The Old Folks Home

[CanuckBock]

The reason I want goats is for their milk.

...

The biggest

is getting the paddock goat proof, and then finding a goat!

Person in town with milk goats gets only HALF a gallon, to a max of one gallon, per goat, and that is with twice a day milking. I think that sucks.

8.4 pounds = gallon of "whole milk"

6.6 pounds for a Nigerian...fifty pounder goats for the most part. Keep in mind, milk tests are done by pounds, not gallons...obviously different cream per milk ratios WEIGH different!

Nigerian Dwarf Dairy, Nubians, Saanens...have fun eh. Yer sunk now...Suz is the breeder of my red ACD HyBlade if you need to know how I know about her.


http://www.silveraurora.com/nd.html:

Our herd has always tested negative for CAE and Johne's! No CL, TB, Brucellosis, Blue Tongue, or hoof diseases!​

You want them testing for Johnnes and CAE too my dear Al--just like my ruminants here with no keds, no lice, no foot rot, no OPP, no Johnnes, etc. ...no nada...sucks crap if'n you get diseased stock right off--healthful start, healthful LONG better lives.

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[Alaskan]

Yeah... My baby sister thinks her herd has CAE

 

[superchemicalgirl]

@Alaskan you want those Lamancha dairy goats. They cut the ears off and fry them, or make soup. That way they don't get frostbite.

I have one of these earless kind (mine has the slightly less creepy elf ears not the gopher ears) and one of the nubians (the floppy eared goat). Neither get frostbite.

 

[Latestarter]

Hey Al... might I suggest you take a trip over to the sister site http://www.backyardherds.com and wander around the goat section for a week or two. There are a LOT of active "goaties" over there and any one will be more than happy to answer questions or try to persuade you on why their breed is best.

Lots of good folks over there too. Several things to consider before purchasing your dairy goat(s) #1 they are a herd animal and so should have a same species companion.

You'll want to determine how much milk you want per day, and how many months you'll want to milk. Most breeds production decreases over time, so though they may be producing gallons right after weaning the kids off her, that amount will normally drop off over time. Most goats are normally only milked for about 10 months, then dried off so they can be re-bred. Some goats can be milked for up to 20+ months without being dried off/re-bred. Some goats only breed during the fall/winter season while others can be bread basically year round. So if you want continuous milk, you need more than one goat so some can be milked through while others are re-bred so they can take over when the others are dried off.

Generally speaking, the full sized Sannen goat is the highest quantity producer with some animals producing up to and over 2 gallons per day. The highest butterfat milk is most commonly attributed to the Nigerian Dwarf, but as a smaller goat, it won't come anywhere near 2 gallons a day and generally maxes out at a gallon or less per day. A compromise is the Lamancha which has high(er) butterfat and high volume, a gallon or more per day is not unusual.

One of the areas that are gaining in popularity is the "mini" breeds where a Nigie buck is bred to a full sized dairy doe to produce mini breeds... mini mancha, mini nubian, mini alpine, etc. The biggest advantage is a goat 1/2 - 2/3 the size of the full size dairy doe that will produce almost the same amount of milk as the full sized on a diet that is about 1/2 what the full sized goat needs to consume. Another benefit is obviously the space requirement to keep them is smaller.

There are other breeds as well such as the Oberhasli, Toggenburg, etc. but the most popular dairy breeds seem to be Nigies, Lamanchas, Alpines and Nubians.

 

[Alaskan]

I am pretty stoked! I just did my first incubator cull (tossing clear clears)

Most of the clears were from the leghorn girls... They must be too fast for the young rooster that is desperately trying to cover way too many ladies. Funny, is that he managed to tag the slower Dominiques, and my dark-ish egg laying mutt. Luckily, he also managed to get most of the Ameraucanas.

The pure Doms are one mature Cock over just four hens.

The Spitz is a very young cockerel over just one hen

All the rest are under one Black Ameraucana cockerel.



Feb 5
Removed Clears:
Spitz - 2
Leghorns - 9, one was old and washed, one just washed
Pure Doms - 0!!!!
Mix Doms - 0!!!!!
Ams - 1, one old and washed, but hard to see in some eggs
Mix Olive - 0, but hard to see

Still have:
Spitz - 6
Leghorns - 6
Pure Doms - 13
Mixed Doms - 3
Mixed olive - 11 but very hard to see
Ams - 8 but one cracked, I think one clear, hard to tell.

 

[Alaskan]

@Latestarter
and @CanuckBock
Thanks for the info.

From what I can gather, my choices up here are pretty limited. Canuck us right, I think the lady she mentioned is the best, and maybe only quality milk goat breeder in the state.

I will contact her, see what she has... The other problem I have is my children do not want a kid... Since they think having to feed it for at least a year and a half, before ever getting any milk is a bit much.

Most people, understandably, sell just kids. The ad that @perchie.girl linked to had some good sounding kids for sale....but yep, kids.

I am hoping to find something decent in milk, and then maybe buy a better quality kid as the companion/second milker.

What sucks is that someone sold some lovely milkers about a month or so back..... (Serious downsizing for whatever reason)

 

[Latestarter]

Some will sell the momma doe along with her kid(s) as a group. The kids can start being weaned at about 6 weeks by separating them from mom at night, then you milk momma dry in the am then put the kids back with momma all day. Then about 8-12 weeks you can fully wean them and milk momma dry am and pm, but you'll need to keep the kids away from momma so they don't nurse any longer and steal "your" milk.

You'll have better luck in up-coming months as most goat owners have their kiddings planned for Feb-April... not too cold and not too warm (bugs).

 

[sourland]

Typical sourland. Bad boy....LOL!

Aleve

 

[Beer can]

  Aleve 

Remember "little, yellow, different" ?

 

[getaclue]

When it rains, it pours. Dh got us some USB 3.0 hubs = good. They are 3.5 in. and we have 5.25 in slots. I ordered the adapters for the slots, which came today. I got to take my puter apart again, oh joy. Actually, the adapters were perfect size, easy to do, and make it all look nice. Oh yeah, discovered 43 more updates for Microsoft Office. Does Microsoft EVER get finished updating?