I don't want goats!

See thats the problem, I don't want them as pets, but I know me and even if I know they will be meat I will get attached. Maybe I am tougher then I give myself credit for. I can shoot prairie dogs just for the fun of it and can't wait to get my first deer , but something I took time to nurture and raise might be different.

***gasp***

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Paul Bridges - LaCabra Farm; Uvalda, Georgia - USA

Yeah, I know what you mean. It took me years to be able to butcher my own chickens.

It will help if you get goats that aren't especially friendly. It's hard to kill and eat something that comes up to you every day for head scritchies.

They don't all die. I have had one goat die. One. She bloated. They really don't die as easily as it sounds here sometimes.

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Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

mekasmom is correct. Realize that of the 15,000+ active members, the goat forum is the third busiest forum on the board.....nearly 10,000 folks wander through here on a regular basis.

So, lessee, if half of those folks actually have goats, and we see 100 deaths this kidding season, that gives a statistical rate of....

0.1% chance of kidding or kid related deaths?

That's not much.

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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

For what it is worth we have had around 84 or 86 kids born so far this season. 2 have been born dead. We lost three to getting chilled (the last two were premie to boot) and one to smothering. So 6 kids lost so far this season. That means 80 live kids out there running around (though one is at his new home already). With another 30 does expected to kid. Over 35 does fresh and I had to assist four or five kiddings total so far. A couple very unexpected. Kids didn't die as a result and neither did the dams.

When you have livestock, at some point, you will have deadstock. Just the way it is. We outlive them. You do the best you can and enjoy the time you have with them. The kids make it all worth it.
Especially on a beautiful sunny day when they have found their legs and go sprinting. Throw a calf in there trying to imitate them and nothing seems cuter to me.

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

From yesterday: 2 month old, frolicking, cavorting Alpine kid dancing across the pasture.

Behind her: 5 year old Quarter Horse attempting to mimic her jumps.

I nearly died of oxygen deprivation from laughing so hard.

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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

I had goats in the pre internet era for 5 years and lost one to the neighbor throwing rhodedendron over the fence. Now I've had goats for three years and if it's any encouagement, I havn't lost one yet.

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LaManchas and Mini LaManchas
http://cityminiranch.weebly.com/