PEOPLE WITH GOATS!!!

[Southern28Chick]

Thanks Blondie! Those pictures are exactly what I was looking for.

 

[helmstead]

Blondie I love your hay manger set up! We made ours out of wood inside the barn so the goats can get to it from inside and out and the hay stays dry. Kinda hard to describe - but we widened the slats between the boards that comprise the wall of the barn so a little goatie nose could fit in it, then built a typical manger inside with spaces between the boards as well. Oy - need a pic!

Anyway, will have to show yours to DH because we need a manger in the kidding stall, and that would be ideal.

 

[MissPrissy]

I have a barn built in 1915 so anything I show you would be hard to duplicate. Just keep in mind the goats just need a shelter to get out of the weather and to break the cold winter wind.

With a dirt floor you can allow bedding to build up in a deep litter method and the bottom decaying and composting bedding and feces will generate heat in the winter. This doesn't mean you don't clean the goat barn. I scoop out my goats poop every morning but it is never really all gone. The little goaty balls roll and fall down in the bedding and are covered over. I know that is gross but it is the truth. Most of the poop is shoveled out. Not a fun job but a necessary one. I also keep DE spread out in their bedding and in their coat. It works great just like with the chickens. So don't worry about building something with a wooden floor. The goat urine alone will ruin it.

You don't need a fancy wooden shelter. I have seen an elaborate barn structure with stalls and fancy doors down to a simple 3 sided lean-to type shelter as well as a hoop house made with cattle panels and covered with a tarp. If you don't get snow the hoop house may be an inexpensive way for you to provide shelter.

http://goatseeker.com/guides/quonset-hut-goat-shelters

If you look at this website -

http://www.motesclearcreekfarms.com/ASP/articles/Shelters.asp

you will see many and varied shelters.

You don't need a building to lock them up in. They will put themselves up and come and go as they please. I had to set aside a place where I could lock mine up because the person I got mine from let the babies nurse from the mommas and in order to get milk I had to separate them for at least 12 hours to get my share of the milk. My does milk out 1/2+ gallon each every morning. They give the same in the evening now that the babies are weaning. You know that feeling of drowning in eggs? It happens with milk, too. There are days when I am tempted to throw the milk out when there is 6 or 8 gallons stacking up and we are using and drinking it at every meal. Careful what you wish for because you will get it. LOL

Dirt floor and a way to get out of the weather and you will have a great place to raise your dairy goats.

Good luck with them. I know you will love them!

 

[Southern28Chick]

MissPrissy,
How many goats do you have to get that much milk? I know about drowning in eggs, I think I have about 4 dozen in the frig and probably another dozen in the nest boxes.

 

[MissPrissy]

I have 2 does. They both give 1/2 gallon each morning and night. Goats are milked every 12 hours. Even the small dwarf size goats give around that much milk.

2 does = 2 gallons each and every day.

DROWNING in milk.

When I get to the point of drowning in eggs and milk it will be easier to combine the two and get a lot of mileage out of them both with custards and puddings and cream casseroles and savory pies.

And you will get to make all of that luxurious soap, too! That will use up a lot of milk. The PH of goats milk closely matches that of our skin making it a perfect combination of moisturizing through good soaps - but then I think you already knew that.

 

[Southern28Chick]

Quote:

The benefits of goat milk are legendary. It has been used for centuries as a luxurious
beauty aid. The low pH level of goat milk is close to our skin’s own pH, making it a very
gentle cleanser. Goat milk also contains alpha-hydroxy acids, which are known for their
restorative and rejuvenating qualities.

http://southern-essence.com/lavclose.html​

 

[new2chicks GBG PA]

Here are some pics of our little barn. DH built this with scrap wood from work! It only took 3 days to put up. Keep in mind that if you are going to milk you will will need a spot in the barn that is easy to keep clean.

From the Front

From the Back

From Inside of Door (Stall is on the Right)

Looking down into the Stall

Just added this one because its cute

 

[MissPrissy]

That is a great little barn! Very nice job your husband did!

 

[Haviris]

If you can live without the milk (or very little) for the first 2-3 months after the doe freshens you don't have to pull the kids, lots of people don't. And you can always breed the does so that you allways have someone to milk (3 months apart). But if you do I would not leave the kids on the mom at all, I would take them before they even hit the ground, the colostrum can be fed in a bottle and it's so much less stressful for both the doe and kids. Starting a kid on a bottle after it's been a week or more on the doe is not an easy task, not to mention having to hear the doe crying for her lost kid.

 

[Southern28Chick]

I've always been afraid of raising goats because I'm scared of complications during birth. I once worked with a guy that was from Georgia and in the summers he would work on a farm. He told me about a goat that had problems while giving birth and she was pitiful for 2-3 days after the baby was born. She wouldn't eat or drink, she just stood in her stall screaming her head off. He said the farmer told him to take her out to the woods and kill her.

Are complictions during birth common with goats? That's what I'm most afraid of.

And once the doe has a kid how long can you get milk from her before she "dries up". I think someone told me that as long as you keep milking her she'll just keep on producing milk. I would think she'd need a break though.