Hi!

[Mister B]

Welcome! Glad you came.

I like the hobby farm idea. I am working on the same sort of thing, but I only have about 2 acres. I can't have a cow, but I do have 2 goats. My family has 40 acres behind me (well, my wife's brother) and he has 5-6 cows. I have 4 hens and a rooster and 18 chicks I hope to keep most of later. My little farm is growing slowly, but I like it that way.

 

[terriw]

Welcome! Glad you came.

I like the hobby farm idea. I am working on the same sort of thing, but I only have about 2 acres. I can't have a cow, but I do have 2 goats. My family has 40 acres behind me (well, my wife's brother) and he has 5-6 cows. I have 4 hens and a rooster and 18 chicks I hope to keep most of later. My little farm is growing slowly, but I like it that way.

What do you think about your goats? Are they hard to care for? We don't have a cow now but my husband's grandmother used to. It has been years since she had any farm animals. We are slowly making the place around here look nice. Not much was taken care of so we are doing all we can to improve things.

 

[Mister B]

Well, I don't think I was a good goat farmer. I get a windfall of $500 and spent half of it purchasing a few goats. I had 4 goats and my brother in law bought 5. We brought the nanny's home and put them in the pen. We went back to get the billy and bought him home. We let him out into the pen and that was the last we saw of him. He took off and went through the fence somewhere, never to be seen again. A few weeks later, one of the baby goats died, then its brother died, then the mom died. All within a week. We moved the goats to my small area (About 3/4 acre) The goats lived for a while. Then one died. Momma goat (the one I still have) had twins and they lived 2 months. Both died. We kept the remaining ones over winter with no further deaths. Except the Billy (we bought another one). In February, one goat had a baby and it was doing well, but we had a major cold snap and it died in the cold. i had a heat lamp for it, but it escaped the barn and died. I loaded up all the remaining goats the next Sunday (except the one I have now) and took them to the sale. I couldn't stand to lose another goat. The one I have now had a baby and she will probably go soon. I was waiting til the baby got old enough to sell. There is a special goat sale later this month, that's when they will probably go. I feel so bad about them. I have no idea what killed them. One day I would have healthy jumping goats and the next day someone would be dead. I hated to go to the goat pen. Even now, if I call her to feed, if she doesn't make noise and come to me, I get worried. That said, I did buy these goats at the livestock auction. I bought cheap goats to learn with. I imagine if you got nice healthy goats from a good farm, you probably wouldn't have the problems I had.

 

[terriw]

Oh I am so sorry. That would be so heartbreaking. Good luck selling the ones you have left. I had issues with our chickens for a while. We found out it was coons getting to them and killing them. It killed me to go down there and find them dead. Our coop is a lot better now. Now we just have to train our dog to stay away from the chickens. If we end up getting any goats it will be from some people that we know really well. They have a bunch that they are wanting to sell.

 

[Mister B]

Thanks. That would definitely be my advice. I had goats before and had no problems with them. One of the goats I bought was an older registered Boer nanny. To tell the truth, I think she had some sort of major wormage (specifically, I think she had barber pole worms) I started wormer on the goats and I think is saved the ones I had left. I would make sure I wormed them often. I am going to use my pasture to free range my chickens, but I am going to wait a couple months after the goats leave.

 

[terriw]

Yeah thanks for the advice. Our chickens love to free range. They were not so happy when it snowed and they couldn't go out.

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[lizanne]

Well, I don't think I was a good goat farmer. I get a windfall of $500 and spent half of it purchasing a few goats. I had 4 goats and my brother in law bought 5. We brought the nanny's home and put them in the pen. We went back to get the billy and bought him home. We let him out into the pen and that was the last we saw of him. He took off and went through the fence somewhere, never to be seen again. A few weeks later, one of the baby goats died, then its brother died, then the mom died. All within a week. We moved the goats to my small area (About 3/4 acre) The goats lived for a while. Then one died. Momma goat (the one I still have) had twins and they lived 2 months. Both died. We kept the remaining ones over winter with no further deaths. Except the Billy (we bought another one). In February, one goat had a baby and it was doing well, but we had a major cold snap and it died in the cold. i had a heat lamp for it, but it escaped the barn and died. I loaded up all the remaining goats the next Sunday (except the one I have now) and took them to the sale. I couldn't stand to lose another goat. The one I have now had a baby and she will probably go soon. I was waiting til the baby got old enough to sell. There is a special goat sale later this month, that's when they will probably go. I feel so bad about them. I have no idea what killed them. One day I would have healthy jumping goats and the next day someone would be dead. I hated to go to the goat pen. Even now, if I call her to feed, if she doesn't make noise and come to me, I get worried. That said, I did buy these goats at the livestock auction. I bought cheap goats to learn with. I imagine if you got nice healthy goats from a good farm, you probably wouldn't have the problems I had.

Holy Cow (or goat)!! That is the saddest goat story I've ever heard.

. I hope you have better luck with your other animals. Like Kenny says: "You've got to know when to hold 'em --
Know when to fold 'em --Know when to walk away--And know when to run"