brains about a few things and her response really surprised me. She told me that keeping goats is a major pain and really discouraged me from pursuing it. I have heard that goats are notoriously hard on fences. Is it really so awful that I will be going crazy in frustration?

I've had or have been involved with horses for 30 years and just got my first goats (2 ND) this last summer. Compared to horses my goats are super easy. But, I'm not sure how easy I would think they are if I hadn't ever dealt with livestock before. Ours are easy on fences but, again, we have little goats. I agree with Southern, it depends on your set up.

Also, remember dairy goats need to be milked every 12 hours. That is the hard part for us, we don't really go out as much and we have to plan more when we do go out.

Good luck (I think goats are great and everyone should have a couple )
-K

 

[Mamaboid]

The biggest and really only thing our goats have changed here is the need to schedule outings around milking and kidding. We aren't very 'go' people anyway so it didn't really cause us too much hassle, but it is something you have to make sure you think about.

 

[OneFineAcre]

Why did you friend say they were a major pain?

Compared to not having goats, having goats requires some work.

I have had no problem with fencing, other than bucks in rut.

If you are milking, they do have to be milked. We have a hard time planning trips, so have a good friend to help you when you want to go out of town.

 

[Southern by choice]

I would also recommend starting with kids as opposed to mature stock.

In mature stock you can be getting a great goat or you can be getting anothers worst nightmare. When getting an adult goat you are dealing with the results of anothers management, hence you may have to battle parasites for awhile. You may be getting a goat that would never settle (couldn't get pregnant) or a bad mom...that won't raise her kids and rejects them, or one that had difficulties in kidding etc.

Kids adapt to your lifestyle and grow up with the attention you desire to give them. Some want to have their goats climbing on them and be as pet like as possible. Sometimes that can lead to screaming goats that need your constant attention, I see this in more bottle fed babies... but NOT always.

I like my goats to come up and say hi then go off and be "goats".

If looking for a mature goat be very thorough and get a fecal done by your vet, get all the history you can etc.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

As a child I wanted a hundred of nearly every animal I could think of......Not so much anymore!

But goats had never made it onto my want list. I had occasionally interacted with the cute pygmies at Happy Hollow park and Zoo, but still never landed on my radar. Once we moved out of town, our neighbors had a goat. She was a gorgeous Nubian with horns. She was horrible. She would ram her owner and anyone else she felt like. She would threaten their horses too. I didn't want one. Then I started reading about them and decided that I wanted a milking goat with no horns. We started with NDs and also had a Nubian. They are so different from the neighbors goat. In fact, my goats now rival my cats for favorite animals. They are loaded with personality and if you get the right temperament goats that match your personality, they are oodles of fun.

Nubians are loud, and obnoxious, but I would jump on the chance to have another. My son used to walk bent over and give his Nubian Bambi, piggy back rides because he liked to. Those two were terribly cute together. When we would do Farm Day presentations with Bambi, she would stand and gaze up at him as he stroked her neck and face while giving a presentation on dairy goats to all the little kids.

I would definitely give it a go if you are inclined to want to. They are hard on equipment if it isn't indestructible. They stand on everything. But they provide a lot of comic relief for me. I love when the old goats kick up their heels and just run around like crazy critters. And baby goats.... nothing cuter!

P.S. Different breeds and different goats are reported to have different sometimes very strong flavored milk.... that might sway you towards or away from certain breeds too.

 

[freechicken]

I have three young children and a fourth on the way so we are very much homebodies anyway. We are never out of the house before 10 am and are always home by 6:30 for bedtime. I am not overly concerned about the milking schedule for that reason. We just moved to the a little homestead on 2.5 acres. The home has an existing small barn that has been used for ND's by the previous owner. They set up a play yard attached to the barn with six foot fencing. It isn't an ideal place to keep standard goats full time as I would love to fence off some of our property for pasture and give them more space and hopefully lessen the likelihood of parasites. The existing goat yard is roughly 500 sq ft. So, we are going to put up fencing before we bring any goats home. Still trying to decide which type of fencing to go with... My husband is going tonight to look at some pregnant does (one lamancha and a couple nubians). They are first fresheners and the owner will keep them until after the kids come if these are the does we decide to go with. Any additional advice or comments about the breeds? Because of the size of our family I really think standard sized does with a higher production is what we need.

My copy of Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats is on its way. Ordered it the other day after reading every section on dairy goats in every book I owned on livestock.

Thanks again!

~Sharon

 

[Southern by choice]

I also have 1 lamancha along with my ND's. I love my lamancha! Remember we also have in a repeater field Kiko meat goats. I will say I certainly like feeding the ND's better!. They eat a lot less.. that is important for the winter months especially, and having dairy they do well on alfalfa.. Alfalfa here right now is $17 bale.

Personally I think my smaller breeds are easier to keep. JMO

BTW- I have a family of 11... and still use ND's.

I also like them small because of my children.

 

[alsea1]

I find electric fence keeps them from ruining fences.