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Blarneyeggs said:
I have Nigerian Dwarfs. We love them. The plan is to have 2 of our girls kid in the Spring, but the way life is going these days, I'm not so sure we are going to get them bred. My Lily is currently in Milk but I am working on drying her off.


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My little one and I have been trying to talk her daddy into goats! If she's sees this picture of these ADORABLE animals he will have no peace. We have plenty of room for them! So cute, I just want to hug one like we do our kittens!
 
My understanding is goats gestation is 5 months, they so giving milk 2 months before birth, can be milked while feeding young, they will hold back enough for their kids. Breeding yearly is considered good practice but you may be able to get milk for two years without rebreeding.

Just what I've read.
 
The hardest part for us with the goats has been the fencing. It did take a while before we got fencing that would hold them. Other than that, they are easy keepers. I milk once a day keep them with fresh water, free choice hay and browse and a little bit of grain (my girls are fatties, so they don't get much grain).
 
Joke of the day (from Reader's Digest):

Did you know that Beetoven had chickens? Not for long though - he got irritated the all they ever said was "Bach, Bach, Bach" !
 
So, my sickly RIR runt didn't make it
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It wasn't as sad as losing my daughter's blue cochin, but still a loss to our ever-shrinking flock. I thought she was doing better since I was bringing her in at night and giving her food and water that she didn't have to compete over. I saw her eating and drinking on her own after the first night. I put her back outside with the others during the day so she wouldn't be bored and to give her a chance to forage in the corn patch. After the second night inside she picked through the grass a little on her own and I was feeling better about her recovery even though her face was still really pale, she still had liquid poops, and wasn't running around with the other chickens. That night we were out running errands and didn't get home until well after dark, the chickens were already in their coop and it was so dark so I just left her out there. She seemed okay the next day, same symptoms persisted but she didn't come out of the coop in the morning. I put some food in there for her (the big food bucket is outside) and she ate a little so I just left her in there to do as she wanted. We were out late again that night so she stayed in the coop overnight again, the next morning when I opened up the run door she was laying there and the other chickens just trampled right over her to get out - she was already gone by that point, but it was sad to see the other chickens trample over her
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We are down to 3 roosters (2 black australorps and one mystery bird) and 4 hens (2 black australorp and 2 RIR). We had planned to keep 6-8 hens and no roosters, now I'm hoping that I can convince DH to keep just one rooster so maybe we can build our flock a little on our own to get up to the 6-8 hens we had planned to keep.

My birds are about 14 weeks old now... how long until I can expect to start getting eggs? I know there is a chance they won't start laying until spring with the cold weather coming, but I'm hopeful!
 
CC,
Knowing your space and location, have you checked into kinder goats.....I am drawn to this breed every time I start researching goats...........if we ever get a more settled lifestyle I may get a few of these.
 
wingstone said:
CC,
Knowing your space and location, have you checked into kinder goats.....I am drawn to this breed every time I start researching goats...........if we ever get a more settled lifestyle I may get a few of these.
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Never saw them before!
As you know, space for goats isn't my issue, plenty of that, just not sure how much milk I can use, and as you, time is always an issue.

I had that store at the end of town you try to avoid ;) ask me if I wanted a job! Wish I could afford the pay cut or have a set schedule so I could do it part time. I already know their stock and they have a 15℅ employee discount!
 
chiques chicks said:
wingstone said:
CC,
Knowing your space and location, have you checked into kinder goats.....I am drawn to this breed every time I start researching goats...........if we ever get a more settled lifestyle I may get a few of these.
Click to expand...


Never saw them before!
As you know, space for goats isn't my issue, plenty of that, just not sure how much milk I can use, and as you, time is always an issue.

I had that store at the end of town you try to avoid ;) ask me if I wanted a job! Wish I could afford the pay cut or have a set schedule so I could do it part time. I already know their stock and they have a 15℅ employee discount!
Click to expand...


You would spend your paycheck in advance...( wait..... I already do that)

Kinder goats are a cross of pygmy and Nigerian.....raised for both milk and meat, fast growing and able to breed year round, better to fit my schedule that way.
 

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