Time to get goats again?

Cheryl in SD · #1 12/29/12, 04:03 AM

We used to raise goats, but my health got to be such that we had to give them up. Reading the news lately, I'm thinking it might be about time to get back in. Trouble is, we are in a drought here and there is no hay to be had & the little you can find is way over-priced ($12 a small, nasty looking bale). If the drought continues into this summer, I wouldn't even have grazing for the spring/summer! The kids do lawn owing, & most places only needed mowed twice last summer! Ours got it once!

Guess we'll see what the price of milk does. If it goes up enough it might be worth it.

coup · #2 12/29/12, 05:25 AM

maybe just one,,milk goat,,,,surely you could scrounge enough to feed one...
my daughter has a good milker and she gets plenty of milk,,,then she has 3 other that are pets and they eat up the profit....

Cheryl in SD · #3 12/29/12, 05:48 AM

We love our dairy here. Still have 5 kids at home!

But my sil (no kids) could go dairy free & almost is. She says she feels much better.

Cheryl in SD · #4 12/29/12, 05:53 AM

No goats in the paper, but there is a bred Jesrey first calf heifer for $1500. Not that I have $1500 for a cow right now.

jwal10 · #5 12/29/12, 06:04 AM

We are all goat milk here. Sweetie is big time lactose intolerant, she uses minimal goat milk dairy products. I have never been able to use cows milk at all. We make all our own dairy products from goats milk. Cheese, ice cream, cottage cheese, butter and yogurt. Near half my diet. We have 3 Pygoras, 2 milking most all the time in rotation....James

ozark_jewels · #6 12/29/12, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cheryl in SD

No goats in the paper, but there is a bred Jesrey first calf heifer for $1500. Not that I have $1500 for a cow right now.

I feel you on the lack of hay. Its a real problem this winter and we are still very dry. One cow is *much* harder to feed in a drought than one or two goats. They hardly eat much brush or tree leaves and they sure do eat a lot more grass/hay/grain! Even if you found a cheap cow(that heifer is on the high side in todays terrible dairy economy), she wouldn't be cheap to feed.
If you do decide to go with your own dairy again, I'd stick with goats for sure.
Anyone near you would let you use their buck to breed with?? Would cut down on costs, etc.

Cheryl in SD · #7 12/29/12, 06:35 AM

I know quite a few goat people, so breeding wouldn't be an issue. Just not impressed with the herd quality, most think a "good" milker is a 2 cup per day goat! If we get back in, I'll be lloooking for good quality good milking stock.

Cyngbaeld · #8 12/29/12, 08:50 AM

When mine get down to two cups a day I think it is time to dry off and have a break from milking! Wish you weren't so far away. I have 10 or 11 (not sure about one) that will be freshening starting in 2 months and will need to sell off some.

FarmboyBill · #9 12/29/12, 09:38 AM

I imagine IF one is going to buy an animal, one kind or the other, They might better be doing it BEFORE the price goes up, AND, IF it dont, then make the choice whether to keep or get rid of it.
I bet that, IF the price DOES go up, Everybody who can will be wanting a cow or goat, and the prices will go sky high.
Holsteins will go cheaper, as the big dairys will fold, some of them, and flood the ,kt with thousands of holstein cows. I doubt if there will be any noticible influx of other breeds, just cause there are so many fewer of them in existance.
I got 4 big bales ready .

Minelson · #10 12/29/12, 10:28 AM

Cheryl...you are not too far away from hay. here on the east side of the state there is still grass hay available at $5 a bale. Can you come pick some up? I am buying some alfalfa just over the border in IA $8/bale when I pick it up. It is some of the best alfalfa I have ever seen. It is so packed with nutrients you have to be careful feeding it. I won't even give my horses but a handful as a treat. And some of the stems that the goats leave behind. I purchased 70-80lb bales of brome hay this past early June when rumors started of a shortage. It's beautiful hay and I paid $5.00/bale plus $100 to have it delivered, unloaded and stacked.
Come on down to the goat forum...and do a cross post...we can help you find a couple goats to get started

Cheryl in SD · #11 12/29/12, 10:47 AM

I'll be talking to my dh this weekend and let you know, Minelson!

Minelson · #12 12/29/12, 11:20 AM

Here is a hay search I came up with on Craigs list.
http://siouxfalls.craigslist.org/sea...inAsk=&maxAsk=

When I'm looking for hay I always post a wanted to buy ad and ask for exactly what I want. I have always gotten a good response. That is how I found the alfalfa guy in Iowa. I needed premium alfalfa because I had a sick goat and everything I looked at close to home was horrible, brown stems. So I put an ad on CL. It turned out that I had purchased from him a few years ago! He may have given me a better price because of that...or because he felt sorry for my goat. IDK. He quoted me $8-$8.50 when I first called him back in September and then charged me $8.
It's free to post an ad so always worth a try.

Wendy · #13 12/29/12, 11:43 AM

Quote:

ever wonder why we humans keep drinking cow's milk long after even the calves stop drinking it???

You just haven't met my calves!

I have a Dexter cow. She was feeding this year's calf. I had weaned her calf from last year, but when I put them back together she started feeding her again. She was also feeding her calf from the year before until I rang her nose. She was also feeding the calf from the other cow at times. It was crazy. I finally sold this year's calf & the one from last year so she could get a break. Crazy cow!

I like my cows, but for milk I have the goats. I have tossed around the idea of getting rid of the cows because the goats are much cheaper to feed. I like to put that beef in the freezer though. One good milk goat would be plenty, but they are herd animals, so I would have at least 2. That way you could stagger breeding to have milk all year round.

ozark_jewels · #14 12/29/12, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cheryl in SD

I know quite a few goat people, so breeding wouldn't be an issue. Just not impressed with the herd quality, most think a "good" milker is a 2 cup per day goat! If we get back in, I'll be lloooking for good quality good milking stock.

But if their herd quality is lacking, do you want to use their bucks? Sounds like to get a good one you might have to keep your own buck anyway.

PrettyPaisley · #15 12/29/12, 12:02 PM

Is it time to get goats ? Does a cat have climbing gear ???? It is ALWAYS time for goats !!!!

Kaitlin · #16 12/29/12, 02:02 PM

If you want any rain, we have rather a lot over here. Feel free! (and yes, time for goats again. Goats are FUN!)

Rosepath · #17 12/29/12, 04:32 PM

Ha ha, Paisley, so true!!

DJ in WA · #18 12/29/12, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wind in Her Hair

personally, I am rethinking our consumption of dairy altogether. No children here and I find myself teetering on the edge of lactose intolerance so....

this could be the push I need.

I was reading about lactose intolerance -

ever wonder why we humans keep drinking cow's milk long after even the calves stop drinking it???

there are other, healthier, cheaper ways to get your calcium

Adult humans kept drinking milk for the same reason they eat whale blubber or whatever - to survive. Granted that doesn't apply as much today as it did centuries ago.

Cows were able to convert otherwise undigestible (for us) forage into digestible milk. The production into adulthood of the enzyme lactase, that digests the milk sugar lactose, was associated with increased survival and health.

Interesting reading from wikipedia below. Includes a chart showing rates of lactose intolerance for different countries. Those that had less dependence on milk for survival have higher rates of lactose intolerance in adulthood.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactase_persistence

Quote:

The question then arises: if lactase expression is not necessary after infancy, why has it persisted? Lactase expression persistence is largely due to natural selection. Natural selection is a component of evolution by which a trait affects the chances of the survival of organisms, and consequently, the trait becomes more prevalent in the population over time. Especially in Europe, the genetic variant -13,910*T has been strongly associated with lactase persistence and has been favored by natural selection in the past 10,000 years. Indeed, the consumption of lactose has been proven to benefit humans through adulthood. For example, the 2009 British Women's Heart and Health Study investigated the effects on women's health of the alleles that coded for lactase persistence. Where the C allele indicated lactase non-persistence and the T allele indicated lactase persistence, the study found that women that were homozygous for the C allele exhibited worse health than women with a C and a T allele and women with two T alleles. Women who were CC reported more hip and wrist fractures, more osteoporosis, and more cataracts than the other groups. They also were on average 4–6 mm shorter than the other women, as well as slightly lighter in weight. In addition, factors such as metabolic traits, socioeconomic status, lifestyle, and fertility were found to be unrelated to the findings, and thus it can be concluded that the lactase persistence benefited the health of these women.

LittleRedHen · #19 01/01/13, 08:52 AM

Supply/demand... much breeding stock of goats and cows were culled due to drought of 2012. Come 2013 if rains return the price to purchase will go high. Dairys cut their amount of cows-milk is going up... i'd latch onto a couple of goats or a cow. I have 7 children and we have a Jersey Heifer. my Hay is $4 a bale and sometimes it hurts on hayday but milk is $4.10 a gal now too. When she calves she will pay for herself big time (just not now while shes dry)