Hey I'm new here...

[Latestarter]

@La-Z Hooves Farm I'm about 100% sure that I will start out with American Lamanchas. The debate right now is do I stay full sized or get a Nigie buck and breed minis. I'm all by myself and though I love milk, I really don't need a herd's worth of full sized goats. I also don't need the feed bill.

Other aspects of the debate are/include the desire to breed for polled (which I know is already possible with Lamanchas) and blue eyes in the minis. I like the size of the minis but don't really want "small" goats like the Nigie. So I'd hope to keep the genetics for the great udder and milkability of the Lamancha along with the higher butterfat % in the Nigies in a goat 2/3 the size of the full blood Lamanchas. So that's the almost finalized plan.

Now for the monkey wrench... I'm about 85% sure I'll be moving next summer and don't want to load up on animals right before a move.

 

[Libertyangora]

i would post pics of my rabbits but I don't think you can on a mobile device.

 

[Devonviolet]

Quote: I'm about 100% sure that I will start out withAmerican Lamanchas. The debate right now is do I stay full sized or get a Nigie buck and breed minis. I'm all by myself and though I love milk, I really don't need a herd's worth offull sized goats. I also don't need the feed bill.​

I'm fairly new at this game. But like you, I evaluated the cost benefit of having livestock. My dream is to buy MiniMancha's for moderate pproduction & high butterfat. Win Win!

If you want dairy goats you need to make sure you will be able to bring in funds, to at least justify the feed bill.
I'm sure there are many options, but here are some of my ideas:
- make cheese to sell
- make Kefir (cultured milk) YUM! I make 2+ gallons a week and feed it to my dogs and cats. And of course the health benefits for me & DH are HUGE!
- If local laws allow, sell Kefir from your homestead. Since Kefir is cultured with "good" bacteria, it lasts a lot longer than plain milk. When I am able to produce goat's milk, I plan to make Kefir and give out samples, to show people how good it is. Marketing straegies are your key to success.
- make goat's milk soap
- feed the leftover whey to your goat's, cows, dogs, chickens and pigs, of you have those -- lowers your feed bill.
- sell the milk to local farmers to feed to their livestock.
- if you still have leftovers, pour it in your compost pile. Never throw it out!

 

[Devonviolet]

i would post pics of my rabbits but I don't think you can on a mobile device.

I can only access BYH on my android smart phone. So, I take a lot of my photos with my phone & upload photos from my phone. On my phone this is the process that works for me:
Upload File
Choose File
Documents
Gallery or File
Lately I have found that clicking on file makes it easier to get the file to upload without timing out.

 

[Libertyangora]

The top pic is the buck ( such a camera hog.) and the bottom pic is the doe. Thanks for the help! Devonviolet

P.S. Sorry for the sideways pics always forget to turn my phone!

 

[BlessedWithGoats]

Aww! I love your buck's coloring!

 

[Libertyangora]

Thanks! I can't remember the color name. But I think he's a tort of some kind...

 

[BlessedWithGoats]

Aww!

 

[Libertyangora]

They're both about 12 weeks old. So I won't be breeding til Spring.

 

[Devonviolet]

You're welcome! I had the hardest time figuring out how to post pics in the beginning!

So glad I could help!

Gorgeous animals! Is be wantin' to hold & pet them, if they were mine!