Any goat people mind a brain pick?

[codymax2]

Sorry I didn't see your post before I asked =P I'm looking for lots of milk!! I make cheese, yogurt, and we go through about 7-8 gallons of milk a week. Family of 5 soon to be 6.
Quote:

 

[ArkaFarmaMama]

Oh yes, especially the black doe with the collar, she gave plenty! Usually had
twins so I cleaned up the times she only had one.

Do some research on pygmys, they really do have some benefits over larger goats.

Unfortunately I couldn't contain them and I had to sell my herd, I miss them
so much!
Here they are with their daddy. He guarded my door at night and followed me
when I went on walks with the dogs. Yep, me and three dogs, and a pygmy goat!
I always felt safe with him "Jude" around!

 

[elevan]

Make sure you check out BYC's sister site www.backyardherds.com too. The forum is for a variety of livestock but is heavily weighted to goats.

 

[ArkaFarmaMama]

Nope, you'd be milking alot of pygmys to get that much!
But research the breed, you may want to add some one
day for your cheese!

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
I'm just north of you in SW MO and they're not going for that much here... been going to all the local auctions (about 4 a month) to see what's selling well and the mini-size goats go for 1/3 to 1/2 the price of the larger goats, by pound. if your pygmys are, what, maybe 60 lbs? you're getting about $1.40/lb live weight. here, the better feeder boers and the young bred proven dairy nannys go for maybe $1.60/lb and I've seen almost nothing go over $2/lb. then pygmys and other mini-goats are going at less than $1/lb, often in the $.60 to $.70/lb range. that makes the price on a 60lb goat $38 to $42 where a feeder boer of the same size is going at $96. I've seen weaned pygmy kids going as low as $10-15, and never more than $25.

so... my point is, if you're selling for the meat market, you need to know what prices are locally, and what's selling in your area. what sells best here is feeders that are in good health and well fleshed and are within striking distance of 75lbs, the desired market size.

dairy goats don't do as well here on price as meat goats, in general, and while they grow faster, they don't make as meaty an animal, so they sell for less per pound in the meat market. boers and kikos and spanish crosses seem to be what's most common at the sales, but there's a smattering of other breeds.

anyway, before you decide which goat breed, you need to decide what your purpose is. if it's just field clearing, get whatever entertains you. if it's dairy, or meat, production, you need to do some local research to see what does well, what sells well, and make your decisions accordingly.

I've got full sized LaManchas, which I love, for dairy production and mini-lamanchas and nubians (about half the size of the full sized goats but bigger than pygmys) that I got for brush clearing and poison ivy control. they can be milked, and the milk is fine, but the production per pound of goat is considerably lower, and once the poison ivy's gone, I'll likely sell them. well, except clover, because she's been working that personality thing on me and I like her.

 

[zzGypsy]

if milk's your primary purpose, I'd look at full sized dairy goats. my top lamancha producer is 2 gallons or a bit more per day, on once a day milkings. she'd probably be 2.5 or more on 2xday milkings. my least productive lamancha is 3 quarts a day, and my Kinder is about that also. average does are producing 1-1.5 gal/day.

one of these goats would supply your current usage, 2 would supply cheese production as well. but two won't clear your woods. and you need at least two, because a solo goat is not happy. both don't have to be in milk, or does.

big producers like this do require grain suplementation. and there will be down time while you give them a break and re-breed. staggering the pregnancies mitigates that some.

my suggestion is find some folks local who have the various breeds of dairy goats, go meet some, try their milk, see what you like.

and if you're hand milking, buy not just by breed and production quantity but by hand-milking teat size too.

 

[codymax2]

I'm looking for personal use of the goats so sale price is not an issue for me. I wish I like the Lamanchas but the no ear thing just puts me off =P No offence. Thanks for all the info. Does anyone have a vaccination schedule they use. I plan on worming when needed. What is the milk withdrawl period after worming? I wish I could find a fellow BYC goaty nearby but I'm not having any luck!
Quote:
I'm just north of you in SW MO and they're not going for that much here... been going to all the local auctions (about 4 a month) to see what's selling well and the mini-size goats go for 1/3 to 1/2 the price of the larger goats, by pound. if your pygmys are, what, maybe 60 lbs? you're getting about $1.40/lb live weight. here, the better feeder boers and the young bred proven dairy nannys go for maybe $1.60/lb and I've seen almost nothing go over $2/lb. then pygmys and other mini-goats are going at less than $1/lb, often in the $.60 to $.70/lb range. that makes the price on a 60lb goat $38 to $42 where a feeder boer of the same size is going at $96. I've seen weaned pygmy kids going as low as $10-15, and never more than $25.

so... my point is, if you're selling for the meat market, you need to know what prices are locally, and what's selling in your area. what sells best here is feeders that are in good health and well fleshed and are within striking distance of 75lbs, the desired market size.

dairy goats don't do as well here on price as meat goats, in general, and while they grow faster, they don't make as meaty an animal, so they sell for less per pound in the meat market. boers and kikos and spanish crosses seem to be what's most common at the sales, but there's a smattering of other breeds.

anyway, before you decide which goat breed, you need to decide what your purpose is. if it's just field clearing, get whatever entertains you. if it's dairy, or meat, production, you need to do some local research to see what does well, what sells well, and make your decisions accordingly.

I've got full sized LaManchas, which I love, for dairy production and mini-lamanchas and nubians (about half the size of the full sized goats but bigger than pygmys) that I got for brush clearing and poison ivy control. they can be milked, and the milk is fine, but the production per pound of goat is considerably lower, and once the poison ivy's gone, I'll likely sell them. well, except clover, because she's been working that personality thing on me and I like her.

 

[zzGypsy]

I didn't like the earless thing at first either, but they grow on you... very gentle personalities. lots of other breeds to choose from, just meet them and try the milk first.

you can buy vaccines on-line, ValleyVet.com carries everything, and if you go on their site, search on goat vaccine, they have a list of "standard" vaccines and a recommended schedule.

however.
it's regional.
there are diseases that are common in some areas and essentially non-existant in others. in colorado, we vaccinated sheep for diseases, and lost sheep if we didn't, that my california vet has never seen in all his years of practice. my CA vet was practical... don't vaccinate against it if it's not a problem locally, so long as the goats stay local. show goats have greater exposure to other goats and diseases, so those get different recomendations. I don't show, so I don't need the broader spectrum. some vet are more conservative, vaccinate for everything.

find a local producer, or a local vet, or call your state agriculture extension office to find out what you need locally. sooner or later you'll need a vet anyway, asking these kinds of questions is good way to start a relationship with one.

 

[carolinagirl58]

No matter what breed of goat you get, good fences are a MUST. Goats can be very hard to contain and they are very damaging to fences. Plan on using the woven wire with the 4" x 4" holes. Also plan on a strand of electric wire on the inside to keep them from rubbing on the fences and detroying them. You will need a strand on the outside low down and also one on top for predator control.

 

[zzGypsy]

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and kid control

I've had lots of kids go through the 4x4 holes... we went to 2x4" no climb on any pens the kids are in.