New to goats and SO excited!

[Devonviolet]

If I had my way, I would build a bodacious barn and live in it with the animals. I am the "odd" one in the family. But I like me this way.

We bid on a HUD foreclosure, a doublewide on 8 acres, won the bid and are now trying to get the inside done so we can start putting our stuff in the house. Then can start the fencing, etc, chicken-something-to-put-them-in, a pen for the horses, fence the yard for the dogs and so on.

You go girl!!! life is too short to be what someone else wants you to be!

Sounds like you have your work cut out for you! We are in a similar situation. We need to fence first, then build a chicken coop, and buy some chickens and get our three Boer goats before I pick up our Maremma puppy in February. Our puppy needs a job to do when she gets here. We do have a very small barn, that will tide us over until we can build something bigger. We are really liking the idea of starting with a nice size carport, closing it in and adding stalls and tack/feed room inside.

 

[OneFineAcre]

@Devonviolet

Check out Dills A Little Goat Farm.

They are about 4 hours from you.


http://www.dillsalittlegoatfarm.com/nigeriandwarves.htm

 

[Devonviolet]

@Devonviolet

Check out Dills A Little Goat Farm.

They are about 4 hours from you.


http://www.dillsalittlegoatfarm.com/nigeriandwarves.htm

Thanks OFA! It doesn't look like she has anything right now, but I probably won't be ready for NDs until Spring. I would like to have a doe that has freshened at least once, so I can start getting milk fairly soon. I have been waiting three long years for this! I will definitely contact her closer to Spring!

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Thanks Goat Whisperer! What a cool Name!

That's great that y'all are able to get your breeding stock from far and wide! WOW! AZ! That's quite a trek for you! Or do you pay to transport?

I'm trying to buy from breeders close to home, because I have heard that transport costs can get pretty high. I'm trying to keep our breeding stock fairly close to home, since I will have to leave my DH home to watch the animals, when I go to get our new goats. So, I am trying to stay close enough that I can do the trip in one (albeit long) day trip.

Thanks for the head's up about the two breeders here in TX. I'll have to check them out.

I a somewhat of a photo hound myself, so will be happy to post photos. They will have to wait a bit, though, until we get settled into our new home and get our perimeter fencing in, before we can buy our little yearlings. I do have some photos of the litter our little girl, Violetta and her Sire and Dam. I tried to upload them, but it won't let me do that. When I try to Choose a File, nothing happens. Well, hopefully by the time I get my little doelings, it will let me upload the photo files.

Thanks!

I understand trying to stay closer to home! It does take time and $. It is funny though, we have had people call asking about goats... They say that they don't want to travel more then 30minutes.. they were shocked to hear that we just got back from an 8 hour trip to pick up some goats

AZ is far If I do decide to get some, I would have them air shipped, like they do puppies. Although I am considering having some straws shipped in, but I'm not quite ready for that yet

Dills does have some nice lookin' goats! I haven't spoken with them but I do visit the sight often

 

[Devonviolet]

Thanks!

I understand trying to stay closer to home! It does take time and $. It is funny though, we have had people call asking about goats... They say that they don't want to travel more then 30minutes.. they were shocked to hear that we just got back from an 8 hour trip to pick up some goats

AZ is far If I do decide to get some, I would have them air shipped, like they do puppies. Although I am considering having some straws shipped in, but I'm not quite ready for that yet

Dills does have some nice lookin' goats! I haven't spoken with them but I do visit the sight often

I'm not sure about the cost to air ship goats, but if I remember correctly, the breeder, of our puppy, told me it would cost about $100 MORE than what we are paying for the puppy to fly her into Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. I figure if I drive up to Kansas to get her it will cost me around $300 (gas, hotel & food), which is a lot less, plus it will be a lot less stress on her.

There are some nice websites out there, and I am starting to keep my eye on a few of them. The hard part is going to be to decide, when we are ready to buy!

 

[goatgurl]

hey, Devonviolet sorry it has taken so long to answer your questions. i have 2 Maremma, a male, Benton aka ben who is almost 5 months old and just learning to be a big barky dog and Katie, a 2 year old female. they have 60 acres to watch over. i have goats, sheep, ducks and chickens that they take care of. they could care less about the horses, the steer or the pig i think they think those guys are able to take care of themselves. you can expect your pup to forget she is guarding and mess with a chicken or two before she matures. i am retired and spend a lot of time at home so i keep a close eye on them, especially the pup. he is just a big puppy and may do a drive by chicken nabbing sometimes, they just can't help themselves but ben is so tender hearted and if i yell at and scold him he is sooo sorry. i honestly am not sure whether i will breed them or not. a lot of it will depend on how they mature. as my mom use to say, time will tell. i hope you love your girl and she does well for you. just remember they aren't like training "regular" dogs. they are use to thinking for themselves and doing what they think best.

 

[Devonviolet]

hey, Devonviolet sorry it has taken so long to answer your questions. i have 2 Maremma, a male, Benton aka ben who is almost 5 months old and just learning to be a big barky dog and Katie, a 2 year old female. they have 60 acres to watch over. i have goats, sheep, ducks and chickens that they take care of. they could care less about the horses, the steer or the pig i think they think those guys are able to take care of themselves. you can expect your pup to forget she is guarding and mess with a chicken or two before she matures. i am retired and spend a lot of time at home so i keep a close eye on them, especially the pup. he is just a big puppy and may do a drive by chicken nabbing sometimes, they just can't help themselves but ben is so tender hearted and if i yell at and scold him he is sooo sorry. i honestly am not sure whether i will breed them or not. a lot of it will depend on how they mature. as my mom use to say, time will tell. i hope you love your girl and she does well for you. just remember they aren't like training "regular" dogs. they are use to thinking for themselves and doing what they think best.

Thanks for the feedback on working with Maremmas, GoatGurl. Your place sounds wonderful.

We are retired too, so will be able to work closely with Violetta. We plan to spend a lot of time walking the fence line and amongst the chickens with her on leash, so we can correct her on the spot.

 

[animalmom]

A belated welcome and Big Howdy from North Central Texas. We shan't hold it against you that you came from Pennsylvania. Most of us got here as fast as we could and I imagine you were the same. Sit a spell, grab that iced tea over yonder as it has your name on it anyway.

It is the only place to be... "where the stars at night are big and bright" Where??? "Deep in the heart of Texas." Not that I'm partial at all.

There's lots of us in Texas who have goats and chickens and geese or quail, and rabbits, let's not forget the bunns, and all kinds of other delightful critters.

And yes, we love, love, love pictures, stories and more pictures!!!!!! Especially babies!!!! Babies with spots!!!

 

[MsDeb]

Welcome from KS! I'm impressed with all your research and planning. We just happened to rent a place last spring with 5 acres. It needed brush to be cleared and we said "Hey, let's borrow some goats!" We went from borrowing to buying, to making a very involved LGD transport adoption, to (now) "Hey, let's get chickens next spring!" We find we get so much more done if we don't plan first.

Whether planned or accidental, the craziness is addictive and well worth the price of admission! Enjoy! Everyone here is great, as you've already seen.

 

[Dillo]

My husband and I have been waiting three long years, to move to Texas (from Pennsylvania - to be closer to our daughter), so we could buy a piece of land and raise our own food - organic meat, eggs, vegetables and medicinal herbs.

It took us five months to find the right piece of land with a darling 2 year old house on five acres. Four of those acres are still densely wooded, so our first order of business is to put up perimeter fencing, so we can buy some Boer goats, to help us clear the underbrush - a 1/2 acre at a time.

We have already bought our first LGD puppy, a Maremma, which we will pick up in mid Feb., at 16 weeks, after she has spent time learning from her working mom. Our second one will likely come from a different Dam, but from the same breeder, this coming Summer. The Sire was imported from Italy, and comes from champion stock.

Our puppy will need a job to do when she arrives on our farm, so we are planning to buy some laying hens, to provide eggs until we can buy chicks in the Spring.

Next we will buy three yearling Does, from a Boer goat breeder we visited this week. Our plan is to raise the Boers, so we can eventually breed them and sell goat meat locally. I also want to learn to make artisanal goat cheese (to sell), so we would also like to get three Nigerian Dwarf goats, this coming Summer, because of the exceptionally high butterfat in their milk.

We have been doing a lot of research, and are now ready to put it into practice. We have been on this earth long enough to know that we don't know what we don't know, and we have a LOT to learn. We are so excited to have found Backyard Herds! I have been reading some of the threads and am impressed with the wealth of knowledge here. A huge thanks to the administrators, for making this possible!

Welcome from Australia. I'm only new to this site too. Wonderful advice and people! You sound like you've got a good plan going. Good luck with it all.