getting goats soon, lot of questions =)

[chandasue]

There is a book available for download called "Personal Milkers: A Primer to Nigerian Dwarf Goats" by Patricia G. Stewart that is really covers ND's and I would guess a lot would apply to Mini Nubians as well. Be aware that not all ND's are great milkers. Whatever you buy ask the breeder a lot of questions on how well the milking genetics are for their goats. In that book it says 2 ND's need 18 sq ft inside. That really depends on your climate and amount of outdoor space they have. Mine hardly go outside in the winter so they need adequate indoor space, and they're spoiled. I currently only have 2 does with about 150 sq ft in the shed! But I'm adding a lamancha soon, and when they have babies it gets crowded fast! You could build a shelter that houses both the chickens with separate access to each side, but separate them with wire fencing so the chickens can't get over to the goats and vice versa.

 

[CoffeeCow]

only 18 sq ft for a pair! okay I was worried, I was planning on building at least a 20'x40' building, and was worried it wouldn't be big enough. seems like it will be way more than enough for 3 Dwarf Nigerians.

their "pen" will be about 180'x 60' with their building inside it. I was planning on having a covered area in front of their building for shade. they will have access to about 3/4 acre on the (warm) weekends. Will that be okay for them? or does the "pen" need to be bigger?

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

I was wanting to lock them in at night,

yep make sure you lock them up tight. are you considering electric fencing? remember that you want to keep the goaties IN but more than that you want to keep the predators out. dogs (and all their wild relatives) love goats b/c they smell like poop and run with chased.

can you just build a new goat hut next to the existing chicken house so they share the outside wall? my goaties and clucks are next to each other and it works great. the ducks and clucks have access to the goat yard (but are housed and fed separately)... the goats dont have access to get into the hen side. (did someone already say that chicken feed can be toxic to goats? )

i'm the dissenting opinion here.. i do NOT like the ND's. i know i know... but hear me out and to be fair you said you wanted "cons."

i dont like them for the same reasons folks who love them..well.. love them. folks like them b/c they are bouncy and fun and have a lot of personality.

and i like quiet, well behaved, QUIET goats. both ND and full sized Nubians tend to be loud - and its worse when they are in heat.

and

every story i have that starts with "you can believe what that dang goat did today" was about our ND/mini mancha. she was just plain ridiculous.

and before someone blows a gasket.... of course there are some well behaved ND's out there. but i havent met one.
;-)

i like the la manchas - they are petite, full sized dairy goats that are nice and quiet and have a minimum amount of ridiculousness. and they milk like the dickens. but they dont have the long ears so they look funny.

another thing to consider is you're going to be milking that goat 2x (or once) a day for the whole summer. our mini is a pretty good milker but she has the smallest teats ever. milking our la mancha is like pulling a beer tap.... milking the mini can be difficult. and nearly impossible for my hubby who has huge ham-sized hands. i only milked her once a day b/c i just couldnt do it.

and while i'm giving free advice.... (ha!) i'd sure pay extra for a proven milker than start with doelings. with a doe in milk you'll already know what you are getting instead of having to feed a doeling for a year, breed her, and hope for the best. also an experienced milker knows what to do even if you dont. my good ol' gal put up with all my bad milking technique by just standing there. if i had to learn 'how to' with a first time milker there would be a lot of crying.

actually there is a great thread here called "kicky milker" which is a great resource for getting started.

when you start looking for your goats remember that its totally ok to milk the doe before you buy her. and to ask lots of questions. most folks are totally happy to help.

aside from all the foolishness you'll love having the free milk. we save a ton of money by not having to buy dairy for us... and we also use it for our barnyard. usually our feed budget is cut by 30% across the board b/c we supplement with the goats milk. the hens love the goat milks (so do ducks and turkeys) and its great for their eggs.

good luck!

 

[crazyland]

I have ND and crosses. They stay in a 10x10 welded pen at night during the day they wander around an acre with the chickens.
The chickens are fed before the goats come out for the morning. I hand feed the goats some grain so the chickens don't get extra.
This is working pretty well for me. The goats get extra bonding time and both the chickens and goats don't get extra feed.

 

[happyhensny]

wow... its weird seeing only 1 post next to my name ... I have a ton on BYC

Yup, new here too! Have about 1,000 on BYC. Love my new goats though. FUNNY!

 

[AlaskanShepherdess]

I was wanting to lock them in at night,

i dont like them for the same reasons folks who love them..well.. love them. folks like them b/c they are bouncy and fun and have a lot of personality.

and i like quiet, well behaved, QUIET goats. both ND and full sized Nubians tend to be loud - and its worse when they are in heat.

and

every story i have that starts with "you can believe what that dang goat did today" was about our ND/mini mancha. she was just plain ridiculous.

and before someone blows a gasket.... of course there are some well behaved ND's out there. but i havent met one.
;-)

That's funny that that is all you have seen of ND's, and all I have seen is the exact opposite, except for when my little buckling was missing something nutritionally, then he let me know! Now that I seem to have his nutrition covered he is as content and happy and quiet as can be, as so are all my others except when in heat.

 

[chandasue]

only 18 sq ft for a pair! okay I was worried, I was planning on building at least a 20'x40' building, and was worried it wouldn't be big enough. seems like it will be way more than enough for 3 Dwarf Nigerians.

their "pen" will be about 180'x 60' with their building inside it. I was planning on having a covered area in front of their building for shade. they will have access to about 3/4 acre on the (warm) weekends. Will that be okay for them? or does the "pen" need to be bigger?

I know I was sort of shocked when I read the 18 sq ft thing too. Personally I don't think it's enough but to each their own. I like them to have lots of space. To me crowded=dirty=disease. The more space the better. The pen you're planning is plenty big. Mine is about half that, but I have 3+ acres that is also fenced in so I let them out of the small pen to run the whole yard when I can watch them. (By "run" that actually mean follow me around and try to climb on my lap every time I sit down. ) I do love my NDs but Ohiofarmgirl makes good points (although mine are quiet and not so very bouncy once they're past 6 months) and reasons expressed are why I'm also getting a lamancha. I've really started to get into making cheese and the ND's just don't give me enough milk. Partly because it's so good it gets drank before I can save up enough for cheese. They can be a bugger to milk those small teats but it's not that difficult and I have pretty big hands. It's just a little different technique. But they are adorable, friendly and easy to handle and they are economical to feed.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

I've really started to get into making cheese and the ND's just don't give me enough milk.

yep! dont you just get hooked on ALL the things you can do with the milk!?!?!? i'm not sure there is such as thing as "too many milkers"
;-)

 

[chandasue]

Yeah I thought for sure the milk from a couple ND's was going to be plenty when I first was looking at getting goats and I realized quickly that I needed a standard dairy goat to do everything I needed. I'm even wondering if one lamancha is going to be enough!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

ha! you might need more! gosh - I need more!

i'm hopin' like heck my Debbie has doelings - i'm keeping them ALL! i bred her to a fancy, from-a-high-producing-momma, prize winning buck so her babies should be spectacular.. whooooot!