Goats or cow??

[Mea]

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Mea, I live near Oneonta. We are going to visit a small goat farm Friday. My daughter googled for me and found a few others that we can visit in Delaware and Otsego counties.
My children are very impatient-want to get an animal now but we still have plenty of time to look around. We don't even have a barn/shed or fence up yet!

So..........how did the visit(s) go.........?? being nosey here......

 

[rondam24]

The visit went great. This woman has had goats for the past 30 years. She has 3 milking does; a lamancha, a nubian and a 3/4 lamancha 1/4 nubian mix. Plus 5 kids. She was very friendly; let my kids milk the mixed breed and feed the kids their bottles.

She wants to sell the lamancha/nubian doe because she is planning on keeping two of the kids. It is black and white and looks like a mini holstein! She is 3 years old, is a first freshener , was giving about a gallon a day but now gives about 2and1/2 pounds a day. Had no trouble kidding and is very friendly. We looked her over well and she looks very healthy. So we are seriously tempted to buy her.

However this woman takes a more natural/organic approach towards goat raising so none of her goats have had any vaccines or blood tests. She says that she has never had to call in a vet for these 3 goats (and she's had one for 7 years) so maybe this isn't really an issue. What do you think?

 

[Holsteno]

cow

 

[Hound]

Something that hasn't been mentioned...

Cows and goats will both eat the weeds, but if you're planning on drinking the milk you won't want them to. Certain weeds can taint the flavour of the milk to the point that it is undrinkable.

Goats are a far better choice for the new hobby dairy farmer. They are much easier to handle, not nearly as dangerous, far cheaper to feed, more portable (you can put them in a large dog crate rather than requiring a trailer), and you can milk them more comfortably on a milk stand in a building out of the elements. If they defecate during milking it is not a big deal, there is no dirty tail to hit you in the face, and a goat kick is pretty insignificant. If you do have call to use a vet it is far easier to load a goat up and take it there than find a vet who will make home calls or try and put a sick cow in a trailer.

 

[Mea]

The visit went great. This woman has had goats for the past 30 years. She has 3 milking does; a lamancha, a nubian and a 3/4 lamancha 1/4 nubian mix. Plus 5 kids. She was very friendly; let my kids milk the mixed breed and feed the kids their bottles.

She wants to sell the lamancha/nubian doe because she is planning on keeping two of the kids. It is black and white and looks like a mini holstein! She is 3 years old, is a first freshener , was giving about a gallon a day but now gives about 2and1/2 pounds a day. Had no trouble kidding and is very friendly. We looked her over well and she looks very healthy. So we are seriously tempted to buy her.

However this woman takes a more natural/organic approach towards goat raising so none of her goats have had any vaccines or blood tests. She says that she has never had to call in a vet for these 3 goats (and she's had one for 7 years) so maybe this isn't really an issue. What do you think?

It could be a good 'starter type' goat. We all make mistakes ... and sometimes it is better to learn on an animal that we haven;t put out a ton of money on. ( ask me how i know.... )

If coat is shiny, eyes clear gums pink... hooves neat ... she could be good. I would do CD&T shots to up her protection. Her milk production will most likely drop off when she is moved... but You might be able to recover it some with feed.

Now...on to building fences and shelter........

 

[Lil-patch-of-heaven]

Anecdotal "evidence" is not the most useful, especially when as limited as mine but just as an aside ...

My six goats came from two sources. Four of them came from a farm that routinely vaccinates, tested recently, worms on a rotating schedule (rotating wormers every 3 months), etc. Two others came from a farm where the goats were tested years ago, no vacs given, and the only meds are Mollys wormers.

Guess which lot have given me REPEATED health problems of all sorts? I'm learning much faster than I ever wanted to ... They are overall good at recovering but the 4 from the farm that did everything on schedule have ALL had problems and most of them several problems each. The 2 from the other farm have been perfectly healthy. Their only issue is that they ate mostly hay and grain and switching them to a more heavily browsing diet seems to have perhaps slowed their growth? Then again I am comparing them to a dam-raised kid who I suspect is milking out TWO does most days, so perhaps it's an unfair comparison. They have adjusted nicely to browse though and both look heavily pregnant by the end of each day. ALL my goats do except that milk-stealing kid lol. No symptoms whatsoever.

I'm not arguing for or against either type of husbandry -- that would be very presumptuous of me given my limited experience. I'm only saying that it's certainly possible for goats raised with a natural approach to be healthier than those raised with a heavily "medical"
approach.

I would definitely agree that it can be netter to learn on cheaper animals too. That's really a large part of why I chose my goats. There are certainly better bred ones out there, giving more milk and whose kids will probably bring 5x as much as the kids of mine will. And maybe in a couple-few years I'll buy some goats like that.

In the meantime I'm learning a LOT and getting milk too. . It works for me. . And I think the goats are pretty happy as well.

 

[Mea]

Anecdotal "evidence" is not the most useful, especially when as limited as mine but just as an aside ....

Guess which lot have given me REPEATED health problems of all sorts? .

Anecdotal "evidence" works for me ! Sometimes finding out a different way of thinking about something opens whole new horizons.

The animals from the 'natural approach' would most likely have "self culled". Survival of the fittest and all that. While with the medications in the other herd...animals that perhaps would not have survived, in the natural, did Because of the medical intervention. And lived to reproduce themselves. Makes sense to me.


Anecdote.... we had a neighbor who had some sheep. Never !! grained them. They got their water from a crick or ate snow in the winter. Hay...not usually...they would dig thru the snow for dried grasses. They had not been sheared in four years. Lamb crop...dismal failure. only about one or two would make it. Some years non did. I really believe that those animals could have made some really good animals for someone who cared...cuz they were Survivors ! They HAD to be to live there. ( fortunately someone offered a few $$ and the neighbor sold them !) That was as extreme a natural approach as i ever care to see. There should be a happy medium in the natural approach. Neither too much, nor too little. ( i shall step down now. )

 

[jerseygirl]

I to have both. I have a Jersey cow and a whole herd of goats. The decision usually comes down to space, feed availability, how much milk you can use, what products you would like to make with it and personal preference. I enjoy both cows and goats and both have pro's and cons. My cow is definitely a whole lot more time and work than my goats, eats more, poops more, needs more grazing area but she also makes more milk but also good cream that is awesome for butter, cheese and ice cream. My goats on the other hand are much easier to care for, take care of clearing all the willow that grows crazy on my land, eat way less that my cow and produce well for goats. Goats milk can be used for making incredible cheeses, yogurt, keifer and all your extra can be used to fatten up just about any animal you would like to raise for meat...lambs, pigs, and even calves.
Is there any reason you are considering Dexter cattle versus an actual dairy breed? They are a multi purpose cattle that is smaller than many dairy breeds but definitely more noisy and can be a little feisty. They are a very hardy breed though especially in cooler climates. People choose different breeds and critters for their farms and the bottom line is you have to find what fits you best. Good luck

 

[rondam24]

I to have both. I have a Jersey cow and a whole herd of goats. ...
Is there any reason you are considering Dexter cattle versus an actual dairy breed? They are a multi purpose cattle that is smaller than many dairy breeds but definitely more noisy and can be a little feisty.

We've been thinking about Dexters for several reasons. First, we only have about 2 1/2 acres of pasture, and I don't think that's enough to keep a full-size dairy animal on pasture for 6 months.

The second reason is that the main care-givers will be myself and my two teen daughters. The full size breeds seem a bit intimidating!
And we don't need 5+ gallons of milk a day. We'd be swimming in milk!

Unfortunately we haven't been able to find anybody around here with Dexters. So I've never seen one for real. I had heard they are gentle.

It seems like we are leaning more towards goats but I do dream of the butter and cream.

 

[Henrietta23]

I know I have seen goats' milk butter either at our local food co-op or at Whole Foods. It must be possible to make butter from goats' milk?