So with the price of eggs & cheese, would a goat be cheaper????

[cjeanean]

I only have 1/2 acre of property, and I'm going to have about 50 chickens. I've been thinking about the milk/cheese issue and how expensive it is, and I know I sure can't get a cow. But I'm wondering about goats. My hubby has been saying ever since I met him that he can't stand goat milk, but if that's the only option he has he'll get over it or go without.

So is 1/2 acre enough to keep a goat??? How hard are they to maintain??? What do I have to do to get them to give milk???? How much does it cost to raise a goat??? I have no clue about them, so I pretty much need advice from square one. LOL!!! Thanks!

 

[wynedot55]

all you need todo is make you a goat pen out of goat fence.build a shed.so the goat can get in out of the weather.an she can gaze in her pen.or outside her pen if you want to stake her out on a chain.nanny goats are about $150 or $200 or less.

 

[cjeanean]

so can I just get one??? I read somewhere that it might be a good idea to get 2

and I don't think I've got near enough room for my chickens AND two goats!!! Is 1/2 acre enough??? And nanny goat, I'm assuming that's a goat who is giving milk??? How long do they give milk for??? Would I need to breed her if she stops????

 

[ksacres]

I also don't think you have enough room to comfortably house 50 chickens and 2 goats.

Very rarely is it cheaper to produce your own. It is more rewarding though.

Females goats are correctly called does. Yes, they will need to be dried off (stop milking) and freshened (have babies) every year for best production. Some people do milk through, but then you run the risk of a doe drying off on her own-which equals no milk until you can breed her, then 5 months of gestation.

 

[silkiechicken]

Yeah, with most things, it sounds like maybe it would be cheaper... but add proper fence, housing, cleaning, bedding, feed time, maintenance, vet care, and then getting the products made into what you want/need... and so on goes the list... that $5 a gallon of milk isn't really that bad. However, it is a billion times more rewarding to do it yourself, and you know what the animal is eating and it's health.

There is no way you can grow meat chickens for 69 cents a lb which you can get them on sale for at the store on a lucky day, but knowing they grew up happy and healthy is priceless.

Point is... it's unlikly to be cheaper on the monetary sense, but the trade off in the investment is quality if you have the time to do it right.

 

[kstaven]

If you are in area where you can sell goat cheese it fetches a premium when you enter the niche market. So the costs for feed and maintenance can be offset by cheese sales if you are up for the work and initial equipping cost.

You are running tight on space and would likely have to bring in a fair amount of good alfalfa mix hay for feeding. Remember goats are not grazers like sheep. They are in their glory foraging through brush and tall grass. Will destroy small trees and shrubs. They are born escape artists so good fencing is a must. Personally I am not a fan of tethering goats in most areas because it makes them easy targets for preditation.

If you do get goats I would go after two. Artificial insemination or borrowing a buck annually needs to be planned for.

 

[helmstead]

I disagree that she doesn't have enough land for two goats. The nice thing about goats is they don't need a lot of space provided you're willing to hay and grain them. (and yes, you'd need two at minimum)

The long and short of it, though, is that it's cheaper to buy at the store than it is to produce eggs, milk, and meat on a small scale. WE do it because WE like to know where our stuff came from and what's in it - AND we enjoy the work.

BTW in most states, it is nearly impossible to sell dairy products. You have to be a large scale operator, licensed and inspected. Most people with a small operation aren't going to go through the trouble (and would loose copious amounts of money trying).

 

[tat2edlady]

here are my goats https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=45174 they are 5 months old and I do not have a buck for them I will be sending them out for stud service in the months of Nov. and Dec. I will take pics of where they are in my yard so you can see how I have mine.I like you have a small place but it works for us

Mindy

 

[gila_dog]

Goats need a buddy. They don't like being alone. With only 1/2 acre you will have to buy all your feed, unless your place is overgrown with kudzu or something like it.

If it's all about saving money forget having animals of any kind (chickens, goats, etc). You can buy food cheaper than you can raise it. Of course the quality of storebought food is a lot lower, and you are getting other stuff in your food (pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, hormones, etc) that you can avoid by growing your own. And chickens, goats, etc, make great pets and add a whole new dimension (complications, too) to your life. But if all you want is cheap food, just go to Walmart and buy it.

 

[wyndski]

What is your area zoned as? You might want to check your local laws. Mine is zoned AG/R, and in my county I can't have hoofed animals on less than a acre. Where I am at its 3 per acre, and that includes all hoofed animals. If I had just under two I still can only have three, it has to be two full acres.

I would just check your area. If I was in a AG zoned area, I could have as many as I wanted.