How many goats?

If I don't have any goats where should I get the colostrum?

Do you feed them hay?

Two does only.
No bucks.

Keeping bucks is for the well trained and experenced goat herder.

remember that when you bred these does you will have kids to care for and they are really really cute so you will have a hard time parting with them.
A buck ill be these kids Sire so you will need a different buck for them.
Can you see the problem forming here?

Also those does may have twins or triplets. Could even have more actually so you will be burried in goats sooner than you think.

Start s-l-o-w-l-y.
Learn all you can about caring for them.
They need more care than many think. Let your herd grow slowly as you learn.
You and the goats will be much happier that way.

__________________
Corky

LEAD ME NOT INTO TEMPTATION. I CAN FIND IT BY MYSELF.

Different people feed different ways.

I feed:

Young does/wethers: goat grain, alfalfa hay
Dry (not milking at the moment) does: grass-alfalfa mix hay
Does in late pregnancy and Milking does: goat grain, alfalfa hay
Adult wethers: grass-alfalfa mix hay

All goats get free choice goat mineral mix in a dish.

__________________
Abby
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unless life also hands you sugar and water, your lemonade is going to suck.

You can get the colostrum from cows.. I did used colostrum from cows from the store but it is okay. I rather to have real stuff. So I would suggest you to get weaned baby goats that is finished use the milk up to couple years old..


But If you cannot find a buck near then I would get baby buck that is weaned. And learn from them and breed them whenever you are ready for it. Dont rush..

IMO, dont get goats till you have a medicine cabinet well stocked for them!
New goats can also mean surprise problems. Even simple stress can toss a goat off or a change of feed.

I always give probios to any new comers. From my experience it helps prevent rumin upset due to stress of the changes.

With new goats get all the info of the previous owners management, food, schedule for feed, amounts, pasture type, routines, etc.
I prefer to duplicate the same as the previous owner as much as I can and slowly adjust the goat to our ways, our feeds and schedule.

__________________
"We spend money we don't have on things we don't need to create impressions that won't last on people we don't care about."
~T.Jackson

My site.

Only really young kids need colostrum. You wont need any unless youre bottle feeding tiny babies, which isnt a good idea unless you have no choice (becase the mother has no milk or died) or are experienced and on a CAE (caprine arthritis encephalitis, bad disease!) prevention program.

Sometimes you can use cow colostrum. Or in the spring kidding season, other goat keepers often keep some frozen for emergencies and might be able to spare some.

__________________
Abby
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unless life also hands you sugar and water, your lemonade is going to suck.

Quick question. Do you have to disbud your young bucks?

You need to get a book about dairy goats before you got any goats at all.

You don't get the colustrum. It is in the mama goats udder when the kids are born just like it is in the breast if a woman when her baby is born.
it is very thick sticky stuff that is full of antibodies and starts the kids imune system working.
It is just there for a short time and the baby goats need it within the first hour or two of birth.
It begins to be deluted with milk and is all gone by day three usually though I still wait a full week before using the milk.

You should start with whatever feed the person you are buying frome uses.
If that feed is easy to come by then keep using that but if you need to change feed then do it gradually.
Get some of the feed they are used to and add a little of your feed to it.
No more than a cup of the new feed at a time.
Gradually increase yours and decrease the other till they are only getting your feed.

You can buy pre-mixed dairy goat feed at most feed stores.

__________________
Corky

LEAD ME NOT INTO TEMPTATION. I CAN FIND IT BY MYSELF.

I do disbud my babies no matter what. I dont have no horns on my farm.

Disbudding is always a good idea for dairy goats. Most dairy goats you buy will already be disbudded. When you have kids born on your farm, you should disbud them or have someone do it for you.

BTW, some goats are naturally hornless. Dont breed one naturally hornless goat to another or you might end up with a hermaphrodite. They look mostly like a doe, but are a buck on the inside.

__________________
Abby
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unless life also hands you sugar and water, your lemonade is going to suck.

Have you looked at http://www.fiascofarm.com/ ? I'd read everything in there before getting goats, at the very least. You should also check out a few good goat books.

__________________
Abby
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unless life also hands you sugar and water, your lemonade is going to suck.

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!