Help please

[warthog]

I want them for pets but would like a bit of milk to make soap and cheese. I only wanted one but have been reading and see it would be best to get 2 so they would have a companion. Thanks for any tips.

I love my dairy girls and my dairy projects! However, it is a huge commitment and a lot of work that you can't take a break from. So my recommendation is that you first buy some goat's milk and make a batch of soap and make a batch of cheese and see if it is really something you want to do on a weekly or twice a week basis, along with dealing with breeding, babies, the extra stalls and work and selling the kids, milking once or twice a day no matter the weather......before you jump in with both feet.

Yes, goat's milk is expensive to buy, but it will be a lot cheaper for you if you find that you don't want to deal with a lactating animal before you get one.....or maybe you will completely love it and want to get a doe that will produce more, or two does for milk, or you might even want to buy a doe that is lactating right now!

Goats make the BEST pets, too, btw! I love my goaties!

Seconded, I have meat goats, only been doing this for a year, I do breed them, just had my first. They are hard work, but soooooooo worth it.

But go slowly, you could just end up finding that it's all more than you wanted to get into.

I'm lucky that I am retired, but I think if I had dairy goats, I still wouldn't have the time to do all the work.

Again go slowly, and hope you enjoy them.

 

[lolalucy]

Thanks a lot. I am still researching and now thinking I do not want a buck as they stink. Maybe I just want a couple wethers as pets. Will keep reading and definately do my homework before I make my final decision.

 

[glenolam]

Welcome!

I wholeheartedly agree that goats are work, but more fun than work.

I'm not sure if you work full time, but don't get discouraged from getting milking does if you do work. Both my husband and I have full time jobs and a preschooler and manage to get everything done while still having fun with our mini farm. We just follow a different schedule...I milk our doe once a day in the evening and have just enough milk to make soap (which I'm obsessed with now BTW!) and cheese. I'm not striving for a gallon a day so I'm not worried if she doesn't produce show quality amounts. You will either need to buy a doe in milk or breed her in order to have milk, though.

But if you decide to start with wethers I'll be willing to bet it won't stop there!