Bay Area BYCers!

[kfchickenlady]

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Jeremy, I caution you about goats. I love them, nothing cuter than baby goats. They may be the most mischief inclined creatures I have been around. Good luck with gardens and goats. Heavy duty fencing is required, yes even for nigerian dwarfs. As I said, I love them, they just take a different patience and diligence than Chooks. I have had people trying to give me goats for a long time. So far, I have held strong, though many more pics may sway my resistance.

That said, if you do get them, I want to come play. Few things are more enjoyable than playful headbutting and wrestling with baby goats. Good luck, Luke

heavy duty fencing for sure, hog panels seem to work best for us, also hot wire. They climb, too! I would think your main problem would be having a buck with neighbors. When they go into rut, they S T I N K!
Not a problem if you have lots of land, but you may want to consider doing what we do, take your does to a farm with a good buck and leave them there for a few days. Stud services for goats is pretty inexpensive, or you could have a vet AI, done pretty commonly in goats. If you want a male, just for a pet, you could get/have a castrated wether. They are great animals, and you will love them, IMO. Good luck!

 

[GammaPoppyLilyFlutter]

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Well aren't they colorful! And some milk too if you have females.

 

[PetRock]

My husband raised goats when he was younger. He has all kind of goat stories that are really funny! He was in charge of milking the flock of 15-20 goats. He is one of 5 kids and they didn't have much money so nothing was wasted. He said that the goat milk tasted terrible but their mom made them drink it. He and his brothers put clothes pins on their noses so they couldn't taste it. He found out years later that keeping the males in with the females makes the milk taste very "strong". He also has told me that he went to school everyday smelling like goats. The smell just didn't wash off.

Jeremy, you might consider only having females if you want to use the milk for cheese, etc.

 

[jeremy]

Debi, oh I would DEFINITELY not want to go out smelling like a goat, literally!

We will most likely get 2 does in the beginning. They're dwarf size so we could probably accommodate a few more but I want to start small as I've never had goats before. The breeder who I'm meeting with this afternoon has bucks and she does offer stud services, so there really wouldn't be a need for a little boy goat at my place.

We'll primarily be using the goats for milk to make cheese, yogurt, soaps, lotions... I'm going to be a goat's milk-crafting fool!

 

[PetRock]

My oldest daughter who lives with us really would like to have goats some day. But for some reason, DH is not too keen on the idea.

He also is anti-rooster after being attacked several times when he was a kid. He grew up on a small urban farm with a menagerie of animals: chickens, geese, sheep, goats, pigs, cats, dogs, etc. He thinks that I way over baby our chickens. They didn't even have a coop for theirs. They just bought a flat of chicks every year and threw them out in the barnyard. After growing up with all kinds of animals, he is not an animal person at all. But he loves me and I love my chickens so he humors me by helping me with my babies. He is getting a little nervous now that we have seven hens outside and 9 more babies in the brooder with at least 3 roos. He keeps saying to me, "Only 10, right?"

 

[mycutekitties]

I don't see a thread for Central California. Can I join this one? I live in Modesto.

 

[Cacciatore]

We picked up three BCM chicks from Sunny this weekend. I can't wait to find out if I have pullets or cockerels. Hopefully pullets, but one little cockerel would be ok.

 

[CowgirlJules]

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Several of us are from around there!

 

[mycutekitties]

cool

 

[PetRock]

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Welcome! I live in Antioch which is not too far from you!