Goat shopping - considering a variety pack

Ok how do you accidentally get into goats?

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Recognize the beauty in things, in creation, even when thats difficult to do.
Be loving, show compassion. Create while we're here.
Enjoy this life, be in this life but not be of it.

Not sure you can show a horned goat, but a pet wether is definitely worth it

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Recognize the beauty in things, in creation, even when thats difficult to do.
Be loving, show compassion. Create while we're here.
Enjoy this life, be in this life but not be of it.

Welcome to the group! There are some wonderful and very knowledgable people here to help you!
I didn't have time to read thru all the posts, so maybe this was already mentioned. I'm not familiar with all the breeds, but this is my thought for you: Start out with goats that are freindly and easy to handle. This will lead to a much more rewarding experience for you and your daughter to start out with.
Trying to milk a wild goat, or do any hands on care for that matter, can be discouraging for any of us, but more so when you are having goats for the first time.

Keep us posted, and share pictures when you get them!!

If you dont get a pet wether then you cant do this to him.





I love my guy his name is Shaq.

Nancy

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A small Goat farm in East Tennessee
http://www.freewebs.com/rockytopsis/

How to accidentally get into goats:

1. Made a trip to the lumber salvage store.
2. Notice a dog pen with two goat kids in it.
3. Start talking to the owner.
4. Come home with two mini-goat kids that you know nothing about and realize you know nothing about goat care.

5. THEN, visit Emily's Ozark Jewels goats twice. Come home with two, add a third, ..... you know what happens next!

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

They have a way of sneaking in and multiplying on you! I started the year out with my origional 4, today I have 25 out there, and that's with only one doe kidding here this year!!

When we moved to this property, the neighbor across the road had goats. One of his kept showing up in the yard. He said, "You want a goat?!" To which we replied, "NO."

The oldest DD kept asking and asking and finally we were at an animal swap meet and she saw a small blond Nubian with those floppy years and she said, "Can I, Mom?" to which I replied, "You have to ask Dad." (That was my downfall...or salvation.) He was still in the "Big Truck" so she called him. She had awakened him with the phone and he said...yes. OMG. I shook my head knowing full well he had no idea what he was in for.

Needless to say, several years later, the daughter is gone (and so is that original goat) but there are plenty of others still here. And truth be known, they will probably outlast the children. Have I mentioned, I LOVE my goats?

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Gena

http://www.jbargfarms.com/
“Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength.”
― Ralph W. Sockman

I'm so thrilled for you as you start down the road of Goat Adventures!

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Treat me like a joke, and I'll walk away like it's funny.
Effervescent, irreverent and irrepressible, but (almost)never irritable or irascible!

I do enjoy reading everyone's posts!

Nancy, thanks for the wether pics!

It is official....I paid for 4 goats this morning...including a friendly pet wether, haha! 1 full Alpine, 1 full Nubian, 1 Lamancha/Togg cross, and 1 Lamancha wether.

I needed to finish their pen, I have only set posts. Cattle panel has been recommended...what do you all think? That's what they were using, where i bought them...and none of them were jumping out and on cars, etc

Also, shelter ideas?

Thanks!

Looking foreward to pictures of your new goats.
Nancy

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A small Goat farm in East Tennessee
http://www.freewebs.com/rockytopsis/

Cattle panel will work fine, especially if you have an electric wire running on the inside of it, about 6'-1' from the ground, to keep them from rubbing or climbing on it.

Shelter: Minimum shelter is a three-sided shed that is open to the south (if you live in a climate with cold winters) or the east (if you live in a climate with brutal summers). HOWEVER.....

Always build as big as you can afford. You will want a place where you can milk in peace, without all of the other goats trying to climb all over you. (A milking room) You will want a secure place to store feed for them, (I have a large milking room, and store mine in there with my milking stand.) so you don't have to traipse out with it and try to get it into feeders with a herd of hungry goats all over you. No one in the history of mankind has ever said, "Darn! My barn is just TOO BIG!" So, build as large as you can, then eat Ramen for a week and build a little bit bigger. Keep your climate in mind. If you have cold winters, you will want good insulation in your milking room, else you will be attempting to milk with half-frozen fingers.

You have 3 does and a wether. Next year, you will have three does, a wether, and an average of 6 kids. A creep area for feeding kids, which also serves as a place for them to get away from adults if one is picking on them, is important, and you don't want to have to rush building it when you need it yesterday. If you plan to pull babies (there are pros and cons to dam raising and bottle raising), they will need an area of their own.

You have a month before they get home....which is a month where you will NOT have goats "helping" you build things. Use it wisely and get as much built as you can, and as large as you can make it.

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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 have changed breeds several times with the goats and have settled on Nubians and Saanens, though while helping the special needs kids at school I realized how much I missed having boers but such big dreams for a little plot of land.

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I'm a goat person, not a people person,
De @ Udderly Southern Dairy Goats
we will be adding a new breed in the spring

I think you meant 6 inches to 1 foot off the ground for that hot wire, yes?

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

Oh my gosh that is so adorable!

~laughs~ Yes, that is what I meant; sorry that it is not what I said. Could you imagine the kind of goat that would need a 6' hot wire to keep from rubbing on the fence?

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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