New here - going to have goats on the homestead soon(ish) :)

[Abredin]

Hello! So glad to have found Backyard Herds! I've been a lurker at Backyard Chickens for forever and now that I'm in the final planning stages of getting goats - I'm so glad to have another trusted resource.

I almost changed my mind about getting goats after I took a number of online zoom classes through the local and nearby Extension offices. Their focus was more on medium to large meat or dairy commercial operations and honestly they made goat care sound difficult - I'm used to hard work but it really sounded like it was constant work to keep goats healthy. I'm really happy that I changed my mind after talking to a local farmer about goats when I went to look at some of their KuneKune pigs (hopefully adding the KuneKunes in the spring!). She gave me some great advice (pick breeds that do well in our area - not just the meatiest or most milk producing, get healthy goats from the start, and stay up on their health) and we'd do fine. She made it sound much more doable. So here I am.

The plan is to start with just a couple of wethers (probably 3) to see how we do with them and maybe as an added bonus they will keep some brushy areas cleaned up around the homestead.

Thank you if you've gotten this far.

 

[Childwanderer]

Welcome to Backyard Herds!

 

[Alaskan]

Welcome to BYH!

Goats can be great fun. In my book, the biggest challenge is having excellent fences!

But I agree with the local person you talked to. Have the goats tested for the big three, CL, Johnes, and CAE.... before you buy them. And, have them wormed before you bring them to your place (so you start out with as few worms as possible), and all good from there!

Also, as to worms.... a great deal of that is genetics. Some goats are much more susceptible to worms than others....

So yes, start with healthy stock, and that is more than half the battle!

 

[farmerjan]

Welcome also from Va. Sounds like the local person is right on track for you and a good place to be able to ask for help. And yes.... fences fences fences.....