Hello everyone. Just trying to get any info on dairy goats. I am thinking about getting a couple to use for milk. But need to know things. Like is it worth it cost wise? What about breeding? I only want 2. do I always have to breed them to have the milk? Any advice would be great.
Brook
maybe girls are better pets than boys. we had a boy years ago. we would stake him out down by the river and he would eat everything down to the river rocks. very functional that way. but what a horrible animal. He used to put his head back by his penis, pee on his forehead and then come at us. yep. ramming. maybe he was jealous of the horses or maybe he was just a sandwich short of a picnic. dunno. never again. let us know how it goes. I love goat cheese tho.
Most bucks are kinda mean. I had a Boer buck that ripped my leg open with his horns. The reason they ugh pee on their face is to attract females. If you want a pet male get it fixed. A dairy goat will produce milk up to a year. Yes, same as cows, bred yearly. If you don't need a ton of milk, Nigerian dwarf goats are great for milk. Other than that, standard dairy goats will give you what you need. Babies only need to nurse about 10 weeks, tho sometimes the moms will let them go longer. If you don't want a nursing baby, you can always bottle feed it or sell it as a bottle baby.
Have good fencing. They will jump a fence if they can or knock it down when they lean into it to scratch. I never had a problem with fence jumpers until I got Lucy, my paint boer. Then she taught every one of the buggers how to jump a fence.
Don't buy goats at auction. People dump sick/ problem ones there. See if someone will breed the does for you with their buck, then you don't need to keep a buck all year. Most bucks are not mean, but like any animal if mistreated, stuff happens. Hot wire or barbed wire fence. Does will not give milk until after they kid.Make sure you want to commit to milking twice a day every day, because that is what you need to do once you start. You can't beat fresh goat milk for quality, though. Goats are sweet and funny animals. I love mine
