BRAND NEW TO GOATS

[TimberLine Homestead]

I'm getting a baby goat christmas week ( I named him TIMBER )ITS A BOY!!!!!!
I would like to know if there are any other goat lovers or goat owners out there.
If so do you have feeding tips I am still learning about he will be out all day while we are outside to supervise him.
Our neighbors goat is pregnant.
He will be alone until January hoping that our neighbors goat gives birth to at least one girl.
I am hoping to breed and sell the babies.
This article is dedicated to all goat people
RULES
You may post what you want as long as you are

Appropriate

Related to farming or on the farm

Nice

Helpful

and most importantly have FUN
THANK YOU

 

[cassie]

Are you SURE you want to breed? What kind of goats are these? Do you have a market for the kids? Do you have any idea what a mature buck is like?

 

[hmarg06]

None of this is to scare you off goats, just to maybe give you some insight into what having them entails. I have Nigerian Dwarf goats so not all things I say may necessarily apply to all breeds.

It may be better to wether your little guy and start with him and a little doeling until you get a feel for what having goats is like. Take her to a farm to get bred the first couple times so you don't have to deal with having a buck right away until you get through a breeding season or two. They are just an extra expense that get used for a tiny part of the year.

They can be escape artists and the things they love to eat when they do get out are all the things you'd like to keep around. Your garden, favorite flowers, trees, etc.

Bucks are gross. They are nasty, smelly, and can have bad attitudes. With Nigerians having an attitude can be dealt with since they don't get very big. If you have full size breeds they can get closer to 150+ pounds. When your back is turned and they are coming at you horned, or not, they can do some damage.

Will you dehorn/disbud, or leave horned? Fencing and other precautions depend on this choice. What is the market like in your area, are people going to want them horned? Are you going to register, or show? If these are dairy goats, they must be disbudded to show. Disbudding is not a pleasant thing for anyone, look it up to see if this is something you think you can handle yourself or will need vet or friend assistance.

Are you going to register, or test for the three big diseases CAE, CL, and Johnes? Some people won't even consider buying without any of those criteria being present. Are you prepared to go through the heartbreak of having a Johnes outbreak and having to send your favorite goat/s to the sales barn, or having them waste away in front of you because you bought untested stock?

Are you willing to learn to trim feet? Learn to use the FAMACHA chart to see if/when they need to be wormed is a big suggestion I have for you. When we started we wormed every 6 months roughly and the worms because resistant to what we were using and we had goats die from worm overloads when we thought we were doing to right thing. Look into copper bolusing also. These help immensely if you live in an area with Barber Pole Worms.

Do you have support incase your doe has kidding problems and you need help? I can't tell you how many set of triplets I've had to untangle since they were all trying to come at once. I have very small hands so am able to do this with the Nigerians. Full size won't give you as much trouble since they have more room to work, but it still happens and you have to be ready to assist. I've also had to pay for 2 c-sections on one goat. Are you prepared for this financially, and emotionally? Most of the time things go right and you end up with bouncy little babies, but sometimes you lose them and it's not easy.

You need to be careful with boys that you don't feed them too much calcium (alfalfa, grain) or they can end up with stones and not be able to pee. If the blockage is bad enough they can die.

That being said, goats are awesome. they can be taught to follow you, or walk on a leash for walks. They can learn their names sometimes, and can be taught simple tricks. They can live for 12+ years, and be great companions. Most of the time nothing goes wrong, you have healthy animals, and everyone is happy. These things are all said coming from many years of personal experience with all things mentioned. If you have a good mentor who can help you along the way, like your neighbor and you feel prepared then by all means go for it This wasn't meant to sound pushy or snotty or anything, it's just things that I wish people had told us when we got started. Maybe you have other animal experience with breeding, and then by all means, ignore me!

And lastly, for your enjoyment, here is a video of our bucks... being bucks. If you think you're ready for this level of nasty, then dive on in haha. They look greasy because they are full of pee, always, for months, every fall. I wish you could smell it. Your cuddly little pet soon becomes something you don't want to have to touch or you also smell like a buck for 3 days.

As for treats, ours love all things sweet/salty like candy, cookies, donuts, chips, popcorn, animal crackers, pretzels, banana peels, other fruits, veggie tops, choice weeds like burdock and burning nettle. Obviously candy and the like isn't good for everyday, but they do love it on occasion.

 

[cassie]

I liked the video but it didn't quite capture the whole deal. Not only will the bucks spray their heads, they will spray you. If given a chance they will rub their scent all over you, especially if they like you.

 

[hmarg06]

It's hard to capture it all on video haha. I also missed all the blubbering, tongue wagging, screaming in this one. I have been shot in the leg with pee just walking by the pen more than a few times They always want to rub their stinky, pee heads all over you

 

[cassie]

It's hard to capture it all on video haha. I also missed all the blubbering, tongue wagging, screaming in this one. I have been shot in the leg with pee just walking by the pen more than a few times They always want to rub their stinky, pee heads all over you

I used to like to watch buck shows. I guess I have a perverse sense of humor because I found them to be very entertaining.

I do congratulate you on your video though. You may not have gotten everything but you did get the essence.

 

[lomine]

You already asked these and got a lot of replies.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-goat-coming-soon.1430858/

 

[hmarg06]

I used to like to watch buck shows. I guess I have a perverse sense of humor because I found them to be very entertaining.

I do congratulate you on your video though. You may not have gotten everything but you did get the essence.

I would love to go to a buck show sometime, I think they would be great fun! I can only imagine the shenanigans that go on

 

[TimberLine Homestead]

I am prepared to handle a buck and are deciding on whether or not to castrate him.
He is full blood nigerian dwarf goat.
I know how to castrate and am able to buy the tool.
I will learn how to trim hooves and I have been studying for months on the breed and their behavior.

 

[hmarg06]

Perfect, as long as you're going in prepared! I just don't like to see people give up on it because they take on too much, too quickly. Many people don't realize just how nasty bucks are and are taken by surprise Just starting out more times than not it's so much easier to get them bred at a local farm until you have more does. I did that for my first 2 or 3 years and it was much easier since I didn't have to have a separate buck pen or have to worry about any of that. This also give you the opportunity to get more does that aren't related to your buck so you don't have to keep multiple bucks, or get new ones as quickly. Good luck with your decisions, and I hope you have so much fun with them! Nigerians are the best