OK Im new here...

[AllAmerican]

...great forum BTW!

Ive been studying everything I can get my hands on and reading books on the subject of goats. I moved here to the 25 acres wanting to start a goat farm. Honestly, I dont know why LOL I just thought it would be cool.

So Ive been on my property for 5 years and the wife and I are making tremendous progress on the homestead. Basically, I am home all the time unless I get a call (Im an HVAC Contractor) which is rare to never lately and my wife works the day job.

We are ready to get going on having goats here on the homestead. We want milkers maybe 4-5 does. I have a few questions for ya

What is your favorite breed for milk production?
I was planning on AI for the does and then keeping a buck but am I wrong in thinking that the inbreeding would be a problem?
Am I correct in thinking I need a buck from another line?

My plan is to butcher as needed for the wife and I and to make cheese and such from the milk.

Just looking for your thoughts on the subject.

Thanks for having me here.

[susanne]

welcome
if you want to make cheese, i think nubian is the best, followed very closely from lamancha.
also, if you want to produce your own meat, nubians are fast growing andhave good meat to bone ratio.
nubians can be bred year round while most of the swiss breeds are more seasonal breeder.
A.i is a great way to improve your herd without keeping too many bucks. still need one to make sure you have a cover up in case the A.I failt.
most people think they can safe money with just keeping a semen tank but reality is, it cost more. advantage, you can have many bucks in the tank

you will hear a lot different opinions as to which breed is the best.

regardless of the breed you choose, research disease very well and learn which questions to ask before you buy

[Alice In TX/MO]

Unless you drink A LOT of milk or have a big family, you might want to start with two or three does. The learning curve is pretty steep, and getting overwhelmed is not the best way to start.

I like LaManchas, but that's me.

Be sure you have great fencing and a good lock on the feed room door. Goats are incredibly intelligent about getting out.

Find out if you have someone in your area who can do the A.I. work for you. Otherwise, keeping a buck isn't that bad.

Welcome to the world of goats!

[saanengirl]

Personally, I think that Saanens are great all the way around (unless you have really small acreage and need a mini). The milk fat depends in the individual lines and how they are fed. As a breed, they are the highest producers. They tend to be calm, laid back, and easy to handle. The buck kids grow faster than those of other breeds, so you can have them to butchering weight sooner. You really need to visit a dairy goat show so you can see the different breeds in person and talk with the breeders.

Why do you want 4-5 does? Two Saanens are sufficient for a starter herd and will produce more than enough milk for you and your wife to drink and make cheese. Believe me, goat herds tend to grow quickly! My family started with two Saanen milkers and a Saanen doe kid, and five years later had 50 goats. If you have a good breeder who lives nearby, you can just take your does there to be bred. Another option is buying a buck kid at the beginning of breeding season and then selling him once the does are bred. Even if you plan to AI, it is easier to tell when they are in heat if you have a teaser buck.

I second the recommendation to research goat diseases. Make sure you have a good shelter and fencing before you purchase your goats. I am not sure where you are located, but in Georgia you can expect to pay $400-500 for a good Saanen milker. It is worth the money to purchase high quality, disease tested foundation animals. Your kids will be worth more, you will have healthy animals that will live longer and produce more milk than animals of dubious quality. After you have been breeding goats for a couple of years, you will have to sell some does, or else your herd size (and feed bills) will get out of control. When you choose a breed, you might consider what is in demand. Commercial dairies tend to prefer Saanens and Alpines, and there is always a market for these breeds (I don't recommend Alpines due to their attitudes). There are many factors to consider in making these decisions. It looks like you are doing things the right way.

[AllAmerican]

Thanks for the replies!

Ahh yes, two does would be fine. FWIW, my neighbot has two goats right now and they are kept in with 4 strands of barbed wire. They have been there for several weeks now (this guy is 10 years younger than me and has done no research. He believes cows are the future and thinks he will "get rich quick" with cows. He got the goats because we had discussed my getting goats when I prepared to do so. You know, he wanted to one up me LOL.

He seems to the think its just real cheap and easy to keep livestock. I told him they would need hay and he got two round bales which lasted a few days for all the cows and the goats. Then they went two weeks with nothing to eat but grass which aint much. Today he finally brought in 6 round bales. Anyway his goats arent trying to get out. Anyhoo... I wanna do it right.

My wife and I do not like barbed wire and we keep our horses fenced with 1.5" poly tape. My thought right now was to fence the 4 acres with high tensile wire and have it electrified. This would allow the goats free range to browse. My wife is very caring when it comes to animals and wants to treat em right as do I. Of course we'll feed grain and hay. We have 25 acres but are wanting to keep the farm on the 7 acres we actually inhabit.

I have 4 acres right now that I can use for chickens, goats, and pigs.

I do not have a problem with having a buck here, not at all. So two does and a buck to start would certainly work.

I would like to get to the point where I could fill the freezers (Im building a walk in cooler/freezer on the property), have plenty of milk and be able to make cheese too. Maybe down the line make soap too... who knows?

I plan to butcher at 4 months as that seems the best time. Of course I do have much to learn still.

BTW, Im in South Carolina. My wife and I are originally from Florida and moved here 5 years ago because we didnt want to keep up with the joneses but wanted a more relaxed lifestyle free from the hustle and bustle.

[Alice In TX/MO]

I'm glad you said you won't do barbed wire. NEVER EVER keep dairy does in with barbed wire. Just because some yahoo does it, doesn't mean it's a good idea. You wouldn't want to crawl nekkid through a barbed wire fence with your tender parts hanging down. Imagine what happens to a good uddered doe who sees something yummy on the other side of the fence.<---for your neighbor.

You will have to train the goats to the fence. Our minis that we started with thought electric strands were a joke.

[copperpennykids]

Where do you live? Ideally you could visit several breeders and see which breeds appeal to you. If the breeder is reasonably close you may be able to breed back to their buck.

Another option is to buy good dairy goats - for two you can stagger their breedings so you have milk year round - and then a Boer buck to freshen them. You will get milk from your does and meatier kids for the table.

Ditto what Alice said for fencing!

P.S. Saanens are the best.

[deineria]

I would go with Saanens or Nubians. Nubians seem fickle to me, but they are my favorite breed. I also love Saanens, and they seem hardier.
I would plan to just start with a buck, and then add another buck later on. I would not inbreed until you're experienced and know exactly what excellent traits you're looking for and how to get them with linebreeding.
Plan for EXCELLENT fences.
I also agree that starting with 2 or 3 does and a buck is best because the learning curve is through the roof and you will overwhelm yourself with more than that.

[FunnyRiverFarm]

I love Lamanchas! I have had other breeds but prefer Lamanchas for a number of reasons: 1) They are very easy going and handle stress well 2) They tend to be quite hardy and rarely get sick 3) They are very easy to train to the milk stand...and to anything else, quite frankly 4) The milk is great!

No matter what breed you decide on...definitely invest in some nice animals from proven dairy lines...you will be much happier in the long run.

IMO, if you keep less than 6 does it is most convenient and cost effective to lease a buck or take your does some place to be bred. You could breed each doe to a different buck if you wanted and could find bucks that compliment each individual doe that way. Bucks are not very pleasant creatures to have around...LOL...

[AllAmerican]

Hmmm so maybe the electric fencing is not a good idea. Well I could do it in field fence. You know the stuff they sell at Ag Supply or Tractor Supply. The 2" x 4" stuff. Boy would that be expensive for 4 acres Ouch!

[Alice In TX/MO]

There are folks who use it successfully, but like I said, you have to train them to it. If they go through it once successfully, they may never learn to respect electric fence.

[AllAmerican]

OK how about an alternative plan which includes a smaller space to start? I plan on building a shelter (finished my first chicken coop this past weekend).

If they have a shelter realistically how much space would I want to fence for a few does? I could then field fence and run an electric wire to train them on that way later on down the line when more space is fenced in electric wire they know the drill.

Your space calculations please

[Backfourty,MI.]

Welcome to the forum, lots of nice folks here & always willing to help. We have Nigerian Dwarf goats but I don't milk them becuase I choose not too. We Love our goats though, they are so much fun, very curious & smart little critters.

If you make them a smaller penned area that opens to a bigger area behind or off to the side, etc. You can always just let them out to browse & in the evening call them back in when time to feed & lock them back in there penned area where you know they will be safe. They will not wander off to far.
Our goats are out most of the time unless we are going to be gone for the day. They do have penned areas with lean too's & houses & we also have 2 fenced pasture areas that work well too.

[A@VT]

I think the most important thing is to buy disease free goats. CL and CAE are 2 diseases you want to look out for, there are others too, but those are 2 big ones. For fencing I use portable electric net fencing, it works good for me. Good luck with your goat adventure.

[AllAmerican]

Sure CL and CAE. Yeah after reading the saticky above, I dont know what to think. I could have sworn I read in there that humans can get CL.

I think until the information is more concise in that sticky.... well there should be a read at your own risk statement LOL. At this point I dont know what to think or believe about the two diseases.

Do you drink the milk and eat the meat of a goat with CL? CAE?

Yeah, I wasnt happy about what I read in the sticky.

[QoTL]

I'm far from an expert, but from what I understand...

CAE is not transmiss. to people. You can eat a goat that has this disease.

CL is transmiss. (I think). You would need to be very cautious and wear gloves.


Don't let either disease scare you off goats, though. There are lots of clean healthy herds out there

[saanengirl]

AllAmerican,

There is a show at the Walton Co. Ag. Center in Monroe, GA this Saturday (June 5). If you want to see the different breeds, you could visit the show. I will be there with my Saanens, as will my parents and a couple of other Saanen breeders. There should also be some nice Alpines at the show. Since you are in SC, you could definitely buy from GA breeders. There are also really nice animals (both Saanen and Alpine) in North Carolina and Tennessee.

[wintrrwolf]

Welcome to the goat world! Still learning here myself. I started with a saanen (just got lucky) she is pretty mellow and regal, she respected the hot wire I put up and was easily trained to the pet in-ground fencing as well. THEN I got a pygmy and some nigi dwarf goats I have been re-fencing as fast as they figure a new way out. So right now I have field fencing with a hot wire around the top, will be redoing the hot wire soon from ground up it will be hot wire, ground wire, hot wire BeCauSe I still have 2 goats that have learned how to avoid the hot wire. So "if it wont hold water, it wont hold a goat" is about the truest statement I have ever heard. Someone said not to do alpine? I was thinking about getting one myself so am curious how different Alpine are from Saanen?
Anyways you seem to be thinking this through (unlike me) and having everything ready before you get your goats (unlike me). Myself I am going more dairy then meat so got a reg. polled nigi buck and so far the rumor is true he is about a year old and still has no bucky smell, so he will remain my herd sire.

[Pony]

Welcome!

I'm a Nubian person, though I think that some of the other breeds are lovely.

In my experience, Nubians are seasonal breeders, not year around. Maybe it's different other places, but the Nubians I know breed in Fall.

They're very human-oriented, vocal, and personable. But they're not for everyone.

[saanengirl]

Alpines tend to be very aggressive toward other goats (particularly goats of other breeds). They also tend to be more high strung and flighty than Saanens.