Advice from goat owners wanted

[dutchhollow]

Depends on the doe, some will kick them off at 3/4 months, I have seen some year olds still sneaking drinks!

 

[michickenwrangler]

Quote:
Actually, a stall would be better than camping. Goats are not the best animals to tie--unlike horses or cows and a goat could too easily get out of my portable corral. THAT's the reason I knew I couldn't take a goat with me. If you have two does, you could always get an extra stall to keep them in.

Otherwise, your halt at X might get interrupted because SOMEONE is eating your test scoresheet

 

[jettgirl24]

Ha! I have a feeling the judges would NOT appreciate that

I have no idea if they'd even allow it but it'd be pretty funny. If you let them nurse their kids instead of bottle feeding I've read that people just leave them together, then no need to milk while you're away. Maybe I'd just have to plan it so that they had their babies in mid-May, that way I could wait til the end of summer to wean when show season is over and we're home again. After doing some more reading I think we would definitely let mom feed her babies during the day, then separate at night and milk once a day in the morning. I can definitely commit to that, I'm just not sure I cold realistically commit to twice a day 9 to 12 months a year with my current work and family obligations. There is definitely a lot to think about before getting some of those little cuties. I'm glad we're not moving until June or July so that we've got time to really figure out if will work for us. I don't take animal ownership lightly, it's always a lifetime commitment for me so we definitely won't be jumping into anything too quickly.

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

Quote:
I've read many goat books and "How to Raise Goats" is the best! The author is Carol Amundson of Terrapin Acres (terrapinacres.net). She lives not too far from me and does all my disbudding and vaccinating. She's been raising goats for over 20 years. The book is great. I think you can buy it directly from her and I believe it's $20 and she will ship it to you. Her email is [email protected].

Once the kids are 2 weeks old separate them from the doe every night. Milk her immediately in the morning before returning the kid. If you had a dairy goat she would have no problem producing enough for you and her kid (I would just leave one by her side). You could also race in the morning to get out there before the kid eats if you didn't want to separate them. I know a lady that uses that method. But if you sleep in, you'll miss out.

 

[Lifesong Farm]

Ditto what the others said
My recomendation would be that whatever breed you get make sure you get good bloodlines. That way when you sell off the kids you have a wider market. With good bloodlines you could sell to 4-Hers or other show people. With junk you are pretty much stuck selling to whoever you can pawn them off on. Plus the ones with good bloodlines should be good milkers because being a dairy animal they are judged on milking (partially). If you don't have good udders you don't win.

I would also feed alf alfa instead of grass hay to a lactating doe. They tend to do better on it.

My personal favorite goat is the Oberhasli. Second is the LaMancha.

 

[michickenwrangler]

Quote:
Ditto to what she said, although my fave is the LaMancha followed by Obies

 

[jettgirl24]

As someone who has been ridden, competed, and trained horses for 24 years I know how long it takes to become deeply knowledgeable about bloodlines, conformation, temperment, etc. I also know how important it is to do your own research because every breeder will tell you that they're animals are the best. I would like to start out right and avoid mistakes similar to the ones I made early on in my horse career. Do you have any guidance on how to figure out what the best bloodlines are once I have chosen a breed? I'm pretty set on nigerian dwarfs but have also started looking at mini-manchas upon a couple of recommendations. I'm in Washington state and I would think there are some good breeders here, but I would also be willing to travel to Oregon or Idaho if it were to make a big difference.

 

[Lifesong Farm]

When you start looking you want to look at teat size on the little breeds. Quite a few that I have seen are 2 finger milkers. Their teats are sooooo tiny. Some things you want to see on papers are ch and *. Ch obviously means champion but the * are important that means there are star milkers in the bloodlines. They are the really good producers. Also some people don't show their animals but they get them apraised regularly through linear appraisals. Those will show up on the papers as LA. If looking at the nigerians and minis you also want to look at the height of the parents and animal you are looking at. (I have Oberhaslis so I don't know the specifics on the Nigis).

I can talk to my mentor and find out who would be a good trustworthy breeder out your way for the Nigerians. I also have a couple of boardc friends over at TGS that may help. I would start by looking at the conformation of some goats at Buttin heads website (I know they have good stock) and the Nigerian Dwarf Association page to kind of get an idea of how they should look.

Other than the little bit about the Nigis I know nothing about the mini breeds.

 

[bagendhens]

mini manchas are supposed to be great (lamancahs in general are supposed to be one of the absolute sweetest breeds)
ive seen some nigis with pretty deacent teat size too so dont rule out the nigis, there also mini nubians (though nubians have a "reputation")

unless you want a couple gallons a day the larger dairy breeds are probably going to be "too much" goat for you unless you plan on not bottle raising the kids...

 

[Lifesong Farm]

It took me a bit but here is a breeder in your state.

KW Farms
Nigerian Dwarf
AGS & ADGA Registered
Kylee Wilcox
http://www.wilcoxfarms.webs.com
[email protected]
Wapato, WA