How Do You Do It?

[Kathleen in WI]

I need to know this for my sanity. I should be working right now but I'm getting a little obsessed with this whole goat thing. lol So I hope you can answer this question.

How do you decide on a breed? Seriously, every breed I see, I want. I just love them all and can see benefits of each breed. I think a dairy goat is a good idea because you get many products from the milk that can be sold. The fiber goats are just beautiful and I would imagine there are profits to be made from the fiber as well.

How do you say "This is the one I want" I'm thinking at this rate, I'm going to have five different breeds by the time I'm ready to buy. I know many will probably say, what do you want out of your goats. That doesn't help me a whole lot though.

I want something that isn't too difficult to care for and something that has the potential to earn a profit down the road (I realize that will take time though).

Is it reasonable to have several breeds? I'm guessing I'll need as many pastures as breeds to keep them separated. Or separate the males and females and then have planned breedings? Or just have females and rent a buck (or AI)?

Good grief I think I need help. My name is Kathleen and I'm a goataholic.

Okay, I really need to get to work now or I won't have money to buy anything.

[xoxoGOATSxoxo]

Well, my breed "choice" had nothing to do with what I wanted at the time! I was 11 years old, and I was going to get a goat kid for a summer 4-H project. I thought pygmies were ugly (sorry, pygmy people! ), and no one in our area had meat or fiber goats available. I wouldnt have cared whether I got a meat kid, fiber kid, or dairy kid anyway, but the only ones I could find were dairy.

I knew I wanted a doe, because my mom said I had to sell the goat at the end of the summer and that a wether would be harder to sell.

The farm I picked out my kid from had mostly Alpines, but a few Saanens and Nubians. Some of them were actually mixed with Boer. I thought the white Saanens were plain and boring, so I wanted an Alpine or a Nubian. Well, as there weren't any Nubian kids available, I chose a beautiful little sundgau Alpine doeling. But I couldnt get just one kid, because she would be lonely! But there werent any other Alpine doelings, only wethers. So, I picked out a random Saanen doeling with "a cute face" for free, with the understanding that the farm would take her back after I sold the Alpine.

Well, at the end of the summer after the fair, we never "got around" to selling the Alpine or giving back the Saanen. Plus, they had grown on us so much! So we called the farm and paid for the Saanen.

After a while of keeping milkless goats, I managed to convince my mother that goat milk would be delicious, and we couldnt live without it! Plus, there was the "bonus" of cute baby goats. My poor mother decided I could breed one doe. I chose the Alpine, because of the cute, colorful Alpine babies she would bring. But a neighbor pointed out that she was awfully small, and her hips were awfully narrow, and her udder was awfully lopsided even without milk in it. Plus, my Saanen had done better at the fair, hadnt she? Right. So I bred my Saanen, who had matured into a big, beautiful lady that I'd grown very fond of. She brought 3 big, beautiful, and of course, WHITE kids to the farm, and plenty of milk!

That was only the beginning. I wouldnt be without my lovely Saanens now, and I still have my two original girls (Alpine and Saanen). The Alpine is completely useless, never had babies, and has a snarky personality, but I love her very much! I couldnt sell the old girl. The Saanen is a good milker, a sweetheart, and brings lots of sweet, big kids. Her babies are the same way. I couldnt sell her, either. And I happen to think white goats are beautiful now!

Sorry about the length, but I wanted to tell how finding the right kind of goat can just sort of sneak up on you! I still like Alpines, but I dont see myself ever raising them. However, as long as I have goats I will have Saanens.

Anyway, perhaps you could get a dairy doe and 2 fiber does or 2 dairy does and a fiber doe and keep them together (but can you find polled or disbudded fiber does? Their horns and the dairy does udder wouldnt mix well). Or perhaps you could get a pair of each and keep the separately. Then you could spend some hands-on time learning about each. After a while, one might grow on you more (or you might have enough money to buy 6 more breeds!) and you could choose (or expand!)

If you only have a few does it usually makes more sense to visit a buck with them, unless they are really far away. Or invest in an AI kit and lessons, though I'm not sure what those cost. You can always buy a buck later.

If you had both dairy and fiber, and you didnt want to keep the dairy kids, you could just have a fiber buck and use him to freshen your dairy does.

[lauraw97]

I LOVE NUBIANS!!!!!!!!!! They are so beautiful!!!!!! Get a Nubian.

-lauraw97

[RiverPines]

We started out with a few pygmies for the learning period.
We learned a lot too that first year!

After that we added a few dairy and found he hate the milking.
It takes to much time to milk for us.
So we tossed that idea and sold the dairy breeds.

Then we tried the Boers after we ate a few of the dairy and pygmy and found them to be delicious!

After that we added our Angoras. The best of all! Fiber I use all the time and I can sell the extra fiber.

Now we have been forced to scale back because DH has had his hours at work cut in half.
We had to sell off most of our goats. I kept my favorites that I get the most use out of and dont even need to breed them to get that use, the fiber goats!

For us fiber animals are the most useful and other than the chickens, all critters here are fiber critters.

Fiber animals also can be eaten if need be and they can give milk too.
IMO, they are the best all in one choice.

[oldcj5guy]

You live in Colorado which has a high hispanic and muslim population, so a meat goat would definitely be marketable. If you are willing to go mainstream, nubians would fill the meat and dairy use for you. If you want a small meat goat with novelty factor, there is a guy in loveland with a large herd of fainters for $40 a head.

[lauraw97]

I agree with oldcj5guy.

[Kathleen in WI]

That explains why there are so many Boers here. I don't think I could do fainting goats. It's silly I know, but every time they fall over I feel bad for them. I think I'd get worn out feeling like my poor goats were miserable. (I know, I'm weird.) I like dairy breeds and fiber breeds the most, but Boers are very attractive goats. I love the markings. Not the best criteria for choosing a goat I guess.

So I need a combo dairy/meat/fiber goat. lol Or three separate herds. Somehow instead of helping me narrow things down, my options are getting wider. lol I think I'm really in trouble. Wonder if I can buy the 80 acres across the road for all these goats I'm going to end up with.

Side note: We have a high Muslim population here? I didn't know that. Guess I need to get out more. I am pretty much a homebody. I even work from home.

[deafgoatlady]

Dont be afraid to ask sweet goat many questions. I am sure she will be sooo glad to help you. Most of us like to help and work with as long a newbie is willing to be open. Anyways. I would use nubians becuz they are perfect as for milking and meat also. They are more like dual. Or you can get Nubian/boer too. Maybe you can get like two fiber goat and two milking goat

[Wags]

I choose Nigerians, because they were small, sweet tempered, easily handled and give a pretty good amount of milk for their size. Seemed like the prefect fit for a small homestead. And as an added bonus they come in a wide variety of colors and patterns. I love color!

I just can't see having a big goat around my place, if I wanted something that big I'd go back to having Dexter cows.

[Sweet Goats]

Oldcj5guy. Where do you like? We are in Co and there iare not many if any Muslim in our are. Now if you are up North I can see that.

What we did was we went to the fair. Looked around asked TONS of questions. I thought OK I am getting Nubian. YEP that is it. Then I realized how much work went int a Dairy goat. (I give all you diary goats LOTS and LOTS of props). Way to much work for me. Then I thought, Market goats. NOPE I could never sell it to be butchered, NO WAY. Then I thought OK Pygmy lets look at them, they are small sweet. Ok now how do I make money on them? Can not do it unless you only breed and sell. So for me all they are is hay burners (Please don't yell at me, I think they are cute but for me no purpose), Then I found the Cashmere goats. OK, they eat all the Noxious weeds and they give you a marketable product. So from there we are a fiber goat group.

[Goat Servant]

LOL it sounds like you are brain over load! Most of us have proabably been there.
For now just go to fairs & talk to lots of people. You will find your breed (s)

We run a Nubian milker along with the Boers. Years ago we had a few Nubs & now that the childern are grown we came up with Boers cause we wanted to raise meat animals.
Boers are pretty laid back compared to the Nubs unless its feeding time then the chorus pipes up and I have to dodge stampeding mac trucks jockeying for feed pans. If they ever happened to knock me over they wouldnt even notice until the food was gone. Then they might wonder how come they're not getting skritches. It's all about them dont you know.
The Nubian is a drama queen & will spend considerable time moaning out there for the sole purpose of annoying me.

We spent the first couple yrs taking the girls to be bred. When there got to be too many to fit in the back of the truck we leased the buck.
This is yr 4 & were hoping to use our own but he isnt mature enough yet.
When you start getting too many you WILL decide who & when to sell, emotions won't be so much in the way. You will start to recognize who doesnt meet standard or you dont want to keep for your own breeding program.

[dezeeuwgoats]

I actually decided on nubian because there was a nationally recognized, 20 yr old herd reasonably (1 nd 1/2 hours) away and I really liked the herd owner. She and her husband are now counted among my close friends. Good herd management, holistic mindset but not radically so, very similiar breeding goals.....

I like nubians too, but I also had access to la manchas, sanaans, nigies, and pgymies. I don't know if that helps - but I just didn't 'pick' my breed, but allowed opportunity in terms of the highest qualiy close by choose for me. Plus, I figured, since I was on brain overload (I can so relate), that experienced (LA, DHIR,SHOW) goat people knew more about I did. There was just too much, too many details for me to sift through when I didn't know how much weight to give each criteria, in the beginning - you know?

[Kathleen in WI]

Yes, brain overload it is! I just love goats and I'm having a hard time deciding what to do. The fact that I finally live somewhere that I can actually do something with goats is like a dream to me. I can't believe that I can really do it after years of wanting a herd of my own.

After looking at Sweet Goat's site, I am rethinking my original opinion of fiber goats. I always thought they were beautiful but thought it would be very difficult to sell the fiber. I didn't even know there was actually a market here where you can sell it. I'll absolutely have to go and check it out.

So my husband stopped home to pick something out and I said I want a dairy herd and a fiber herd and I want to visit Sweet Goat's farm and see her goats. He said he's all for it and whatever I want to do it fine (!!!) so now I'm even more excited.

I have a small barn type building that is supposed to be for chickens but in a pinch I could put a couple goats there while I (he) build an actual barn. I do need to get the fence done first though. Right now it's just barbed wire and that won't work. So the goal is to do the fence as quickly as possible so I can get started.

I think I want a dairy herd and a fiber herd. Cashmere seems a no-brainer but I have to decide what I want as the dairy breed. Probably Nubians just in case I want to try some Kinders down the road. I do like Kinders and still think I'd like to try them. But I may change my mind after I get going with the others.

As Dezeeuwgoats said, I may wait to see what opportunities present themselves with the dairy breeds. maybe something else would be better than Nubians for me. I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with most any breed though because I love them all.

I'd love to see more posts about how you all made your choice and got into goats. I love to read other people's experiences. I have to get back to work but I'll check back later.

Thanks for all your posts. I'm very much enjoying them.

[Sweet Goats]

You are so funny. Now when ever you want give me a call and we can talk about goats and you can come over to see the goats.

I have to say I was going to go with Nubian. I just LOVE those long ears. I know of a breeder in Peyton also that has all kinds of dairy goats. Nubian s, Toggs, Lamacha's.

[pookshollow]

I have three breeds. Saanens for milk, Boers (and crosses) for meat, and Nigerians just for fun. The does and wethers all run out together and the bucks are kept separate. I let the boys out in the morning and the rest of the gang are out in the afternoon/evening.

I started out looking for Alpines because I had a grade Alpine kid, but ended up with a Saanen doe, just about four years ago. I now have her three daughters, and three granddaughters in purebred Saanen, and several generations of crossbred kids from her. Colour is nice, but I get that from the Nigies - the Saanens are just such lovely calm animals and great milkers.

Most goat people I know have more than one breed. :baby04:

[nehimama]

I've tried quite a few breeds, and still don't truly know which I like best - I like 'em all! Absolute favorites, though, have to be the LaManchas and Kinders and NDs. Uh. . . then there are the Mini Manchas . . uh . . . nothing has a nicer personality than a sweet Saanen. . . ummm. . . . Oh Heck. Too difficult to choose!

NeHi

[Kathleen in WI]

Originally Posted by nehimama

I've tried quite a few breeds, and still don't truly know which I like best - I like 'em all! Absolute favorites, though, have to be the LaManchas and Kinders and NDs. Uh. . . then there are the Mini Manchas . . uh . . . nothing has a nicer personality than a sweet Saanen. . . ummm. . . . Oh Heck. Too difficult to choose!

NeHi

lol Yes! That's the problem.

[freedomfrom4]

I picked up some pygmys cause I thought they were cute , but then I hated the pygmy's. They went to live at a friends house cause they kept escaping and I couldn't catch them. Now I have 3 boer doelings and they are so fun. I don't really have a purpose for them other then pets and to see if a goat will fit us. I'm learning about goats and what works for us. They go to the barn every night and I let them out during the day. They follow me around during the day unless they have a collar on. I'm not any good at training them to walk on a leash unless I have the feed bowl. Cute and liking goats are different then keeping and caring for goats. I say start small and see if you actually like having goats.

[Kathleen in WI]

Originally Posted by Sweet Goats

You are so funny. Now when ever you want give me a call and we can talk about goats and you can come over to see the goats.

I have to say I was going to go with Nubian. I just LOVE those long ears. I know of a breeder in Peyton also that has all kinds of dairy goats. Nubian s, Toggs, Lamacha's.

Just going crazy with the possibilities. I'm wondering how many goats 40 acres can hold. Well, maybe 30 acres. Still need garden space, chicken space and the house of course. Maybe I can live in the back of the truck to make more room.

I will call you Saturday if that sounds okay. We can maybe plan on Saturday afternoon? Don't be too freaked out if I start running around hugging your goats. Chances are, I will be more excited that the kids but I will bring them too so they can see your goaties. I will restrain myself from hiding any under my jacket and smuggling them out. (I have a big jacket)

Okay, I really need to quit with the endless goat information and focus on work. I have so much work this month and I keep being distracted with goat daydreams. But I really have to focus because my poor husband is having a hard time finding work so I have to make enough to cover everything and extra to get our farm set up to get us started. My goal is to make enough off the farm to at least pay for itself. Even if I don't make a profit, covering our expenses and house payment will make me happy.

Is that reasonable? Then it wouldn't matter if he could find work. He can do farm chores while I work (which will bum me out because I'd rather do farm work, but I'm sure there will be plenty of chores left for me ).

Anyhow, don't want to start rambling again. Must. Do. Work. Here I go...