Anyone have goats?

[wildwoman]

Specifically milk goats.... We went on a farm tour out here on the Key Pen last weekend and now hubby is all fired up thinking he wants milk goats. Does anyone have experience with them? What kind of fencing is best? Can you have them in with horses? How hard is it to learn to milk the dang things? How long does that take? Is that twice daily? What else should I be learning about? This wouldn't be until next year as we still have a ton of other projects we are in the middle of.
Thanks
Lisa

[calgal982]

I have goats. Nigerian Dwarfs for milking. They are really little goats and easier to keep in the fencing because of that. I have 5 ft horse fencing around most of my pastures, but have my does/doelings in a small pasture with goat/sheep panels from Tractor Supply. They haven't had any interest in leaving it.
I'm currently milking just once a day as I'm getting towards the dry up phase. I like milking twice a day. The milk from the Nigerians is very rich and sweeter than many other goat breeds. Important if you plan to drink the milk. The major problem with Nigi's is that their teats can be small, so if shopping, look for larger teated does or doelings from larger teated dams. A well bred Nigi can produce 1/2 gal + a day, though many produce less and some more. The nigi is also a very friendly affectionate goat. Can you tell I love them?? LOL I wouldn't go with less than two goats and think three is a better number. They do well around horses but being smaller can be at a bit of risk from getting stepped on.
I milk and make cheese and cheese products. I also make goat milk soap. I'll have babies next spring if you are serious and also, possibly one of my does. Otherwise there are lots of nigi breeders up in Oregon and Washington. Vicki

[cutiepiepmu]

Hey Vicki - Depending on sex of the babies I might be interested in a buck I want to go ahead and haver him de-bucked though lol. No milking in my future, just a pet! Have been looking at what you have and also angora goats because they are SOOOOOOOO soft lol....

Sara

[calgal982]

Sara--Most of mine end up as wethers anyway, but for the cost, there are lots of nigis in your area. Would be much less expensive than shipping... again, they need a buddy or they are really unhappy.

[wildwoman]

Thanks! I guess my concern is coyotes getting at them and if they were in with horses I would feel more secure.-Guess I could hotwire the bottoms of the fencing too? Right now we have 2x6 rails lined with field fence and hotwire around top. We also have a smaller paddock (50ish by 90ish) that has a 12x12 stall that gould just be for the goats. Were thinking 3 or 4 head should be enough for us.
Hubby wants to make cheese I am more inclined toward soap-so guess we are not so far off wanting to do both-Guess we could go back to the place we visited that had the most milk goats and get some pointers.
I appreciate any words of advice or resource ideas.
Lisa

[cutiepiepmu]

Gotcha! After having our sweet goat here when the foals were here I have been wanting one lol. What are the temperments like with the Angora goats?? Theya re a little larger and thought that it might be safer around our giant horses lol. ours will come into the barn at night to a stall, just like the horses

Sara

[wildwoman]

My friend tells me she has a friend that just got some goats from a rescue in Quilcene and LOVES her goats. she is gonna look into that for me.
Sara-how are the foals doing?
Lisa

[wildwoman]

OK so I have more questions-would one 12x12 open stall work for 3? Or would they each like their own bed? How enclosed should it be? Right now there is an open doorway on one side and half wall between that and the stall on the other side that opens to the other pasture. How do Nigi's do with cooler temps and rain? feet trims-how often? meds(ie; worming schedule)-does this affect milk?
Do you drink the milk or just make soap and cheese?
Thanks
Lisa

[figi]

seattle.craigslist.org/kit/grd/874079337.html
goats in port orchard for sale

[cutiepiepmu]

The little boy - nicknamed "monster man" by the ranch crew - is doing outstanding. He is a total hambone and is constantly pulling SOMETHING. We are waiting till the end of theyear to wean him since he had a rough start. Felt like he could use the extra "mom" time.

We lost the little filly not too long after she went to oregon. She had some serious medical problems that we could not have knowna bout ahead at all. She was PTS at the veterinarians clinic.

Mr. Monster will spend his first year for sure down at the ranch. He will get halter broke, feet re-trimmed and some groundwork training during weaning - then be turned back out to play with the other colts through the winter and into next fall. (we bring everyone up to have feet trimmed, wormed, ect. every 8-10 weeks) At that point, I am going to decide about bringing him back up to my place. I want to give him lots of time to grow up and be a kid - so if his mental development is at a place where he can come up here adn still grow up right - then I will bring him home - but if not.... he will get at least another year with the other kids ohhhh and he will be gelded at weaning.... lol. We were told he was gelded..... Well - the chestnuts roasting between his back legs tell me otherwise lol.

Sara

[wildwoman]

How old was he when you got him? i didn't think he would have been gelded already at that point? what do I know? The youngest one I personally have has is Joe and he was about 18 months old-so we had his brain surgery scheduled right away. That poor little girl-sory to hear she wasn't able to make it esp after all you did for her. That brings up a question-do you have horse health insurance? if so who through? I imagine you would have to have a policy on each-not a blanket for all livestock? Not sure how that works.
Lisa

[angelinmydreams]

I work at a dairy goat farm and I raised Nubian's showed and bred them. They should be miked 2 times a day to keep milk production up. A good high protein/calcium diet ( they sell pre-made dairy goat feed). Alfalfa is a great legume feed for them it is full of good goodies. You would want to get does with nice teats it is hard to milk with two fingers LOL. It does not take that long to milk them. If you have never milked a goat before it could be hard the first few times. The trick to it is to think of their teat as a tube of frosting. NEVER PULL ON THE TEATS. Goats need secure fencing. They will get out. If you plan on keeping them in a 12 by 12 stall make a large run with hog panels off of the run that way they can go out side and do their thing. My goats always did well with my horses. Way back when they used goats for companions for track horses. Right now I am milking around 57 goats. My boss is actually selling some of her stock there are Lamancha's ( have little to now ears they are born that way) Nubian's and Alpines. They are all great animals. I will PM you with her number if you are interested. We are located in Arlington

[wildwoman]

Oh hey-thanks-actually saw your pm before this post-well the stall that would be for them is open to a paddock that is at least 50 ft x 95 ft. Right now there is no gate on the door, but can put one there to secure them at night. This paddock also has pastures on both sides, but the back is between us and neighbors-I am just worried about coyotes-have seen one in strip between us and neighbors-but they are doing lots of building and the little green belt isn't so much anymore-so maybe that doesn't make it conducive for predators to travel? Am I over worrying the coyote thing? Hubby has never seen one-he's lived here 15 years-I have only seen 1.
Thanks for the info!
Lisa