ALABAMA!!

[EverythingDucks]

Not to contradict this advice, but if you're not looking to breed and sell for higher prices or show your goats buying registered goats is mostly preference. None of my goats are registered, but all are very healthy and serve the purpose that I need them for. We do not use our goats for milk (at this point - though we may try making soap in the future, too many other projects right now). We use our goats for land management - they help us keep the kudzu and privet beat back so that we don't lose our yard to it. They LOVE kudzu. Our goats are mostly pets that we breed here and there to make a bit of money to help with feed costs. We treat them more like dogs than livestock. It's all about what YOU are going to use your goats for. If you're wanting goats that will absolutely produce a lot of milk then buying from a registered line of proven dairy goats is your smartest choice. If you're looking for pets, registered goats can be expensive. It's a lot like buying purebred dogs vs. a mixed breed pup.

My advice is always visit the farm your goats are coming from - check out the conditions of where they're living, ask how often they are wormed and the farm's practices in regards to their health care - what minerals they use, etc. and only buy from places that appear to take good care of their animals.

I 100% agree with you.

For my situation I would prefer to have a registered herd, but I know of plenty of good goat breeders who aren't registered.

My goats are probably going end up being spoiled pets, but their main purpose will be for milk production on the farm. Getting to have kids and selling some to get some money back is bonus of course.

Once I contact a few breeders I'll definitely be seeing their setup and living conditions before buying any.

Thank you so much for your replies, I'm still a noob and this has really helped!

 

[EverythingDucks]

Most people that have older does that are used to being milked hang on to them, but if you catch someone who is downsizing you can sometimes find someone who is letting one go. Bottle babies generally end up being the easiest to milk because they tend to be much more trusting. Even a doe that someone else can milk easily will take time for you to be able to earn her trust as well. Nilla wafers go a long way in earning trust, in my experience.

I don't have any older does that I'd be willing to sell. I have a small herd, just 6 goats right now. If I hear of any I'll let you know!

That makes sense, I figured that there probably wouldn't be many people wanting to sell good milkers.

I'm hoping to find some that were bottle raised, and I think it will be a good learning experience to earn the goats trust.

I'm not in any rush to get goats, so I'll have plenty of time to find the right goats for me. Thanks again for all the information, I really appreciate it.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Thank you for the kind help! @ElizH thank you so much I’ll keep you in mind if we don’t have any luck. What a beautiful herd!

As to breeds I am very fond of Nubians primarily because I grew up with them at my grandmother’s farm. They were very intelligent goats and gave great milk! Our main purpose is help with brush control, but I’m also hoping to finally try my hand training very light packing goats. Milk would be a huge bonus for us. Registered, non registered, cross- I just mainly love those darling floppy ears. But like everything else, I’m sure a goat or two in need will pick us along the way LOL

 

[ElizH]

I 100% agree with you.

For my situation I would prefer to have a registered herd, but I know of plenty of good goat breeders who aren't registered.

My goats are probably going end up being spoiled pets, but their main purpose will be for milk production on the farm. Getting to have kids and selling some to get some money back is bonus of course.

Once I contact a few breeders I'll definitely be seeing their setup and living conditions before buying any.

Thank you so much for your replies, I'm still a noob and this has really helped!

If it wasn't for the great goat friends I've met along the way I'd have been lost! The farming community is so wonderful - I've met some of my closest friends buying animals from them.

One thing I didn't consider when we got our first goats was that they were coming from a farm that did not have dogs.... we DO have dogs. It took about a month of the two feeling each other out and the puppies getting a couple solid headbutts (and one bloody nose) before they had learned to respect each other's boundaries. Now they all sleep in the same shelter and the baby goats that have grown up with the dogs act like they aren't quite sure if they're goats or dogs.... BUT that first month of them being wary of each other and of us because we were clearly "team dog" was tough and it made it harder for us to bond with the goats because the dogs are always under our feet and that made the goats not want to come near us. Something to consider! If you have dogs that will share your goats space (ours are pyrenees for the purpose of livestock guardians) make sure your goats are coming from a place that has dogs OR that you're prepared to help them adjust to trusting the dogs. We had to make separate area in our fence at first to allow the goats to eat and sleep in peace, but we left that area open during the day to force them to socialize.

I know some people are very opposed to bottle babies and it can be a lot of work at first if the baby isn't wanting to take the bottle, but having bottle babies and non-bottle babies I don't know if I'll ever have another non-bottle baby. The relationship is just so different. All of my goats will eat out of my hand, but the bottle babies will sleep in the hammock with me and it's so much easier to do vet care like hoof trimming.

If you're anywhere near Birmingham, there are some great businesses that give away free pallets if you load them yourselves - this was a lifesaver for us. We have built shelters, coops for our chickens, feeding troughs for the goats... so many things! It's something to look into (craigslist is a good resource for this) if you're wanting to save some $$$. Things add up quickly and our goats favorite thing to do is play on our pallet playground.

I'm not an expert by any means - but please feel free to learn from my mistakes LOL if you have any questions.... I'm happy to try and help or call a friend who would know.

 

[ElizH]

Thank you for the kind help! @ElizH thank you so much I’ll keep you in mind if we don’t have any luck. What a beautiful herd!

As to breeds I am very fond of Nubians primarily because I grew up with them at my grandmother’s farm. They were very intelligent goats and gave great milk! Our main purpose is help with brush control, but I’m also hoping to finally try my hand training very light packing goats. Milk would be a huge bonus for us. Registered, non registered, cross- I just mainly love those darling floppy ears. But like everything else, I’m sure a goat or two in need will pick us along the way LOL

We went with dwarfs because I'd heard such stories of larger goats getting out of fences and I wanted something easy to contain, but I do love those floppy ears too! Once we can extend our fence another acre or so we're considering possibly branching out into other breeds.

We call ourselves the island of misfit toys because we always seem to end up with the stray animals and people, but I love it. There's something rewarding about taking on the ones that need it. Our first bottle baby was a triplet that was rejected by her mother. The owners noticed the mother wasn't really taking to her and soon found her very weak in the field, but they worked full time so they couldn't bottle feed her. Thankfully my husband works from home so we could. She's an odd little goat - she was only 4lbs when we got her, SO tiny. We have a couple 'rescue' chickens as well - one that I found on the side of the road on my way to work one day.... she was a meat chicken and I guess fell off a truck but she was just huddled on the side of the highway with a scraped up head and wing. All our little misfit toys.....

 

[Luckyducksinbama]

Is this the Alabama thred? We may have a drake we need to rehome. Incubated and raised. But is over mating one of our girls. I am thinking for her safety we maybneed to rehome him? Is this a place I might find Alabama duck families? We are in North East Bama.

 

[EverythingDucks]

Is this the Alabama thred? We may have a drake we need to rehome. Incubated and raised. But is over mating one of our girls. I am thinking for her safety we maybneed to rehome him? Is this a place I might find Alabama duck families? We are in North East Bama.

Yep!

How old is he and how many girls do you have?

 

[Luckyducksinbama]

Yep!

How old is he and how many girls do you have?

5 months old. We have had to separate the boys/girls.. Juveniles, We have two girls. 2 boys. We figured we needed more females so we bought two females already hatched but they are in the brooder.,

 

[EverythingDucks]

5 months old. We have had to separate the boys/girls.. Juveniles, We have two girls. 2 boys. We figured we needed more females so we bought two females already hatched but they are in the brooder.,

They can be a bit much at that age, especially when they don't have enough girls to "spread their love" over. I would personally wait until he's a bit more mature and you have more females before rehoming, but some drakes just pick on one hen.

You could try posting on CL, but beware of all the scammers there.
What breed is he?

 

[Luckyducksinbama]

They can be a bit much at that age, especially when they don't have enough girls to "spread their love" over. I would personally wait until he's a bit more mature and you have more females before rehoming, but some drakes just pick on one hen.

You could try posting on CL, but beware of all the scammers there.
What breed is he?

Pekin. It is like he suddenly woke up and is no longer docille. We are def witnessing 'growing up' and new animal behaviors as opposed to the 'babies' just last week. But our family does not want this one female picked on either. Esp bc we want the females for eggs since allergic to Chicken eggs.