what are your dreams?

[mpete]

Just curious what everyone wants out of their life with goats?
I love mine for pets, packing and milk. Future? Maybe a Grade A Dairy if I can swing the finances but thats a few years down the road.

[RedSonja]

I want to no longer have to buy milk from a store. I want better, safer, healthier, yummier milk than I can buy at any store anyway. I have digestive issues with storebought cow's milk, and I don't want my year old son to have to have storebought milk. I want cheese and butter and yogurt from goats milk as well.

They are already pets, and maybe in the future when I have the time I'll train a couple of wethers for packing.

-Sonja

[CaliannG]

I want milk, cheese, yogurt, kefir, and butter...to name a few things. I want fat chickens fed on leftover whey...

And I'd love a little goat cart.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Three nice does. A couple of bucks. Milk for the house to make yogurt, cheese, etc.

Life is good.

[6e]

My ultimate dream/goal would be for the girls to pay their own way. I would love to have a grade A dairy, but probably not a realistic expectation for me, so what I would like to do is to have plenty of milk to make soaps, lotions and other cosmetics and be able to go around to the farmers markets and crafts fairs and be able to sell enough to pay for the girls upkeep and feed plus extra to stash away for a rainy day.

[PrettyPaisley]

Right now I just want Millie to survive her azalea posioning from last Sunday. It has been a *very* long week.

Then I want a happy healthy herd of goats who provide us with lots of yummy milk so I can make enough soap and cheese to cover my goat addiction.

And more land for more goats so Buddy can have a break from Paisley wanting to put a saddle on him and ride. Poor girl really wants a horse but Buddy has the best temperment and loves to play with her.

[walkswithgoats]

right now i have two saanens and three angora goats.
both saanens are bred and i will keep one to train to pack/harness and sell the rest of the kids (i will, i will, i will, i will, i will!!!) ;D
i want to buy nubians and oberhaslis for my dairy herd.
want to raise some more wethers to train to pack/harness.
want to get a nice wagon to have the wethers pull in parades etc.
i am going to learn to do all the stuff to get from goat to garment (or whatever else i make).
i would like to sell some of the fiber/yarn/etc.
i want to breed the angoras this fall and have a bigger herd.
i want to put up fence for another pasture so i can have one pasture and barn for the dairys and one barn and pasture for the angoras.
i want to make a section of the barn into a meat rabbitry.
and sell rabbits and have some for dad to eat and some nice furs for me
i want to put up a coop and nice run and get chickens.
i want to put up another coop and run and get ducks.
and another run and coop and coturnix quail.
and i want to get scottish highland cows.
and i want a couple horses.
and eventually i want to grow all the feed for all the animals. 250 acre family farm so ya, there is room
and i want to grow all my own food and be 100% self sufficient and off-grid.

so basically i want it all.

[julieq]

We're in a build up period in our little herd right now, so replacement doelings and bucklings out of our older does is our first wish. Beyond that we're thinking about getting permits for a small raw dairy herd in the next year or so, but haven't decided for sure.

[Slugmar]

I'm currently working on a meat goat herd I currently have 63 does that counting newborns and 14 weather/bucks. Currently I complete grass fed and I cull heavy on animals that need alot of attention goats are ment to be harty and able to with stand the conditions, once we pamper them and change them to better suite what we are looking for and give them all types of medication at the drop of a hat.

With my wife we are building up a droper sheep herd also we have 7 little bummer lambs we are starting with if it works out we will expand it in the next couple years. We also fine tunning our rabbit we have 3 does and 1 buck and building that up. We also have 1 cow and 1 hiefer and three steers. We also raise chicken,ducks, turkey and looking in changing the old swimming pool into a fishpond.

We both currently work full time also but with proper managment and record keeping everything will work out. Hopefully the market will stay up also.

[JJFarmer]

Dairy goats for me is just a piece of a larger puzzle. I have a csa farm and grow multiple side products for my garden customers. I'm working on a commercial kitchen so I can sell the end products of goat's milk as well as the milk itself.

So far I have two alpine does and a saanen doe and can't make up my mind which I like better and I'd like to try a couple of other dairy breeds too. Although a one breed herd would be easier to breed if I keep them pure stock but who knows maybe a boer buck is in my future too.

[MrsSurplus]

We are working toward self-sustainability and milk goats seemed like a good fit. I really appreciate how multipurpose their milk is (drinking, cheese, soap...) and that the kids can be eaten or sold!

[IndyGardenGal]

Right now we have one Saanen, one Alpine (wait 3 alpines now--woohoo). I want to be able to have enough for table milk, cheese making, soap making, and to feed chickens and pigs.

I'd also like to stick to a reasonable number of goats, but we all know that's not gonna happen.

JJFarmer- Our Saanen was bred to an Alpine last year. I've heard that the Saanen/Alpine crosses make GREAT milkers. I'm very hopeful.

[Sonshine]

Originally Posted by MrsSurplus

We are working toward self-sustainability and milk goats seemed like a good fit. I really appreciate how multipurpose their milk is (drinking, cheese, soap...) and that the kids can be eaten or sold!

This is what we're doing. I like to be able to have milk and cheese, etc that was from our little spread. I enjoy raising most of our own food. If things get bad, and I figure it will, I want to have the assurance that I'll be able to put food on the table for my family.

[LFRJ]

A second refrigerator for all this durn milk!