I've been dreaming of having goats for years now, and since we finally moved into our new 'House with Land (tm)' I was planning on making them my next project.
I raised 4H lambs as a kid but have never owned goats so I have been doing research and whatnot to get an idea on housing, breeds, food, etc...
I'm not interested in showing or eating them, really, my main interests (besides the incredible cuteness factor) are to use them to clear the brush from my land and eventually for milking so I can make goat cheese and soap. I LOVE goat cheese, but it is expensive!
Anyway, I wasn't planning on getting them just yet, but I was browsing craigslist in the farm section and found a bunch of full-blooded boer girls that were born this past May. They were supposed to be show goats, but the de-horning didn't take so the lady was selling them for $50 each.
I've seen mixed boers going for $100 each, let alone the full, so this was an awesome deal. Plus, 3 seems like a perfect number for a little starter herd. If we get these, they would be delivered this weekend and they would have to temporarily share the new 20ft by 30 ft run with my chickens until I build them their own pen.
I have a million questions for the goat people on here! I know that Boers are primarily meat goats, but can they also be used as milkers? It's okay if not, because I won't be doing that for a while anyway, but it would be a bonus if they were multipurpose.
What are good things to look for as far as health when I go take a look at them?
What would be the best way to feed them in the short term/transition period? The current owners say they are eating mostly pasture grass with a tiny bit of feed each evening just to get them to go in the barn. The grass at my new place is mostly brown so I'm not sure how nutritious that would be, though I have a ton of brush and weeds (I have 5 acres, but only 2 acres have been cleared) for them to forage on. I planned to supplement that with hay and feed, but I don't want to give them too much, too quickly if they are used to just eating grass, right?
I've read that worms can be a problem, should I just go ahead and worm them as a preventative measure as soon as they arrive?
And finally, I need them to clear the brush away, so I'd like to be able to confine them in temporary pens around the property during the day. That way I can let them clear a little section and then move the pen to a new one and so on. I'd love to hear from experienced goat people what the best way to confine them is. I've considered plain livestock fencing with metal posts but worry about them climbing, then there is electric fencing I guess, or I could tether them (but how do you keep them from getting tangled up?). What has worked best for you?
Anything else that I haven't thought of?
I raised 4H lambs as a kid but have never owned goats so I have been doing research and whatnot to get an idea on housing, breeds, food, etc...
I'm not interested in showing or eating them, really, my main interests (besides the incredible cuteness factor) are to use them to clear the brush from my land and eventually for milking so I can make goat cheese and soap. I LOVE goat cheese, but it is expensive!
Anyway, I wasn't planning on getting them just yet, but I was browsing craigslist in the farm section and found a bunch of full-blooded boer girls that were born this past May. They were supposed to be show goats, but the de-horning didn't take so the lady was selling them for $50 each.
I've seen mixed boers going for $100 each, let alone the full, so this was an awesome deal. Plus, 3 seems like a perfect number for a little starter herd. If we get these, they would be delivered this weekend and they would have to temporarily share the new 20ft by 30 ft run with my chickens until I build them their own pen.
I have a million questions for the goat people on here! I know that Boers are primarily meat goats, but can they also be used as milkers? It's okay if not, because I won't be doing that for a while anyway, but it would be a bonus if they were multipurpose.
What are good things to look for as far as health when I go take a look at them?
What would be the best way to feed them in the short term/transition period? The current owners say they are eating mostly pasture grass with a tiny bit of feed each evening just to get them to go in the barn. The grass at my new place is mostly brown so I'm not sure how nutritious that would be, though I have a ton of brush and weeds (I have 5 acres, but only 2 acres have been cleared) for them to forage on. I planned to supplement that with hay and feed, but I don't want to give them too much, too quickly if they are used to just eating grass, right?
I've read that worms can be a problem, should I just go ahead and worm them as a preventative measure as soon as they arrive?
And finally, I need them to clear the brush away, so I'd like to be able to confine them in temporary pens around the property during the day. That way I can let them clear a little section and then move the pen to a new one and so on. I'd love to hear from experienced goat people what the best way to confine them is. I've considered plain livestock fencing with metal posts but worry about them climbing, then there is electric fencing I guess, or I could tether them (but how do you keep them from getting tangled up?). What has worked best for you?
Anything else that I haven't thought of?
