Consolidated Kansas

[TaraBellaBirds]

He is adorable!

 

[Trish44]

Thanks TaraBella, he is a sweetie pie as well.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

I wish I was more of a goat person. I unfortunatly had several bad experiences wiht them growing up and that dislike has came with me into adulthood....now my Husband wants one

I am researching the different breeds and trying to get as much information as I can, so that we can choose the right breed. My Husband wants one for brush and weed control. Our property is broken up in little chunks LOL and that makes it very difficult to mow and weed! We have a front yard, a big East side yard, a small west yard, small back yard that leads to the coop, a strip in between the drives, plus a huge spot in back that has trees and bushes. It is a mess to keep up with just two of us!!! Maybe a goat would help but I am afraid it might be more trouble!

 

[Trish44]

TaraBella, I have found the Boers to be a lot easier to handle than other breeds. They're a meat goat so they're heavier & therefore don't jump as much on things as the smaller pygmies & breeds like that. I'm not saying they don't ever jump on anything but it's less than the smaller ones. Mine have jumped up in the back of someone's truck when they came or onto my neighbor's golf cart he drives around the area. They will eat all of your bushes & trees, so you have to fence them out of where you don't want that stuff destroyed because they do good at cleaning up brush. Their real favorite is tree leaves & they will stand on their hind legs to reach a branch & then pull it down so they can eat the leaves. Where mine are now that we got our fence up is great because it's got lots of trees in there, mostly hedge trees & they're pretty overgrown & the weeds got really tall because we can't mow that area, it's too rough out there. It's a perfect place for the sheep & the goats. The sheep eat things on the ground or close to the ground & the goats like things up higher. They both will eat leaves though. They are really easy to train though, they're very food oriented so getting them into their pen at night takes nothing more than some of their feed in their bowls & they run for the pen. They willingly go out into the field now as well so even after a year of them ranging around the yard they have learned pretty quickly that the field is where they go in the daytime.

 

[Trish44]

okjenyp I meant to tell you congrats on your new coop. I'm sure you'll enjoy it as well as your chickens will.

It sure has been quiet here lately.

 

[zigzag45]

Quick question... my broody has hatched three chicks so far. Kiddos are pretty excited around here. They hatched on day 23 I think. There are three more eggs under her. How much longer should I wait before I pull/pitch them? I haven't candled them lately as I didn't want to bother her. I guess I could candle them.... but she really doesn't like people messing with her.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

Quick question... my broody has hatched three chicks so far. Kiddos are pretty excited around here. They hatched on day 23 I think. There are three more eggs under her. How much longer should I wait before I pull/pitch them? I haven't candled them lately as I didn't want to bother her. I guess I could candle them.... but she really doesn't like people messing with her.

She will most likely abandon the remaining eggs when the chicks are ready to leave the nest. You could candle them then and, if they are viable, put them in an incubator and she might accept the chicks from them.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

TaraBella, I have found the Boers to be a lot easier to handle than other breeds. They're a meat goat so they're heavier & therefore don't jump as much on things as the smaller pygmies & breeds like that. I'm not saying they don't ever jump on anything but it's less than the smaller ones. Mine have jumped up in the back of someone's truck when they came or onto my neighbor's golf cart he drives around the area. They will eat all of your bushes & trees, so you have to fence them out of where you don't want that stuff destroyed because they do good at cleaning up brush. Their real favorite is tree leaves & they will stand on their hind legs to reach a branch & then pull it down so they can eat the leaves. Where mine are now that we got our fence up is great because it's got lots of trees in there, mostly hedge trees & they're pretty overgrown & the weeds got really tall because we can't mow that area, it's too rough out there. It's a perfect place for the sheep & the goats. The sheep eat things on the ground or close to the ground & the goats like things up higher. They both will eat leaves though. They are really easy to train though, they're very food oriented so getting them into their pen at night takes nothing more than some of their feed in their bowls & they run for the pen. They willingly go out into the field now as well so even after a year of them ranging around the yard they have learned pretty quickly that the field is where they go in the daytime.

Thanks Trish, I will do some looking up on the breed! Not being prone to fence jumping would be a definite plus. I guess I would have to fence up my lilacs huh?

 

[Trish44]

TaraBella, I haven't had a problem with the boer goats jumping fences, they're just too heavy. I have their night time pen made of livestock panels & the only time one escaped was when she broke the cable ties at one corner & got through. A little wire fixed that problem. They're just hooked to t-posts so it's an easy fix for a pen. We keep ours in their pen at night due to having bobcats here. I'm not worried about the coyotes getting over the goat fence in the field, but bobcats can pretty much jump whatever they want. Oh & I do have 2x4 welded wire over the livestock panels on the inside of the pen just due to one of my girls, Patches is prone to sticking her head in places & not being able to get out. Penny has never done that but Patches never learns. We put up goat & sheep fence all around the acre we started with for pasture, the squares are only 4 inches so they can't get their head through. Our neighbors at the other end of our property & across the road also have boers & they have more than we do & I have never seen any of them out of their fence. Yes if you want any bushes you would definitely have to fence them off. I had bushes all across the front of my house & they ate every one to the ground, even the thorny ones, it doesn't bother them a bit. I just planted all new bushes there after getting them put in the field now instead of roaming the yard. Any trees you want to protect you will have to keep them away from but boy they are good at cleaning out brush & low hanging tree limbs. The tree leaves seem to be their favorite food, but they will eat weeds & other things. They like to browse instead of graze like sheep do, goats like a variety of things. They will eat dry leaves as well when all of the leaves have fallen off the trees & they're good for them. I have never had boers until I got these two does & I have been really surprised at how easy they are to keep & care for. If you get bottle babies they especially are tame & easy to work with. Two of mine have been bottle babies & the other one that wasn't took a lot longer to warm up to me & tame down. She has seen Penny coming up to be petted & getting attention & she now will do that but it took a long time to earn her trust. She had been handled very little when I got her so she was very skittish.

 

[Prairie Fleur]

I have Nigerian Dwarf goats. They're a smaller breed and harder to keep penned than Boers but they're sweet and friendly. I think only one of mine was a bottle baby. All the rest were dam raised and they're all friendly. My first kid was born this spring and he was dam raised as well. If you spend some time with them every day dam raised kids can be just as friendly as bottle baby's without the pushy rudeness. And I feel they're healthier but that's just my take on things. Dam raised kids do grow much faster than bottle babies since they're snacking constantly. I'm planning to have 3 does kidding next spring so we should have an entertaining season! I can't wait! I recently purchased two more girls with better milk production genetics; I can't wait to see how they do. Crossing fingers for twins and triplets!