5 year old milk goat

doulanobles · #1 09/17/07, 03:56 PM

I have an opportunity to get a 5 year old mixed brred milker(nubian/alpine boer) for $25 locally. Been milked consistently, kidded 2 years ago and had triplets. She comes with a 6 year old female companion, nubian, I think, not being milked or bred in last 2 years.. I have hay for the winter, a snug barn for night time and a small-ish brushy area of one of my pastures fenced properly(I hope).

So, whadda you think?? My daughter wants to do dairy goats for 4 h this year but we've never owned a goat before.

Since their area is small, can I tether them out on the grass or something for parts of the day (while I'm home, of course)?

Thanks for the help!

HazyDay · #2 09/17/07, 04:01 PM

I would get her! I WOULD NEVER TETHER THEM THO! sorry I did it and lost a goat!!! I went into the house to get a drink and she was just hanging their!?!!?! She jumped in the tree near her, and fell and the chian just wasn't long and so she died! Take it from me don't!!

I would fence a little paddock and then feed hay all year round! Then you have 2 live goats!

HazyDay · #3 09/17/07, 04:01 PM

Also be sure they are healthy! If you are getting 2 does for 25 then some thing is wrong!

They are sick or The owners are CRAZY!

jen74145 · #4 09/17/07, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HazyDay

Also be sure they are healthy! If you are getting 2 does for 25 then some thing is wrong!

They are sick or The owners are CRAZY!

Well, not really... could be they just don't have hay for the winter and plain old can't get their hands on any, so would rather take a loss and make sure their animals don't suffer. I would make sure they're healthy and have been cared for, though, if you want them.

Tethering... I dunno, some do it, but it's too iffy for me. Roaming dogs, tangling accidents, and so forth... could end very horribly for the poor goat. I agree with building them a good sized pen over tethering, won't be much for them to eat soon anyway.

HazyDay · #5 09/17/07, 04:07 PM

Ok, Well around here we have tons of hay, so we can feed hay all year round! Plus I worked on my uncles farm so I have 1 year of hay!!!!!! So the girls eat till next Summer!

doulanobles · #6 09/17/07, 04:50 PM

Owner says they are very tame, healthy. Her teenage daughter doesn't have time for iit anymore so they want to make sure they go to a good home, $$ isn't an issue I guess.

I should be able to fence in some more of the good pasture by next year, I hope and that would help. We have 20 acres but most of the fence is old, barb wire.

My neighbor happens to have a goat stanchion not being used, sitting in her barn..

HazyDay · #7 09/17/07, 04:58 PM

Mine are only semi fenced! I have a pasture but they don't use it! They go up the hill and eat on 5 acres of mix! I would train them to eat and then come back and no need for fences! Just don't temp then with roses!

Alice In TX/MO · #8 09/17/07, 05:15 PM

We use electric net fencing. It's easy to put up, the goats respect it, and you can move it if necessary.

DocM · #9 09/17/07, 05:52 PM

Craigslist has healthy mixed breed milkers for less than $100 all the time, $25 isn't uncommon. If she's 2 years into a milk cycle, find a buck and breed both of them, she won't be giving milk much longer. No use keeping a healthy goat without a few babies to sell and supplement the feed bill. I tether goats all the time without problems, I just keep a good eye on them. Usually I tether one, the herd queen of the week, and the others simply stay with her. Not one of my goats respects an electric fence. They'll go through multiple wires, or they'll fly right over the temporary kind. Buy 'em.

doulanobles · #10 09/17/07, 06:08 PM

How are on earth do you train goats to not need fences? And should I try to have her bred to a purebred milk type goat or what?

HazyDay · #11 09/17/07, 06:17 PM

Easy every day take them to eat for the first few months, stay with them and then leave without them seeing you. Then after a little they will do it by them sleves. Mine do?? So it isn't impossable! Plus they know the fence hurts so they won't go out other then the gate to the hill.

IS breed her to a Alpine to bring milk out or a Nubian. If she has floppy ears then nubian!

DocM · #12 09/17/07, 06:36 PM

I'd breed them to the best goat you can find, dairy or meat (boer). They're mixed breeds but many mixed breed goats are actually very hardy and well put together. By breeding to a meat goat (if you have one around), you have something that would be good for the freezer or market.

doulanobles · #13 09/17/07, 06:54 PM

We're off to look at them now! Exciting! I'll breed them in November to whatever i can find. I have hay on hand but no grain...what should I get?

HazyDay · #14 09/17/07, 07:03 PM

a good 16% Diary ration and BOSS (Black Oil SunFlower Seeds)

Jyllie63 · #15 09/17/07, 07:24 PM

When I got my goats this year I was worried about not having a fence up. It has not been a problem at all. I'm not sure about all goats, but mine LOVE me

and don't want to stray too far away. When I want them to come back from grazing I put a little feed/grain into a milk jug and shake it. They are back within 10 seconds

. I do want to have a fenced in area for them eventually just for peace of mind. I do worry sometimes about stray dogs or even MY dogs attacking them. DH has the poles up for the fence, but nothing else. We had electric fencing up for the cows, but had way too many problems with them getting out. Luckily we live on a hill so they only ventured out onto the road once

.

Sounds like a great deal to me....I hope it works out that you can get them. And you do know you have to post pics of them right

AnniesGoats · #16 09/17/07, 07:27 PM

I hope they are good healthy girls for you.

You know, I paid 30.00 a piece for percentage boers about 3 years ago. They ended up being very nice goats. Each kidded with twins and those kids are now having kids. The lady we bought the goats from just needed to get back down to her basic goats. She was a "natural care" person, meaning, she didn't even use immunizations like CD&T. Her goats were very healthy.

The lowest I have paid for a dairy girl is 100.00, the most 300.00. If you can get a good milker for 25.00, a healthy one, then go for it!

DocM · #17 09/17/07, 07:49 PM

I don't like goat feeds because they often sit on the shelf and are not very fresh because other livestock types usually outnumber goats in an area, plus they're full of crap I don't want to feed my goats, like cheap sugars and tons of corn. I feed some of my goats a dry pasture blend for horses, barley/oats/hay pellets, no corn or molasses, and some of the others (my senior girls) get a senior horse blend that is a little easier for them to chew - both of these contain nothing but grains and a little biotin. Find out what they're eating now, and then consider feeding the same, or gradually changing over to whatever you decide to feed - which will probably be a trial and error thing as you find what works for your goats. Don't change their diet drastically or you'll upset their gut. You have hay already, consider supplementing with alfalfa pellets for the protein and calcium, and a good mineral mix with a copper content of at least 1700 ppm. It doesn't have to be for goats, a good dairy cow mineral will work, just keep to the loose minerals, goats prefer those over blocks. If you're new to goats, here's a great site with a lot of indexed references.

http://fiascofarm.com/goats/

doulanobles · #18 09/17/07, 10:09 PM

We're now the proud owners of our first 2 goats! They are going to deliver them to us this weekend. They've been eating grass hay and a bit of whole oats when it's really cold out or when they're milking. They're not milking now, just salcked off. They lead ok and have a history of easy kidding. Triplets and twins for both. I'll get the loose mineral mix, too. My hubby ships bird seed so I have a pretty much unlimited supply of black oil sunflower seed. They're pretty, too!

Should I keep them out of the chicken's area? Both the chicken coop and the goat stall feed inot the same pen. Would they get sick if they ate the layer feed? Should I feed the chickens inside before I let them out for the day? Do I need to worry about worming them thsi late in the year?

I'm so thankful for this forum!

Jyllie63 · #19 09/18/07, 05:28 AM

Keep them away from the chicken feed!!! I've learned from here that it can be very harmful/fatal. I did have a goat years ago that ALWAYS got into the chicken feed and was fine. I think we were just lucky. I don't risk it now. It's secured with the goat feed where they can't get into either one.

And most of all...CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Someone else can answer the worming question...I'm too new to this to be of any help.

southerngurl · #20 09/18/07, 07:21 AM

I second, keep them away from the layer!

If it's available to them, they will overeat and they will get sick.

Goats must be well limited on grain and all changes in feed should be done gradually. If their system is shocked by sudden changes, it can throw everything off.

Let them have unlimited hay/browse (they should get some alfalfa for the calcium and protein), free choice mineral mix, good water and then add the grain at milking time as icing on the cake so to speak.