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goats!

(15 posts)
  • Started 1 year ago by munise786
  • Latest reply from quacking minx

  1. munise786
    Member

    Hi there,
    Haven't posted in awhile! Just wanted some advice and tips on looking after goats.
    At the moment, I have 12 ducks, 3 drakes. 9 chickens, 1 cockeral and 6 chicks (from home made incubator).

    And now we are looking at keeping goats ^_^
    So anyone who has any goats or got any knowledge on them, all advice n tips will be very much appreciated!

    Many thanks :D
    Munise786

    Natural Home-made Creams & Soaps. Based in the heart of the countryside <3
    http://kelebekskincare.wordpress.com
    Posted 1 year ago #

  2. m40mo
    Administrator

    lol wait for the fall out, I mentioned along time ago that i'd like goats, I had more people advicing me NOT to do it than I got advice on how to lol
    would still like some when the time is right though, but only as pets,

    mo x
    Posted 1 year ago #

  3. admin
    Sara @ farmingfriends

    Hi Munise,
    I don't have goats myself. I have read that they need a good fencing system to keep them in.
    Hope someone can advise.
    kind regards
    Sara @ farmingfriends

    http://www.farmingfriends.com
    http://farmingfriends.com/shop/
    Posted 1 year ago #

  4. quacking minx
    Member

    I have two goats Barry and Eric what do you want to know :)

    mine are pygmy goats though but I will try to answer your questions :)

    Posted 1 year ago #

  5. quacking minx
    Member

    here's a pic of them :)

    Posted 1 year ago #

  6. Birdwood
    Member

    Hi,
    Goats are amazing. For good milk production Saanens can't be beat, Saanen does giving 1/2 to a full gallon of milk a day. Toggenburgs are also productive. For less but richer milk a Nubian doe is good.
    Dairy-breed bucks are for some reason more agressive than meat breed billies, like the Boer. One good side to milking a meat breed doe is that she needs hardly any grain and will produce on forage alone.
    Have fun with goat-raising!

    Posted 1 year ago #

  7. quacking minx
    Member

    lol yeh I did forget to ask what you wanted them for, meat milk or as pets (mine are pets)

    Posted 1 year ago #

  8. munise786
    Member

    Awww the pics are sooo cute!
    We currently have 3 acres that the ducks and chickens are also using but plan on putting goats on them. We're saving up for their shelter and currently have half the fencing done (ran out of fencing wire lol).
    We want them as milk and maybe meat later. As we're a big animal loving fam and having lots of milk would help too as all of us love our cereal lol
    My main questions are, feed, how many times a day, what feed do you give, do they go into shelter themselves or have to be lead in, what age do they start producing milk, what age is best to buy them..etc.
    Many many thanks!!

    Natural Home-made Creams & Soaps. Based in the heart of the countryside <3
    http://kelebekskincare.wordpress.com
    Posted 1 year ago #

  9. munise786
    Member

    mo - how comes a lot of people were telling you not to get goats?
    Thanks!

    Natural Home-made Creams & Soaps. Based in the heart of the countryside <3
    http://kelebekskincare.wordpress.com
    Posted 1 year ago #

  10. m40mo
    Administrator

    lol I had asked about them as animal lawn mowers and got told they would eat half the trees to, still want some though if I ever manage to sell this house and get my place with more land x

    mo x
    Posted 1 year ago #

  11. quacking minx
    Member

    They eat small morning and night, and they will use the shelter themself (specially if it's raining they hates getting wet) they eat a lot of straw and are great for clearing brambles but don't really eat grass they will take the best grass tips and leave the rest lol they tend to look after themself

    you must have a holding number with goats x I love my goats they are brill but mine r pets :)

    Posted 1 year ago #

  12. Lorna
    Member

    Hi
    We once kept goats years ago when I was smaller as my uncle gave one of his to my Mum as he said the goats milk was good for you as Mum had stomach problems and migraine. Then a neighbour of ours had psoraris (sp) and he got the milk and it helped that. We kept ours in a small paddock and they were moved around in it so as not to litter all the grass with droppings. When the baby kids were born it was great. We never kept a Billy goat because they smell quite pungent. We just took our female to another person with a male goat. More than once we had kids and once they had like litle bells underneath their chins, they were so cute.

    Best Wishes
    Lorna

    Posted 1 year ago #

  13. munise786
    Member

    Awww sounds so sweet @ little bells under their chin.

    Thanks a lot for the advice. We have an orchard area and plan on fencing that off so we can get the goats. We would like to get them in the future so its good to know about how to look after them and hopefully now saving up for the shelter!
    Thanks for all the advice everyone :)

    Natural Home-made Creams & Soaps. Based in the heart of the countryside <3
    http://kelebekskincare.wordpress.com
    Posted 1 year ago #

  14. Ivy
    Member

    One thing you should know if you are planning to put them in an orchard area, they will eat your trees if they are small, or can reach the leaves. We have 2 whethers (castrated billies) they are escape artists love to climb on everything including cars, the best fencing will probably be any mesh type fencing (horse fence, chain link,hog wire etc.). Any hay works, I don't know how nutritious straw is, we feed ours grass hay and alfalfa in the winter. Hope thats helpful.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  15. quacking minx
    Member

    ^^ sorry I get straw and hay mixed up eekk ....... my goats eat the stuff farmers do in bales of the GRASS stuff NOT the lighter stuff that farmers use for bedding for animals (horses etc) the lighter thick stuff blocks up a goats belly system it makes them bloat they need the grass stuff

    I only get mixed up as a farmer supplier of the stuff wasnt nice to me when I tried explaining I needed the high fibre stuff he laughed and give me the lighter stuff (for ages) it was when a different farmer come over and said erm thats not the high fibre thats bedding :( so I changed supplier and now i always get the darker stuff :)

    Posted 1 year ago #

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