hello from Mississippi

[hilarie]

Welcome aboard! I have a crew of mixed breed dairy goats, full size (saanen, oberhasli, LaMancha) that I breed yearly and milk twice a day. Whoever referred to the Level 10 ninja was right - sometimes bucks around a doe in heat can be like getting a drink of water from a firehose. They've got ONE JOB and they WANNA DO it. My solution to that problem has been to take the does to the buck when I want to breed them, and not keep a buck on the property; or borrow one for a week or so, if you can find someone amenable.
And their nutritional needs are not so complex. Mine have thrived on good quality hay free choice all the time (2nd cut most of the time; there's a short time in the spring when I can't usually get any, but most often I can), and grain once daily for the lactating goats, or those in the last month of pregnancy. They also get a *bunch* of table scrap-type goodies: the husks from fresh corn, the pea pods, the tops of root vegetables, overripe bananas and their peels, apple parings. They are in beautiful condition and their coats are gorgeous. They also browse on our wooded land several times a week, eating mostly autumn olive, maple, bittersweet, wild grape, wild raspberries, etc.

 

[HobbyFarmerJen]

Thank you hilarie for that very informative reply! Your feeding routine sounds more like what I imagined when I first started dreaming of goats. I guess it is the salt, mineral block, sweetlix? Red cell? Molasses (and I still havent found out what DM is yet) that throws me off and confuses a bit. I did find where baking soda was for a sour stomach and not for nutritional needs - so that helped clear up that!

 

[hilarie]

A level 10 ninja! Hahaha.
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! I am excited to be here and I'm soaking up all this wonderful information!
So.
First on my list is fencing in a large area of my property, (is ten foot high good?) , then building a shed/goat house, then somehow checking my land for dangerous plants (horticulturist anyone?) THEN understanding their complex diet (so overwhelming.. baking soda? What?!.. what is DM?).. THEN find sweet little goats to purchase. Am I supposed to keep the males separate from the female? (Someone mentioned the males trying to get the does in heat.. but I want them to mate- so can they live together?.. is that a dumb question?)
That's the plan so far. I'll start fencing this weekend.

I'm not an expert on Nigerian dwarfs (I have Oberhasli, LaMancha, andd Saanens) but I have friends who are. As I understand it, the females cycle multiple times a year, unlike mine who cycle only fall into winter. If your buck(s) are in with the does, you WILL have babies and maybe more often than you think.

FiascoFarm has a great website with a ton of good information on it, including a long list of poisonous plants.
Ten foot fencing may be a tad higher than you need Goats are notorious escape artists but I use cattle fence, which is 4.5-5 feet tall and unless it becomes detached from post or tree, it holds them very nicely.