The Old Folks Home

[scottcaddy]

Al, glad you got the goat and got home safely and I'm a bit disappointed there isn't a goat story to tell.

Somehow I think that there will be more then a few goat stories from Al.
Scott

 

[ronott1]

So happy! We were not able to taste the goats when we bought them..


Glory to God... We DO like their milk. Whew!

(Yes, we had tried goat milk, just not the milk from these goats.)


Poor kids, we didn't get a milk stand together yet... So it is taking two kids to milk each goat.

Are you going to start making cheese, soap and etc.?

 

[Latestarter]

Hey AL, SCG makes a really good point! If that male goat hasn't been wethered, he'll reach breeding capability by about 3 months, and then you might start developing problems.

 

[perchie.girl]

Having a non wethered male in the flock will taint the milk or make it very strong tasting.

 

[CanuckBock]

The goat getting was fine... Not too hard to chunk them in the back, it was terrifying to hear them pee, and pee, and pee yet again.

Yeh, you better get use to PEE and enjoy lots of it...billy goats are notorious (the dairy type ones more so than the meats) for peeing liberally on themselves never mind the two scent glands on their heads that they will wipe on anyone unfortunate to be near enough for a treatment. I found this part of goat ownership over the top disgusting. The nannies are suppose to like this eau de toilette scent of the males! I was told that Boer goat was mild flavoured in comparison to other chevron and all I could taste when I was given sausage to sample was that gamey pee/scent gland smell...yeh...gross. Goats are safe in my care, not harvesting any of their meat any time soon thanks.

The male goats make a vested point in consuming each others pee and they pee on their own front legs, faces and beards--they seem the happiest when in a sticky smelly mess. I tried bathing the two bucks I had years ago, but finally gave up because it was not minutes after I released them sans their coatings that they were right back to "prettying themselves up for the gals!" Let's jest say there is alot of deterrents to "Hugging a Billy!"

Yeh, the free male kid does not surprise me in the least--we stopped once at a public park on Van Isle where someone had dumped a Billy off...poor thing and you could smell HIM long before you ever saw him. This free male goat is sorta chalked up to when someone wants to give you an intact jack donkey. Yeh--greenhorn pet markets are the most common target to find where the ignorance abounds. What a rodeo is in store on that situation and the sooner you make Jack a John, the better...think stallions of the horse variety are a handful...you have no idea what Jacks are capable of--screaming, shaking, shuddering covered in sweat--and that's when they are adequately contained. I once visited a co-worker's relative that raised donkeys on a farm...they had their Jack in one of those metal corral bull pens with a top...he looked totally unmanageable as some of the girls were cycling...like when aren't the females doing just that...poor guy--he was a mess. An intact male can never be trusted and only with hard work and constant understanding devotion, can an amiable relationship be maintained.

Same can be said about male llamas and alpacas...that are coddled and cuddled so they end up imprinting on humans, thinking the homo sapiens are also camelids. Not much is said about the berserker male syndrome until some poor sop is mystified as to why their camel beast is trying to literally hunt them down to kill or at the very least, castrate them with their wolf teeth and hooves. My neighbours had one of these incurable misfits--I felt sorry for all involved as it boiled down to simply not knowing any better--duped by the cuteness so to speak--not much cuter than a cria, eh. Intact males are meant for serious breeding situations where you never casually turn your back on them. Never to be trusted no matter how nice nice they have been in the past up until now. I know of people that have been killed by up to then gentle rams, bulls (duh), jacks, llamas, and stallions, etc.

I currently have a wethered sheep and a wethered llama that are absolute sweety pies. Might be because I own a Burdizzo, and my advice (take it or leave it) so should you or your vet clinic.

Doggone & Chicken UP!

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

 

[Alaskan]

Yeah... The thought on the little kid is to try to keep him until he breeds the two does, then, depending on how fast he got stinky and nasty, and just how stinky he already is, I can castrate him, wait a month, then eat him.

It is going to be pushing the limits for sure.... We will probably have to pen him up for the last couple of months, since he is going to hit breeding age probably a few months before the does are ready to be bred.

But whatever, it will be fine, and we will work around it.

I have been reading stuff on butchering intact males, if they have just "started" it is fine, and if they are already all kinds of rank, you need to castrate, and wait for the stench to subside, and then the meat is fine.

As to the milk, it will be fine, both of my sisters's have bucks.

Probably at first, we will just drink all of the milk. The boys drink a LOT of milk. The children want to try their hand at cheese and yogurt, but nit right away.

 

[CanuckBock]

Having a non wethered male in the flock will taint the milk or make it very strong tasting.

Absolutely SPOT ON Deb!

https://fiascofarm.com/goats/milking.htm#effectflavor:


Only hiccup (and I know, I'm a way over the top picky female dog...old dog who won't learn up new tricks either) is it is called a HERD when it's goats (cows too), and a FLOCK when it's sheep, birds, etc....picky person er what, eh.

You may have an intact male goat, but distance between them and the females is the main key. I kept my two bucks where I also keep my rams. The distance I have for the Ram Pasture is one that ensures the boys are outta sight, sound, and smell of the girls. So much so that when the two genders should meet...the girls began to cycle in earnest. So I could flush my ewes with good quality forage...then take them over for a conjugal visit at the bachelor pads of the males knowing they would all come into season and drop the most healthy and numerous eggs for fertilizing. We only ever had triplets and twins in the Jacobs and that was on just five acres.


Go to this site for more than you could EVER imagine on useful info on goats...I used her fecal sample float page to learn how to do samples on my poultry. AWESOME stocked website...AWESOME!

https://fiascofarm.com/goats/index.htm


Doggone & Chicken UP!

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

 

[perchie.girl]

My wethers were a mellow bunch no peeing on stuff... Yet there was one who would drink his OWN pee.... Occasionally. yet he didnt smell.

They were neutered young. mY next goats have the same Criteria... No horns no Cojones

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I had a wether once, he was very doe-like but would mount her went she went into heat. It was strange.

We got him while he was in the process of losing his cajones... via banding. I did not enjoy having to spread anti-fly balm on them until they fell off. I was, however, disappointed that they fell off and I couldn't find them.

 

[Alaskan]

What were you going to do with the baby boy bits?

I always thought the irish walking sticks made from former bull bits were a hoot.