Hello from Plattsmouth, NE

[Gen1:28]

Hi, I'm Jen and my husband is Darren. We have a quiet place outside the town limits, with horses, dogs, cats, rabbits, chicks, and a lizard. We are expecting our first goat in two weeks. She will be 7 weeks old. A tri-color fainting doe. I'm hoping to learn a lot on this website so we will have a welcoming, safe and fun home for her. My husband and I have always enjoyed animals and wildlife; now as our daughter is about to marry and our son is leaving for college we are ready for the next chapter! I'm very excited and my husband is supportive (if in a long-suffering way)! I'm hoping to eventually make a little money to offset feed bills.
I've enjoyed what I have found so far, but it is slow going as technology and I have a love/hate relationship!View attachment 16517

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings Jen (& Darren) from the front range in Colorado Welcome to BYH. Sounds like you're well on your way to a menagerie! Fantastic, isn't it? Congrats on/for your son and daughter. Having the kids grown and gone is a bitter/sweet thing... Sounds like you'll have plenty to occupy your time though! That's a pretty little goat (pic you shared)! Just as an aside, goats do much better if they have a goat companion. They are herd animals and most don't do well alone (with no other goat). You might check with the seller and see if maybe they have a wether (normally inexpensive, sometimes free) to accompany her.

There's a wealth of info/shared experience with/about goats in the various threads. There's actually a few threads started by "new to goat" folks and there is a great group of active "goaties" here to help if you run into problems or have issues you need help with. Make yourself at home and browse around a bit! looking forward to your posts (and pictures!) down the road. Glad you joined!

 

[Gen1:28]

Thank-you! You're right about needing a friend for her. The breeder thought his other doe was pregnant and I told him I wanted both because I didn't want her alone. 5 weeks later no second kid. I would like either a katahdin or dairy goat, preferably one I could raise to be her friend. I am having trouble locating one. Do you have any suggestions? I need to keep it to two right now as I'm dividing a shed into a chicken coop and shelter for the goats. I only have 5 barred rock hens so it should be big enough according to the research I have read so far. I'm hoping to let them all range, and then in the shed at night. The shed/run when no one is home. I'm also considering a LGD, but have a Shiba. So am unsure how to proceed with that aspect. I was just trying to figure out how to "post"/message that when you said hi. Thanks again for the welcome and information.

 

[Latestarter]

Well, you seem to have figured out the posting thing well enough

As for a companion & wanting dairy, your best bet would probably be a Nigerian Dwarf doeling. The NDs/Nigies are smaller goats but are famed for their high butter fat (very tasty) milk, and they seem to be pretty available just about everywhere. In addition, she would grow to be similar in size (ideal weight @ 60-75 pounds) to your fainter if you have a smaller fainter (60 to 174 lb average), which are typically smaller than a full sized goat (120-200+ lb).

Or, another "breed" that you could look for would be a cross between a Nigie and another dairy breed like a Nubian/Lamancha/Sannan/Alpine (<--placed in no particular order of best "quality" milk... not trying to cause any arguments...), typically referred to as "mini's". These will be bigger than a pure Nigie, but smaller than full sized, and from what I understand their production is close to the full size with the feed expense of the smaller.

Right now we're at the peak of baby goat season... You can do some searching around Craigs List and see what's available. I guess you could search facebook as well, something I have no experience with. Though sheep and goats are similar, they don't really make companion animals for each other... They each really need a species specific companion. Wish you luck!

 

[Gen1:28]

Are the Nigerians friendly also? I will try craigslist. Hopefully there are some available near Omaha. Thank-you, for your help.
Do you know how to just post pics or do they need to be included in a post?

 

[norseofcourse]

Welcome from Ohio! I have a couple of Shibas also, but they are house dogs, not around the livestock. They have a high prey drive, as I'm sure you're aware!

Good luck with your soon-to-be goat and hope you find a nice second one, too.

 

[Latestarter]

To post pics, up top, right above where I'm typing right now is a tool bar (I'm on computer, not phone, and not familiar with phone) If you click on the little square image of a picture (next to the smiley), It will pop open a window asking you to input the URL of the image you want posted. The easier way is down below on the right in the center, there's a selection box to "Upload A File" if you click it, it will open your windows file system so you can locate the pic file you want to upload. After you find the file and select to upload it, a new window will open below with a thumbnail of the pic and ask do you want to insert the thumbnail, or the full image. Just select what you want and it will do it

You can either type a post with the pics, or just post the pics.

 

[Gen1:28]

Welcome from Ohio! I have a couple of Shibas also, but they are house dogs, not around the livestock. They have a high prey drive, as I'm sure you're aware!

Good luck with your soon-to-be goat and hope you find a nice second one, too.

Thank-you! How do you deal with your Shibas? Mine is Houdini in fur My favorite dog ever, but it has been challenging with the other animals. He is fine with the cats and horses. Not great with other dogs on our property. Not sure how he will respond to the goats. Hoping when the chicks are full grown he will learn it's better for both parties to ignore each other. He is not "allowed" off leash, but has been known to escape off leash or through an unsuspecting person's legs.

 

[Gen1:28]

To post pics, up top, right above where I'm typing right now is a tool bar (I'm on computer, not phone, and not familiar with phone) If you click on the little square image of a picture (next to the smiley), It will pop open a window asking you to input the URL of the image you want posted. The easier way is down below on the right in the center, there's a selection box to "Upload A File" if you click it, it will open your windows file system so you can locate the pic file you want to upload. After you find the file and select to upload it, a new window will open below with a thumbnail of the pic and ask do you want to insert the thumbnail, or the full image. Just select what you want and it will do it

You can either type a post with the pics, or just post the pics.

Is there a place for just posting pics or is it always under existing thread?

 

[Latestarter]

Just in threads... I don't know of any pure picture area(s).