Where/How did you get your starter goat?

I got my first goat, a wether in 1974, when I was 12 years old and he was like a dog. Colonel died when I was maybe 16?
No more goats til I got married. Got my kids a wether for a pet (Frank), found a Nubian doe (Rita) and her baby (Henry) in the paper, and found a wonderful nubian breeder in Tallahassee, Florida named Donna and bought another Nubian doe (Rose). Got out of the goat business due to time restraints a few years later.
Back into goats early 2000. Boers this time. Worked on a Boer farm to pay for my registered billy (Amos) got a few percentage nannies and sold boers for a year or so. Finanacial (feed costs) isssues caused me to sell out, but I still love Boers!
Presently my husband and I have Registered Nigerians and WE LOVE THEM! Fleta, Beulah and now Rodney, are wonderful little beings, so easy to take care of and very personable! Waiting on two bottle babies from the local Goat Dairy to be born. Passed on two already because I want lamancha ears! Also waiting patiently for Aunt Kitty's babies to be born, hoping to get a Nubian doeling from her!

Bricheze-- I have loads of family in SLC-- now I just need an excuse to visit! Or make my parents bring me some! LOL!

I was just thinking about getting a weed eater that could give milk I saw a Saanen up for sale on craigslist 7 months back I called but she had some woman that wanted that one left my number in case of no show, welp no show, she called me back I was lucky (I think) she was only an hour away...drove up there and fell in love paid 35$ and brought her home bought 3 weeks later for 30$ a pygmy for a friend cause yeah my Saanen was lonely when I wasn't outside with her...long story short I now have 1-Saanen, 1-Pygmy, 2- Nigerian Bucks, and 1-Nigerian Doe...I think I am going to do Nigerian's and mini-saanen's poor pygmy is sorta the odd goat but if you had asked me 7 months ago that I would seriously get into goats I woulda just laughed...my daughter is going to show the 2 registered nigies at 4h next year and maybe some of the babies...

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The more I know people … the more I respect animals.
Lovn Ivy Farm
http://lovnivy.webs.com/

Well I got divorced 16 years ago and I went and purchased me 5 does, didn't know the first thing about goats and have been in LOVE ever since. I was raised on a farm and around livstock my whole life but not goats, Well it was the best thing I ever did and its just me and the goats. Could have paid my mortgage off 3 times by now, but my kids are heathly, safe, feed, housed and loved and I'M HAPPY. Yes I did a no no and purchased them from a livestock trader. I went to his property and he had probably close to 150 plus goats running around everywhere. I walked and looked at every goat that didn't run plum out of sight for what seemed like hrs and hrs until I was sick of goats and I smelled like a stinking goat. I finally ask the man about 4 does that where standing over away from the rest of the herd and they would just stare at me and watched every moved I made, I noticed something different about the goats but i could not figure out what was so different until I realized they didn't have any ears, I ask the man what happend to their ears and he said they were earless goats. Earless Goats who ever heard of such, I thought man your full of C***, well you guessed it I was about to become the proud parent of 4 earless, shameless looking goats. It took me what seemed like several more hrs to chase them down and get them in the back of the truck. As I was chasing them I noticed a very small yellow and white colored goat kid running around like it was lost and I ask the man about it and he said he thought he had sold it's mom maybe the day before and he had seen it stealing milk from what ever would stand still long enough for it to get a drink. I thought how sad, it needs it's mom. Well after I chased it for what seemed like another 40 minutes I finally caught it and it was a GIRL. The man said you caught it, you can have it. We exchanged money for the goats and I headed home. Well this story could go on for 16 years so i'll end it now. But thats how I became a crazy goat lady. I lost my bubba goat he was 15 years, 5 months and 8 days old this past Oct 13th. Bubba was inside of one of the does I chased down on that day long ago and was my first born. Sandy

I found our first online, after searching for the perfect goat for 6 or 7 months. Flew her in from IA, then continued searching for unrelated animals. Found 2 more, then another, found a buck, 2 more does, 2 bucks, then finally 2 more does & closed my herd after 3 years of searching. I havn't bought any of my goats in state. They were all flown in, the best I could find.
We are now concentrating on growing rapidly, and my biggest goal has been to learn AI, 2 years now I'm still trying to find or host a session. In another couple years my bucks will be too closely related to the offspring for breeding so AI is a top priority.
HF

I had started my little homestead with chickens 3 years ago. We had goats when I was a kid, and I loved them, and really wanted my own.

But my husband said, repeatedly, "no goats!"


One day I got a call from my mother that a family member of her boyfriend had baby goats for sale for a steal. I called and told her I wanted a doeling.

It's a ridiculously convoluted story full of bait-and-switches, and I ended up with a one year old doe. Just one.

Brought her home, and she was VERY unhappy. Bought a rescue nigie lady a few weeks later. Loved that girl She was elderly, and super sweet.


Accidently owned my first buck last winter (had agreed to borrow him, but once he was loaded up they said DON'T BRING HIM BACK). He was shipped in the spring. While searching this fall AGAIN for a boy to borrow, decided I was sick of that whole thing, and bought my own boy.

There's more to the story, it's been a really rough run for me with the goats, and has been a lot of heartbreak. But I still have my original girl and now the nigie buck to breed her with so we're doing ok.

Will tell you my BIG mistake getting into goats was buying someone's backyard cull from the start. I love my girl, but her milk production is pathetic, and that was what I wanted her for from the get-go. She stays because we have history but I will have to add a 'REAL' milk goat at some point.

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Silence is not Agreement

http://www.chickenchatter.org/

My first was a bottle baby from a sale barn, Willie. A LaMancha wether. He played in the yard, followed me around, hung out with the dogs. Well, the dogs liked to make a morning run around the (rural) neighborhood. One morning Willie went with them and didn't come back. Dogs come home when they're hungry, goats stop and eat!
So I put up a sign at the convenience store 2 miles away in a very small town. LOST: Pet goat, white with red collar, no ears. Had him back within a few hours. Had to pen him after that. He got big, had horns, and started being not very nice with my son, so off he went.
Went goatless for awhile, but then started picking up one here and there again, does. Then a friend called and asked if I wanted to learn to milk. I told her yes, she had a LaMancha that lost her twins, and milked 5 quarts a day. I totally fell in love with Minnie. After she went home, I found a purebred Saanen, hopefully she will be my milker, and she rounded the herd out to..... 7. Babies due starting in March.

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http://mmsmiracle.com/EnjoyBetterHealth

We bought our first goat from a gal who was breeding some very nice Ssaanens - big fanatic about being CAE negative! We are friends to this day. We are much more into the breeding/showing/appraising. She comes to my house to breed to my bucks since we are constantly working with our herd for better conformation and milk. (She only has two Saanens in milk now but loves her goaties ). A little Toggenburg doe came with her as a companion animal.

I quoted Vicki - BECAUSE, since we had such a nice start to our herd, I am very grateful. We take the time to help other goat owners and participate in forums so folks can be successful and really come to love and appreciate these wonderful animals.

Thanks Carrie!

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Camille
Copper Penny Ranch
Copper Penny Boer Goats (home of 4 National Champions, 4 Reserve Champions)
Copper Penny Pyrenees
Whey-to-Go Saanens


www.copper-penny-ranch.com

It's everybody's fault here, you all get the credit!

After lurking here for a long time we bought 4 bucklings 2 years ago from a dairy to see if we liked goat meat. I paid $5 each for them, we banded 3 sannens and left the La Mancha intact. I sold him for breeding @ $75, 2 for pets, $150 and we ate the last one.

We liked goats!!!

After doing my research and watching the classifieds, I bought my herd, Fawn, Libby + Penny, Daisy, Jimmy & Tony for $750. Daisy gave me Suzie..They were not nice goats when I bought them, lots of kid deaths just before. Out of 6 kids born only penny survived and we thought she would not make it through the night, Libby had no milk and Penny was bones and hair. After almost a year of good food and a ton of love they are big and sassy.

I have since then sold Tony, Jimmy and Daisy for $650. All my girls are bred except Suzie. I love my girls!!!

We have nigerian dwarfs, all came from in-state (no opportunities to purchased out-state yet).

Our goats were my husbands retirement project (in several years....). So, several weeks later, he talked with a seller who was all out of does, but had 2 bucks for a really good price. We brought them home (still trying to figure out how years turned into weeks and HIS project turned into my project???) and seller called and said she had 2 does a buyer had backed out on. Of course, hubby decided we needed them also. And yes, DairyGoatSlave, watch out -- our 2 quickly turned into several (and I don't mean 7 either -- at one time we had 24!). We also purchased one bred Alpine/Nubian at the sale barn for milking. 41 total goats over the years but we are on baby watch tonight so that could change quickly. Of course, we don't have that many right now, we have 9does/doelings, 4 bucks/bucklings and 14 new babies (boy year with 11 boys, 3 girls)since Dec 4th.

We've had our share of learning experiences and some of them are heartbreaking. But if you need a pick-me-up, just go sit and watch the babies playing, turning cartwheels, even learning things from mama. This is our first time to ever have bottle babies and it has really been an experience. Since I am trying to teach them to be a goat (not a human), I want to mimic what the other goat mamas are teaching their kids. But I draw the line at eating the hay and grain just to show them how. It's bad enough I am "forced" to play with them in their pen just to keep them from being bored and to show them how to climb and jump and play. I never seem to get any housework done--can't figure that out?

Sandra

Just as I vowed to wait

A friend gave us a goat as a favor for delivering a puppy to her. She was wilder than a march hare suppose to be bred but wasn't. Had had babies three times before but never milked. What a learning experience she was. It is a wonder we stayed in goats!

Is it just me???? I can't see the picture....????

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"When you are having dinner with someone and they are nice to you, but rude to the waiter, then this is not a nice person.".....Dave Barry

We got 2 pygmies, just because I thought they were cute, Then had to get some goats for milk, Now I have 1 pygmy, 2 pregnant nigerians, and 3 pregnant nubians, and 1 Nigerian Buck( that I bottle fed and lived in the house for 2 months last year)
I should have had a plan from the beginning on what I wanted the goats for, at least now I do know and can plan accordingly.
wouldn't change a thing though, I love my goats

I had been pondering getting either Icelandic sheep or goats for some time. However after reading a lot about how dangerous rams can be & becoming pretty certain I wouldn't be able to handle shearing all by myself (oh - and my husband nearly dying when he heard how much people wanted for them) I started focusing on goats.

Now my husband wanted meat animals and I wanted to have fresh milk - so we split the difference by starting out with a pair of Boer dairy cross doelings a couple of years ago (one Alpine, one La Mancha). We found a family who show Boers through an ad online.

We drove a few hours in state to get to the breeder who also kept dairy breeds to kid meat crosses for the ethnic food market around Chicago way & used the does to nurse the more and more frequent triplet & quad pure Boer kids when the mommas couldn't keep up... She also raised bottle calves on goat milk.

Anyhow - the girls were a great deal & we appreciated their healthy condition so later that spring we brought home another boer/la mancha doeling and a grade Nubian doe with her 2 Boer cross kids. One was a pretty little doeling and the other a handsome buck kid who I wethered expecting to butcher that fall... However the man of the house who was so insistent that we focus on meat animals fell in love with the wether and now he is our big sweetie puppy goat.

After 2 year of searching for a local healthy buck to breed our girls we finally managed to find one and now we are just a few weeks from our first home bred home born kids - all 5 girls are pregnant... and apparently our wether is pretty sure he's having a sympathetic pregnancy - well he's really trying to eat like it at least!

Sorry it got a little long. But that's how we got started and where we are today!

I got my first goat when I was 20 yrs old, a wether. I saw a sign on the side of the road "goat babies $50.00". I stopped, I bought. He was a sweetie and lived with my dog. I got married moved into town so I sold him to a farmer and cried my eyes out. I knew one day I'd have goats again. Last year I bought a registered ND and her wether son from Craigslist sight unseen. They both have horns. Long story short, I now have 6 does (4 are pregnant), 1 buck and one wether. I'm selling my first 2 goats (the ones with the horns) next week. It's definitely a learn-as-you-go experience. A fun one.

My Husband always talked about having A Goat(meaning 1) when we moved to our little farm(which it wasn't a farm at the time) & I thought he was NUTS but got tired of arguing with him about it so we bought our 1st goat which was a Buck from my Cousin who was a HT member at the time & bought the goat from another HT member on the other side of the state(my cousin is MichiganFarmer). He didn't know what he was buying & found out he didn't want him so we bought him for what he had payed.
I really though Dh would tire of goats especially after taking care of them in the winter & being a city boy! Nope that didn't happen!

Well as all of us know you can't have just 1 goat so hubby decides Gilbert is too lonely we should get him a girlfriend. Oh well, Gracie had the most beautiful Baby goat I had ever seen at the time & I was hooked!

The one's we started with were Pygmy & pygmy crosses, since then we have sold all of those & have Nigerian Dwarf goats. Sometimes I think Dh could be done with goats but I am totally hooked & can't imagine what I'd do without them. I actually look forward to chores evryday even though sometimes they can be a pain in the BUTT!

After getting the goat from my cousin he convinced me to join HT too & I Love it as well as all the folks here too. I have learned a TON from so many people here!

Had goats almost 6 years now.

I'm really enjoying these stories-- thanks-- and it's eye opening-- I don't necessarily have to put down $300+ on my starter goat

I cannot see your pic either. But here:






I am only 850 miles from you, lol. Bring a trailer and I will load you up
Actually next week or two I have to go repo a pair of mini Nubians I sold due to lack of payment. Never again will I sell to someone I know and let them pay me over time. Thankfully I never gave them a Bill of Sale so they are still mine. That is something else to keep in mind if you are going to sell any of your goats.

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You may not copy my posts or pictures without my consent on this board or any other.

My hubby and I were working on a goat dairy. One of my duties was to take care of the baby goats. I fell in love with them and got two doelings at a good price and I bartered work for them. I had lessons to learn there - such as to check teats before getting a goat. Emily had an extra teat - discovered by a judge at a show. Also to look at udders of older does sired by your kids sire. Sire put alot of milk into the udders but attachments weren't that good. Needless to say, it took alot of upgrading with different bucks and buying additional does to get my herd where it is today. Lots of original goats were sold to commercial dairies. I actually am still friends with the woman I got those goats from. She sold out the dairy and we both focus on show quality goats these days. I went from having those two goats to a herd of 26 before kids start arriving, but always sell back to keep the numbers manageable.