How many did you start out with?

Started with two Alpine doelings for 4-H project ten years ago. Have been as high as five milkers. Now milking two (one of the originals), a buck and a yearling just bred. Children are all grown and gone, so I don't want too much work for just myself. I don't have any problem selling milk goats. Want about three milkers at the max.

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Eunice

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...
It's about learning to dance in the rain.

1 bred pygora doe, she had 3. We ate the little buck, now have 3 does. Works well for us. We enjoy them. We get milk, whey, buttermilk, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese and butter. Sweetie gets fiber. I love the socks....James

We started out with a buck, then got two bred does...soon had 5 more, then picked up two more who both had twins....well, you get the idea. LOL :-) But they're sort of like potato chips. You always want more.

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"Be still sad heart, and cease repining. Behind the clouds, the sun is shining. Thy fate is the common fate of all. Into each life, a little rain must fall." -Longfellow

We started out with one horned, grade Saanen doe. In less than a year we had five does as our base for the herd. This was back in 1996? First kids were born 1999. In 2002 we kidded out 12 does (the most we had kidded out). Last year we kidded out 81 does. We are looking to kid out around the same number this year since I sold a number of bred does.
Numberwise...we have 123 mature stock (mostly breeding but there are five or so wethers and a barren doe in that count). That does not count the buck on lease who will go straight to slaughter after he is done at the other farm. We have 41 kids as well so far for the season and another 50+ does to kid. So 164 on the farm currently.
It is possible to maintain doable numbers if you have a realistic outlook on your goals and what you will do with the kids.
We have 80 acres on which the goats roam when there is pasture and that makes a huge difference in what we can do.

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Roseanna
Morning Mist Herd
Journey's End Jerseys
Jerseys, Jersey/Norwegian Reds, Beef, Boers, Nubians & crossbreeds

goatkid: "I worked on a goat dairy at the time and was paid in part in goats."
OH MY GOSH! that is sooo my dream job! <3 ha ha ha!
mom got a baby wether, then a la mancha buckling, got rid of them in a year. got 5 does, one died right off due to extremely hot weather. had those does for about 8 years along with two of there doe kids (5 original and 2 kids all milkers). had 10 kids, sold em. had 9 kids, kept two does (the 2 just mentioned) and sold the rest. had 10 kids, sold em. had 14 kids, sold em. had 15 kids, sold em. had 13 kids, kept one buckling sold the rest. bought buck we had been borrowing to breed with, kept with buckling. had 14 kids, sold em. had 15 kids, sold all the goats except the buck we had bought. dad slaughtered him. *dad had to sell because myparents got divorced and he has health problems.*
two years later i buy two saanen does. both are due about may 18. cant wait for my first babies!!! <3 <3 <3 <3

Started with a doe in milk and a doe kid 28 years ago. Have sold them all and moved and started over three times now. Currently have three does and a buck; the does are bred and should all have kidded by the end of April, but I won't keep more than one doe kid out of those babies and that only if I get a doe kid out of the registered doe. The most goats I've ever had was seventeen, and most of those were babies.

Kathleen

Started with 4 last Fall, one doe, her two doelings and single wether - AND IT'S STAYING THAT WAY!

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Look for incidents on the learning curve at: http://littlecricketchronicles.blogspot.com/

But LFRJ that's not enough & I have too many, where's the justice in that?

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Bob and Nancy Dickey
Laughing Stock Boer Goats
"Seriously Great Bloodlines"
and the meat goes on....
Near Seattle

good luck with that!

i started off with 2 nubians (1 doe and a buck.) sold buck got 3 more girls and a new buck! now we have 6 babys so grand total of 11 goats... and i am hoping to get more! shhhhh dont tell my wife!

One, almost 10 years ago. Indiscriminate miniature doeling here as well. I'm now phasing out the miniatures - they were GREAT for learning and I'm not selling my beloved pets, but keeping them around until they die of old age. I'll only keep miniature bucks until my does are all too old to breed.


I currently have 15. I'll be butchering a buck when it warms up, but I have around 10 goats due this year. Hoping by tomorrow my kidding season will have started... And I'm also negotiating the possibility of buying a boer buckling and now an alpine buckling...

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Dona Barski

"Breed the best, eat the rest"

Caprice Acres

French and American Alpines. CAE, Johnes neg herd. Abscess free. LA, DHIR.

6 years ago I bought my little 15 acre patch. The former owners had goats and horses and a minor tax discrepancy. My wife suggested they give us goats in place of the tax money and they agreed! We were now goat owners with zero knowledge. Anyway it has been a great mostly enjoyable adventure. At present we have 26 does, 12 bucklings, 7 doelings and a buck. All the kids born since mid January. One doe still pregnant due early April.

Wow, thanks for sharing. I've enjoyed reading about all your goats. Makes me that much more eager for my son to get going into the goats. And if he doesn't want to continue I hope to convince hubby that we need to buy his herd.
I figure my son will be living at home for a minimum of 4 years yet (but probably longer) so he should have a good herd going.
Right now we have beef cattle and their numbers grow much more slowly especially since we cull vigorously for unwanted traits. We have 65 acres so a "few" goats shouldn't be a problem.

~sighs~ I DREAM of 65 acres

Lessee, standards, I can have 5 goats per acre, but with minis, I can have EIGHT goats per acre....

8 times 65 is Five hundred and twenty goats! Woooo-weee!

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Peace,
Caliann

"First, Show me in the Bible where it says you can save someone's soul by annoying the hell out of them." -- Chuck

Started with one doe, got about 45, going back down to about 20 goats and 4-6 milkers. Actually, to begin with, we got pygmies, but they were loose all the time and were useless. About a 2-3 year lapse, then we jumped back into the animals, but invested in higher-quality animals. Though it's amazing how goats "multiply."

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I'm an environmentalist, left wing, Ron Paul loving Prius driver with a farm. If you have a problem with that, kindly go take a leap.

I'm starting out with 4 bred does, 2 Nubians & 2 ND's. After the kids, we'll see how it goes. Want to keep a small herd, with the bucks housed at my Mom's down the road. They are so sweet & I know the babies will be too cute - can't imagine not wanting to keep them all!

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Tracy
Small farm in North Florida
Nubians, Nigerians, Chickens & Rabbits

Started with 3 Nubians about 20 years ago. I now have just under 400 acres with mostly cattle, but I continue to keep goats. I have 28 right not, but would like to increase to 50 does in the next year. I have Nubians, Boers, Nubian/Boer cross, and Alpines. The nice thing about more acreage. I don't have to worry much about fencing for the goats. LOL they never go far enough from the house or goat pens/sheds to reach the property line. lol

We started with two does. Doe #1 had 1 baby, doe #2 had twins, but we just kept the first doe. We bought two ND does and another Ober doe, have had mutliple litters but only kept a doeling from the first baby that was born on our farm.

So, we had a original two does, 2 ND's, Ober and 1 baby but lost 3 goats a few months ago, including the two old ones.

We have really not hung onto many of our babies and we've also had several bucklings that we placed.

I started with 10 Nigerians about 8 yrs ago. I sold down to almost nothing then rebuilt my herd back up. I now have close to 60 does and 6 are bred. + I have 10 babies on the ground. I am going to sell down to about 30 does on the Nigerians and replace then with Mini Silky Fainters. Huge investment for that.

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Life on the farm - Living my dream
Raising Miniature Horses, Mini Donkeys,
Jersey's, Potbelly Pigs, Fainting Goats,
Colorful Katahdin Sheep, Nigerian Dwarf Goats,
http://www.baercreekminifarm.com

Three days ago, I had six does, two adult bucks, and a buckling.

In 24 hours, we added two doelings and five bucklings.

I'm tired.

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Alice
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"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus