OMG -- He suggested goats!

[herfrds]

Contact your local extension office a lot of 4-H kids are getting into goats so they might be able to help you out with finding some and the care of them. Good luck.

 

[Baymule]

What about buying a bred doe? Then you could ease into the goat ownership and the twice daily milking. Then if you love the experience, get some more. If you decide that goats aren't for you, butcher the kid, sell the doe and go on your merry way. You have recieved some very good advice here. I wish you the very best, but act quickly before he changes his mind!!!

 

[the4heathernsmom]

You do not necessarily have to have a "milk" breed of goat either. Since you are raising both the milk and meat consumption I would suggest some crosses. I had bad luck with the Nubians.....and paid for it dearly. We now have a 80% boer doe /crossed with Nubian. Her buck kids we ate and we kept the female from last year. She throws twins every time so far. But I only breed her once every year and half because she is a pet too. It took a while to get her to stand for me to milk her but she produces a great deal of milk for a mostly "meat" breed of goat. We would get 1/2 gallon a day from her milking in morning and at night BUT we also didn't take her kids off and she was feeding TWO! So I saved money letting her raise the kids, they were healthier, we still got the milk, and she produced meat for us for the table. With you living up north what a previous poster said is true you would have to have protection during the winter BUT it is a great idea!! I was skeptical at first but I am glad I got involved with goats. We started out way too big and I had a bad injury and had to downsize the herd. I just kept my main doe and now I am trying to build back up to maybe 5 does. I kept a buck....it wasn't too bad but during breeding season or their "rut" they get cranky and well our buck almost trompled me so well he went to freezer camp. A lot of people here keep their bucks penned in a seperate area but it has to be a SUPER reinforced area to keep them from escaping....they want to be with the does. I just "borrow" a buck for a month or go let my doe visit another farm to be bred. Much easier that way . There is a major wealth of information on the internet....I suggest googling "FIasco Farm" they have all kinds of info or join an online chat group. Do your research and you won't be disappointed with having a few.

 

[mlm Mike]

We have Nigerian Dwarfs, great milk, the feed is important in how the milk tastes. We also don't have the escape problems it seems some people have. The Alpines are also smaller and good milkers.

 

[the4heathernsmom]

She is right there too...I forgot to mention that.....the milk can taste "off" or " weird" if goats eat certain plants while they are lactating....also it is very important to maintain a feeding schedule for proper nutrition especiially if they are raising kids and you are milking tham as well...there are lists available online for that as well that will tell you what plants are toxic to goats and what plants will make their milk taste differently.....they are browsers and WILL browse on anything they can whether it be good or bad for them.....and don't let people fool ya lol they are smart....super smart and curious....our main doe can open the gate with her horns as well as her mouth....and when she is in prime condition...not prgnant and not lactating and she takes the inclination, if she sees me coming with a bucket she has been known to scale our 5 foot fence like a deer lol...actually kinda funny because i just open the gate and she is right back in....doesn't get out any other time. Goats are so fun.....and NEVER a dull moment.

 

[CluckyJay]

It depends on that you want. I love the lamanchas but have never had a Nubian. Maa is a butt on when I am milking her but that is because she was never milked before.
She is now two and I just had to make her stop nursing her year old doeling!!! LOL

Bad on my part.

 

[the4heathernsmom]

 

[herfrds]

OP I cannot remember where exactly you are but I just saw some Boer cross goats for sale on craigslist around Monarch.

 

[zzGypsy]

I went on a farm tour, and the owner said that bucks pee all over themselves. Guess the smell attracts the ladies

ok, so I know it's gonna gross y'all out, but I'm telling this story anyway...
so the vet is over for a herd check and my hubby is standing there watching our buck, apparently, drinking his own pee... and my hubby says, "why do they do that? drink their own pee?" and the vet makes eye contact, then says, after a meaningful pause, "that's not pee.".
two beats of silence while my hubby looks slightly confused and then the hubby says, "MAAAN goats are nasty!"
the vet just chuckled and said, "yeah, the bucks anyway."

we warn people... don't pet the buck. why? because they've been sampling the pheremones in the doe's urine with their whole face. and it'll take 18 hours to get the stink off your hands.

but we love our La Manchas!
excellent milk, high volume producers, quiet (for goats), and easy to handle. outstanding cheese too!
we milk share with the kids so we only milk once a day.

 

[mama24]

I haven't read all of the replies. I got goats for milk and meat both this winter. I got 2 bred yearling does from a farmer friend. 1 is half Saanen, half Boer, the other is 1/4 Nubian, 1/4 Boer, and half Kiko. The Saanen was bred to the Kiko buck, and who knows who the Nubian was bred to since she wasn't supposed to be bred, probably one of her cousins or brothers. He told me milking them should be no problem, that his does usually have twins or triplets, rarely singles or quads, and make more than enough milk. He has a couple does that make so much milk, they nurse their twins or triplets and their udders still almost drag on the ground! His wife had to bottle feed a set of kids last year b/c the babies couldn't nurse the udder was so low. A lot of his does come from a local goat milk dairy, so they are from milking lines. Then he has a Boer and a Kiko buck. I have read that both Boers and Kikos aren't usually used for milking, but it's not b/c they don't make enough milk, it's b/c they are so much more muscular, they need a lot more feed. So meat goats can be milked, they just cost more to feed.