Lets talk about goats!

[Crickett]

We like goats! Oh yes indeed goats are great pets and fun to have around. We raise the Fainting goats (both Silkys Longhair and the typical shorthaired)and the Mini Nubians. There all fun. See more at our website www.bellsgoats.com Here are a few photos for fun.

That last one has an angel on it's butt! They are all adorable!

 

[SilkiesForEver]

Quote:

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Quote: We disbud as soon as we have the time, usually around a week or so after they are born.

 

[cntrywmnkw]

Hi all, just wanted to show a couple of pics of my soon to be new additions to my homestead. They're Nigerian Dwarf Wethers, the first 2 are brothers & were born 4-25-14, the last little guy was born on Mothers Day, 5-11-14. No names yet. Hopefully I can bring them home about mid July.

 

[Crickett]

WWW! Now I want goats too!

 

[Haviris]

My herds small, but complete for now, here are my boys and girls,

 

[Massey]

Hi all,

Pretty much totally new to goats, looking at getting 1 (well 2 if you guys confirm that its much better for them to have at least 2) goats. mainly for milking and selling female kids and i tell myself eating male kids but i know i would be able to so selling them too.

i suppose my questions would be;

what bread of goat would people recommend; looking for medium sized goat, decent milk production and hopefully very friendly.

Can i keep my goat in the same run as chickens with separate housing? so far the chicken run is 25*40 feet looking to have about 6-10 chickens and the two goats so might expand it to maybe 100*25 feet.

Can you take a goat for a walk (i know sounds silly) but the goats would have limited foraging and i thought they might like it as a treat to be able to go walking on country lanes to eat some stuff on the hedgerows?

i was going to locate the milking stand directly outside the run gate (to one side) just so i can bring out the goat from the run to milk so i'm not getting disturbed by the other goat or chickens, is this a good idea or is this what people normally do?

Are goats bothered by bees (will have a couple of hives) outside the run so the goats cant get to but the flying bees might get to the goats, are they like horses with bees (always being told its a bad idea to keep them both together),

oh if it makes any differences to anything i live in ireland, climate mild and wet mainly, highs of 30-35 C in summer but generally around 20-30 and lows of -4-6 C in winter but generally around -2- 6C,

 

[cassie]

The breed you like is the one to get. I would stay away from Toggs simply because some of them give bad flavored milk and that problem is hereditary. You can take the goat for a walk and having the milking stand outside the pen is a must. Otherwise you will be bothered by the others. As long as the goats have their own shelter they can share the chicken run. I would make sure they can't get to the chicken feed, though.

 

[Massey]

Thanks for the reply,

i'm thinking about the pygmy goat, at the moment i just like the look of them so its early stages will do some more research yet,

 

[cassie]

Unless you just want enough milk for your tea or coffee, the pygmy is not a good choice. They were originally bred as a meat goat. Plus they have itty bitty teats.

 

[SilkiesForEver]

Maybe consider getting a Mini Nubian? I'm biased, of course, as we raise them, but they are an excellent cross. They give a large amount of milk for their size, and depending on their Nubian blood %, they have nice large teats that are very easy to milk.