Office Work.......

[maple]

Quote:
How much area does a goat need--I have a half an acre I could devote to them...would I want dwarf than? And how many times a day do you have to milk? And so then do you go "stud" finding so they don't dry up? Or how would I do it? If I wanted say 2 goats--cuz you said they needed company. And say I have my family and maybe 2 other families that may be interested in milk...2 is enough right? And I mean me and my 2 lil girls and they just have themselves....2 adults--no kids in house anymore...so 4 adults total. Did I confuse you?
And how do I feed them and how much does it costs to feed aprox?

 

[maple]

oh and you never told me how goat milk tastes.

 

[NellaBean]

Quote:
How much area does a goat need--I have a half an acre I could devote to them...would I want dwarf than? And how many times a day do you have to milk? And so then do you go "stud" finding so they don't dry up? Or how would I do it? If I wanted say 2 goats--cuz you said they needed company. And say I have my family and maybe 2 other families that may be interested in milk...2 is enough right? And I mean me and my 2 lil girls and they just have themselves....2 adults--no kids in house anymore...so 4 adults total. Did I confuse you?
And how do I feed them and how much does it costs to feed aprox?

oh my god, so many questions, must have a drink.

 

[ksacres]

Quote:
I did huh, go look.

 

[maple]

never mind.

 

[maple]

Quick! Beaner needs a packy!!!

 

[maple]

Oh come on nells...you said you wanted goats. You know you're interested too.

 

[maple]

oh and did you milk by hand or did you have a milker machine? But you had lots of goats didn't you?

 

[NellaBean]

Off to make hash browns and scrambled eggs....mmmmmmmm............I should make a breakfast burrito..

 

[ksacres]

Quote:
Half an acre would be fine for up to several goats, as long as you know you will have to provide their feed/roughage.

You want at least two. Really. They need companionship of their own kind, they are herd animals. To decide how many you need, first you need to know how much milk you need and how much the goats you are interested in produce.

Depending on the cost of hay and concentrate in your area, it can cost anywhere between $20 and $60 per goat per month to feed during lactation. As far as studs go, you can ask the people you get the goats from, most will have studs for use.


If you are going to be milking by hand, I would steer clear of the Nigerian Dwarf breed, they are NOTORIOUS for having nearly impossible to hand milk teats. And who wants to milk every day for a cup of milk? The high producing Nigis are ridiculously expensive, think in the thousands of dollars.

Other things to consider:
Do you have the time to milk EVERY DAY?
What will you do with the kids when the does freshen?
What kind of goat will you LIKE to look at every day?