Why do we have goats
 

Out side of being cute as a button? Why are goats useful? :)

Ours are our landscaing crew. They eat briar and brambles and trim out overgrowth.

Their eating has resulted in a really nice fire break area for our house.

And they are cute, even if Sandy is overly vocal and clingy today because she has raging PMS.

Lynda

we got our because I can't drink cows milk. they have cleared about three acres of blackberry plants for us, provided us with milk, meat, manure, emptyed our wallets, given us love, entertainment, a reason to get up in the morning (wether we want to or not!). I love my LaManchas! :rock:

We got our first ones, mutts, as pets and then heard about Boer goats so now we have some of those, to sell the male offspring for now and eventually most of the female offspring as well. But the main reason is STILL because they are as cute as buttons, and then some.

We have ours for a multitude of reasons. They provide us with fresh raw milk, meat, garden fertilizer, give us lessons in patience and lessons in life. Doing the chores teaches the children responsibility. And they are so sweet!!

I got my two Goats as pets. They also do a great job at keeping the pasture mowed. We used to get weeds out there that were over four feet tall. Since getting my Goats we don't have any problems with weeds.

The Goats will also be a part of my business next year. I plan on starting up my own business making and selling home made Goat Milk Soap (also Lip Balm, etc). I have a Doe and Wether and currently my Doe has never been bred or produced milk (she will be two in April). But I am getting two more Goats next spring. One which will be a Doe and she will be in Milk Production. The other is going to be a Buck to which I can bred to my Does each fall.

All in all my Goats are loving pets.

goats
 

We got ours for milk. One is named Pipsqueak.

My reasons seem to develop from one to another, in a surprising, satisfying way. I first got my Nubian doe because I wanted to try milking, mainly for butter and hoping to be able to make cheese. She was my first animal other than chickens, and I learned a lot, and valued it. She was great for my kids, getting them outdoors and giving them a chance to experience animals. Then we had her bred, and I began to think that having my kids see birth was the most valuable thing, and it was great.

We loved having a baby around, but didn't plan to keep it, as it was male. We had a friend planning on taking it. He was brought back to us the first day, though, because he would hop right out of his pen. So plans changed, and we butchered him. The kids loved him as a baby, but he grew to the point that he overwhealmed them pretty quickly, and no one was too attached to him, so it wasn't too stressful, but it did teach them the value of meat, and the sacrifice involved, and we have some great quality meat in the freezer. Once again, things I had not expected from the outset.

Now I am milking her, which has taken a lot of patience, but I really enjoy making dairy products. I have made butter, yogurt, kefir, cultured buttermilk, cottage cheese, hard cheese, gjetost (sweet salty whey cheese), neufchatel and ricotta cheese.

I'm trying to have her bred by a pygmy (we tried this week, but missed the timing, slightly I think. We'll try again early December). I have decided it's a good idea to try kindergoats. Two kinder does would be easier to manage, especially around kids, they would keep each other company, and from what I hear, give us a good amount of great milk for my projects.

So I think that my children and I have gained a lot through having a goat, and often in ways I never expected.

I grew up on a dairy farm and have only two acrecs but we adopted 3 children from the city and I wanted them to have the childhood I had and wanted them to learn responsibilty so I got dairy goats, chickens, ducks, etc.
My other reason was self-sufficiency, but to be honest I could buy milk from the store a whole lot cheaper than what it cost to raise them. However, there is something "charming" about going out at 5:30 and milking the goats and my children asking the night before "you are going to get me up to go out with you in the morning right Daddy?".

We bought ours for milking, and they pay for themselves by just keeping milk in the fridge. The babies, and their sale, is a nice bonus.
mary

It's an addiction. Without them I would go through very painful withdrawal.

Ruth

Wouldn't we all, moose. They give us joy, AND headachs, but they are so cute about it.

Thanks for sharing your wonderful comments of your goats. I wish I could have some. I may get some of the soap and stuff if you ever sell it online, etc. I am anxious for a lady at a stable a couple of miles from me to start selling her goat milk. It is expensive, but I like it fresh. :sing:

What are goats for? Outside of milk (and all that entails from the best fudge on the planet to goat soap to simply time tested nutrition) my goats offer me the kind of joy and entertainment I would be sadly missing without them.

Eh, when we had goats we used them for a couple of things.

1. Milk
2. Market Fixed Males (forgot name), since none of my family cares for the taste of goat
3. Compost :)

Since then, we have an extra 5 acres that isn't being used.
I'm going to start a 4-H sheep project.

I'm glad I called that land, my parents were considering turning it into more pasture land.

Peepsqueak,

Were you talking about the soap that 'I' will be making?

Yes, I will try and sell some of it online. I'm going to try and get my own website up and I'll also try selling through e-Bay and also through message boards.

I fell in love with baby goats when I was helping a friend on her goat dairy. I bartered work for 2 doelings. One of them, a Saanen kid named Angel, won her dry leg at a show when she was still less than 3 months old. I got hooked and bartered for more goats. I mostly have Nubians because I think they are really cute. We make cheese with their milk. They are great companions, they eat the noxious weeds and help me live closer to nature.

We got our first goat because my younger sister wanted to have a goat for 4-H. We bough the next one because the first one was a horned Saanen, so no go. They've trickled in for varying reasons. I bought my doe from the neighbors who were going to return her to the sale barn. We had a stray doe we took in who had been wandering around town with an infected head (dehorned as an adult).
Dad and Hannah brought home a buck for breeding and since the kids hit the ground we have only had one year when we didn't have kids. I took over most of the care and decisions after high school in 2001. This past year we decided on what we were breeding towards. Boer and Nubian. The goats, if I can get them trained to electric fencing, are going to be a wonderful weed control asset to our cow dairy. They wandered the property freely this past year and did wonders for the fields. I am going to control where they browse this next year.
I am also going to try my hand at goat milk soap. May show a few at the county fair where we show our dairy cattle. I am also planning on raising a steer on goat's milk this next spring. Good old Jersey meat for the freezer! Too expensive to raise him on anything but goat's milk. All that takes is my time twice a day.
Mostly though, the goats provide weed control, joy, and keep us on our toes with all that personality packed into such a small body!

I had been looking into many different animals mostly for some experience. I got some chickens, and my daughter was looking into getting a pot belly pig. So my son ansd I decided we wanted pygmy goats and each got one. We got them for pets and for experience with farm animals. They have given us much more. I rarely have to cut the feilds anymore. I only spot mowed them for the most part since getting the goats. They are great companions and so much fun to watch and play with. I have yet to get bored with caring for any of them and look forward to hearing the animals calling to me from the barn and feild when I walk out the door. It is well worth the cost of feeding and the work of caring for them.

We got our first from an auction, just because she was so darn cute and we didn't have one yet. Now we're up to 4, two of which are expecting. They are just so darn cute, lots of fun, and the greatest of friends. Milk, items made from the milk, and money made from selling extra males is just a bonus :)

something to spend our money on when the kids move out,and cute is a good reason