Goat Whisperer's & SBC's kidding thread: kidding storm

[Latestarter]

Ouch... sorry... Best of luck for a full and extended (read bountiful!) "recovery"

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Ouch... sorry...

No worries - I'm enjoying my recovery!!

 

[lcertuche]

I hope to someday get some milking does but so I can actually have milk. I did have a couple of does a few years ago that kept my brush cleared around my property but I never could get them bred. Probably a good thing since I had no idea what I was doing. I can see raising for milk products and meat or even selling enough to pay for some of the upkeep but how do you afford to keep so many? I'm not being snarky, just curious if they can really be considered pets. I got both my girls free and only fed them a little grain to keep them friendly and hay in the winter. I loved them but I could imagine 50 of the little stinkers. Mine were brats but I loved them, not enough to be out much money and they did clear a huge amount of a steep hillside.

 

[NH homesteader]

Yeah that is a lot of goats! My limit is 10. I have 6 now and hope to get 2 more (a buck and a doeling) this year. And I want to retain a kid from one of my mini alpines if she has a doeling.

I think we all need to live closer together because I really want one of @frustratedearthmother 's Pygmies and I really want a mini Lamancha from @Southern by choice and @Goat Whisperer lol!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I can see raising for milk products and meat or even selling enough to pay for some of the upkeep but how do you afford to keep so many?

After many decades of life, I have reached a point where I can actually "afford" to indulge some of my whims, lol. I tend to manage money fairly well, save first, help others and raise goats. I have very few expensive vices, my kids are grown (doesn't mean they don't cost me money now and again) and out of the house, I hate shopping, not really into travel, etc... Who can travel with so many critters, lol! (patting myself on the back for being so wonderful) So, this is what I do for me.

It's not 'legal' to sell milk here - and it's not legal to sell goat meat. I can sell goats on the hoof and I do that from time to time. I sold extra bucks last year and a doe and her baby that didn't fit into my breeding plan.

Have I ever given goats away - Yep. Guilty! Some years ago I was contacted by a man about his grandmother. She had goats as a child but due to life circumstances was never able to have a goat again. He took his grandmother in instead of putting her in a nursing home and he wanted her to have goats again before she passed. He brought her to my house and she used a walker to totter out to the barn where I had a chair waiting for her and a bunch of pygmy goat babies. These babies would jump in and out of her lap and the smile on her face and the light in her eyes was worth more to me than any money would have been. She went home with two babies and not a penny was exchanged between us.

Did the same thing with a child a couple years ago. I heard about a child who was facing some tough challenges through our former 4-H mentor and just couldn't help myself - HAD to give her a couple goats.

As to why I do this... main reason is because I enjoy it! And, I'm in the midst of trying to create THE PERFECT GOAT for me. Not trying to create a 'new breed' but just accepting the challenge to do something that I set as a personal goal for myself. Right now, it does require me to keep quite a few goats. I love my Kinder goats - so I need Nubians and Pygmies to get those. Trying out some Mini Nubs too. AND - someone asked me the other day when I was going to get the earless ones, lol. I see them in my future - but not my immediate future.

Right now the goats I favor most on my place are the m/f offspring of a Kinder doe and a Nigi buck. Still retain the pygmy stockiness (think meat) and I hope they have the milkiness of the Nigi's and Nubs. Work in progress!

Whew....never intended for my answer to become so long winded, lol. Too much coffee this morning, I guess.

 

[NH homesteader]

Haha! Hey I'm planning on breeding my mini alpines to a Pygmy buck so I'm kind of trying out new things here too. Then I can keep a doeling and breed her to my Nigie... I get it!

And kudos to you. You're doing what you enjoy and helping some people when you can.. Yay goats! They do make people smile.

 

[samssimonsays]

I would love to try mini nubs and maybe even a mini mancha but those would require another buck or two I have 6 now, my max is 10. I would like one more buck and two more does in the next few years but I want to try to survive my first Kidding season before I consider adding anything new. With four does my first year, I am nervous! When I think about each doe could have 1-3 kids it isn't so bad but when my former coworker and fellow goatie mentioned I will double or more than double my heard for some reason it sounds worse and I panicked We will survive just fine, but the anticipation is rising now as everyone "should" be bred

 

[NH homesteader]

@samssimonsays that's funny we have the same number of goats and the same limit.... Except I'm only breeding 2 this year.

 

[samssimonsays]

@samssimonsays that's funny we have the same number of goats and the same limit.... Except I'm only breeding 2 this year.

I know, right?! Haha!

 

[lcertuche]

@frustratedearthmother I think it is so lovely to have a hobby/experiment/love affair for raising goats and to be able to share them with others. People spend fortunes on things like golf and country clubs, expensive boats, etc.. kudos!