To get goats or not to get goats?

[PureSnowChic]

Bf and I have been toying with the idea of getting 2 bred does for milk and babies. As of right now I say yes and he says no.

Here are the arguments;

1. Feed- he says we have no money for feed. I say we are feeding the other animals just fine, plus my financial aid will be here soon, plus I am looking for another job. AND they can eat the TONS of weeds we have.

2. Landlords- They are nice, but old and senile. They don't like animals, but have told us in the past they don't care as long as they are outside. They have a few goats.

3. Fencing- He thinks we would have to build another pen (money) I say we use the one we have! It's plenty big enough and has a barn they could go into at night. They would be with some of the chickens.


What do you guys think?


Also, the goats I want to get are out of state. If I purchase them, would it be a problem to transport them over state lines? (AZ to CA)


Thanks!

 

[Roll farms]

Unless you're prepared / able to pay emergency vet bills...don't get them...goats are prone to accidents / eating the wrong thing / getting into trouble, especially w/ new, inexperienced owners.

They are escape artists.

GOOD goat feed isn't cheap...neither is good goat mineral and good goat hay. (Dairy goats NEED good stuff....or they don't produce.)

I'd say no for now until you have extra money...I know you see some in the future, but I'd wait until you had it to get them, not get them and hope for the best.

This is my 'realist' point of view, from 15 yrs of dealing w/ goats, new goat owners, etc.

I don't know how many times I've had to comment to people who say, "My new goat is sick but I don't have money for the vet or medicine."...Not saying that'd be you....but it's sad when it happens, for the goats' sake especially.

You'd have to look into AZ / CA BOAH laws about crossing state lines...ea. state can have different rules.

 

[PureSnowChic]

We have money for emergencies, I think he just doesn't want the day to day expense.

 

[warthog]

I agree with Roll Farms.

Whilst my goats are not kept for dairy, vet bills can be expensive, and if you don't have the money on hand at the time it's needed, goats can and do go down hill very fast.

Wait until you are in a position with a few dollars to spare, if for nothing else the sake of your goaties.

 

[freemotion]

So you have money for emergencies...great! Now tell us more about the living arrangements for the goats. You don't want to get them, bring them home, then have the neighbor tell you that they were in his kitchen. Ask me why I came up with that little scenario.... Goat fencing can get pricey but goats are so much fun!

How much reading have you done? Lots yet? Still want them? Housing and fencing are the big expenses...food varies according to where you are. I find that my one dairy girl paid for herself and all her feed and some of the other goaties' feed last year, but we do use all the milk and make it into cheese and feed the whey to the pigs. We have a big pasture, but even so, it cost me about an extra, unplanned $250 in hay this summer with the drought. My pasture crisped right up.

But that was ok, we just pinched pennies somewhere else. The goats get the best of the best.

 

[PureSnowChic]

They would have a 25' x 30' chain link enclosed pen 5' high, with a 10' x 12' "coop" with straw to go into at night. We don't have any close neighbors, and tons of hills with weeds, but not much grass. I have done some reading and research, but have never had one, so am still unsure. I want them for milk and cheese. We would probably sell any babies. I have heard they just need hay, and then some grain when milking. (They would have access to the hills for free-ranging, but that is another topic) Hay is about $10 a bale here.

 

[ksalvagno]

Are the hills fenced in? Could they roam so far that they get lost? Goats like weeds but if you are milking you have to be careful with what they eat. It can change the taste of the milk. What about predators. Dogs are just as bad as coyotes or other wild animals.

Also, if you are getting them from out of state, how will you breed them? Is there a local breeder who will let you use their buck? If your kids won't end up being pure breed with a registration paper, is there a market for mixed breed goat?

 

[freemotion]

Sounds like almost ideal living arrangements. You would have to be with them at all times when they are roaming the hills....you could seriously cut your hay bill down that way ($10 a bale! I was whining about $6.50 for grass hay this year! Yikes!) You can also cut brush a couple of times a day and carry it in...it would be very doable for two goats. I have snaps hung high on the wall that I use to hang bundles of branches and weeds from, using ball bungees to hold the bundles and to attach the snap to. It keeps the leaves off the ground and none is wasted. I walk the dogs and carry pruners or loppers and bring back a couple of large bundles each time. I know which plants are safe and available....usually birch, maple, goldenrod, sumac, grapevines, poplar, etc.

 

[Ariel301]

I am in a similar boat, only I already have the goats. My husband is in college and works part time, less than 20 hours a week. I have been unemployed two years. For us, the goats are not a pet or a novelty, we depend on them as a food source, so they are a priority. (at least to me, and to my husband when things are going well, when he is grumpy or things go bad, he wants to sell them lol) I live in Arizona, and feed costs are terrible. Hay is cheapest in July, so we buy enough for one year at a time then.

You will need a vet inspection certificate to bring them from one state to another. There is a checkpoint at the border where they need to see the certificate. Call California's state veterinarian to find out what you need on the certificate. We brought our goats from Colorado, and there were specific things the paper needed to say to get into Arizona. It was fairly cheap for us, the vet charged $30 for 6 goats.

Does who are in heavy lactation probably need grain every day. You're looking at a pound or so of grain probably per doe, more or less depending on her individual needs. That's really the biggest expense for us, grain here is $13 a bag. If they are eating hay alone, each of my does eats about 5 pounds of hay a day, and they have free choice to eat as much as they like. I have seven acres, but it is not fenced, and it is not mine, so I can either let my goats graze by taking them out with me watching, or I can tether them in areas I want them to eat weeds. (Most people won't recommend this, but my goats are all trained to be on tethers because I use them for packing and that is how I keep them around camp at night.) That is really only an option here in the spring though, so I get about 4 weeks I don't have to feed much hay.

 

[Hobby Farm]

Just be warned SnowWhite, if you get some, they have the same addictive properties as chickens do. LOL

Hobby
aka: Bigredfeather-BYC