BACKYARD GOATS?

[WillowRunRanch]

I am personally in love with the sweet nature and small stature of the Nigerian Dwarf. What are the breeds you favor?

I keep mine mostly for milk to make cheese and soap.

 

[sodamancer]

So I way over estimated the hay consumption. My 2 pregnant does go through a bale a week of organic timothy orchard grass mix that I found at a great farm center for 10$ a bale. Yea for me only needing 60ish bales a year. That makes me VERY happy. Plus a bale of starw a month for bedding. so about 60$ a motnh to care for an animal that can feed me. Love it!

 

[sodamancer]

I have a nigerian. She is great. I personally really prefer my lamancha though. The tempermant is so wonderful on her. We keep our on an urban .27 acre for milk and cheese. We just bred our lamancha doe and she is due the 25th of may if she took.

 

[cassie]

Hello I am looking for some advice on my goats , I bought them a few weeks ago and they were 4 months when i did . i got one male and one female . well my sister said today she seen the male mounting the female and now i am wondering if he could actually impregnate her and if so is it ok for me to put a separator fence through the pen to keep them from breeding because i am not sure she is old enough or weighs enough yet to breed . but it is getting cold around here and rainy so i am worried they wont be warm if they cant snuggle they are a lamancha type milker goat breed and i read this is the season males go into rut but I didnt think he was old enough yet . So any experienced advice is much appreciated i think i do need to separate them tomorrow as long as they can touch noses they shouldn't get to lonely

Thanks so much

Tiffany

I had a doeling kid at eight months of age once. That means she got bred at three months. You don't need a buck. When you want to get your doe bred you can take her to a buck to be bred. Bucks are a handful and they are smelly.

 

[WillowRunRanch]

I hear great things about the La Manchas. They were my second chose for the ranch. The mini La Manchas (a La Mancha doe bred to a Nigerian Dwarf buck) are adorable. I actually went to see one for purchase this past week, but sadly her utter did not seem well attached and a few other red flags made me walk away from the sale

 

[WillowRunRanch]

I absolutely agree with Cassie with her advice to Beeconeofhealth. No bucks unless you are serious about breeding and have a buck with papers who is worth charging a stud fee for!

They will make your property smell terribly, they urinate all over their legs and beard on purpose to increase their smell, and if you want your doe for milk-- keeping a buck who is not far separated will make your milk taste bad and generally be unusable for anything but making soap...maybe... if your lucky.

Since you already have the buck and perhaps have fallen in love - don't despair. Call your vet and discuss castration. A castrated, descented (they burn the smell glands that are strongest at the top of the head) male is a wether and they make excellent pets. I keep one around here most of the time. They are so lovable the neighbors actually come to pet and visit them and prefer their company over that of the does.

I also have my boys disbudded as well for the safety of all. Again, if this has not been done talk to your vet ASAP.

The younger he is when all of this is done the more likely it is you will have a positive outcome.

BB

 

[cassie]

I absolutely agree with Cassie with her advice to Beeconeofhealth. No bucks unless you are serious about breeding and have a buck with papers who is worth charging a stud fee for!

They will make your property smell terribly, they urinate all over their legs and beard on purpose to increase their smell, and if you want your doe for milk-- keeping a buck who is not far separated will make your milk taste bad and generally be unusable for anything but making soap...maybe... if your lucky.

Since you already have the buck and perhaps have fallen in love - don't despair. Call your vet and discuss castration. A castrated, descented (they burn the smell glands that are strongest at the top of the head) male is a wether and they make excellent pets. I keep one around here most of the time. They are so lovable the neighbors actually come to pet and visit them and prefer their company over that of the does.

I also have my boys disbudded as well for the safety of all. Again, if this has not been done talk to your vet ASAP.

The younger he is when all of this is done the more likely it is you will have a positive outcome.

BB

Just a comment. I agree wholeheartedly with your post on bucks. However, while I have heard that running a buck with the does will cause the milk to have a bad odor and flavor, I have not found it to be true. When I had my dairy I would often run a clean up buck with the does at the end of breeding season to make sure the stragglers got bred and he didn't affect the milk flavor at all. I have known a lot of other dairies to do the same. There are many things that will affect milk flavor but a buck running with the does doesn't appear to be one of them. As a matter of fact I once had a buck that gave milk. Out of curiosity I tried his milk. The flavor was just fine. As a matter of fact I had his milk tested and it came back 3% butterfat and CMT negative. The only way I can think of to cause the milk to be off flavored from the presence of the buck is that if you had your hands all smelly from handling him and then milked a doe by hand.

 

[granny05]

I have a problem with a female who had her kids last august. she still hasn't dried up. and need to bread her soon. is this something a vet needs to see or is there a way I can do it.? does anyone know about this.?

 

[granny05]

I have a problem with a female who had her kids last august. she still hasn't dried up. and need to bread her soon. is this something a vet needs to see or is there a way I can do it.? does anyone know about this.?

 

[cassie]

You dry up a goat by stopping milking her. Milk goats aer usually dried off two months before they kid, not at breeding time.