Might get our first goats very soon - advice please!

[littlemother]

Hello everyone! I am new of this forum. We just moved to Missouri so that we could experience the adventure of life in the country with our children. We have wanted to have goats, but weren't particularly focusing on it yet. We got a couple of calves and were told that we should get some goats to help with our weed issue in our pastures. We began looking for goats, not really knowing much about them. We found out that a friend (through internet forum andfb) needs to get rid of some of their goats due to life issues making it too much for them to handle kidding right now. They are purebred registered Nubian goats, 2 does about to kid March 1, and a buck if we want him. We would LOVE to have them, but are feeling a bit overwhelmed with the learning curve we are experiencing. Our 2 wk old calf is scouring so we are bottle feeding him electrolytes round the clock and learning quickly more than we realized about calf care and wondering if being new goat owners would be too much for us, however, we sure hate to miss out on goats this year and have to deal with our weeds issues without their help.

We are in SW Missouri, have an old barn with no doors, but have made the stalls we do have up and running fairly warm with sides, heat lamps and deep straw bedding. We could build another large )10' x 15' stall or build two 10' x 7' stalls for the does. What would the buck need? He could come into the barn for shelter or we have a loafing shed out in one pasture that has an opening into the barn leading from it.

What things should we consider before we decide one way or the other on whether to take this opportunity or wait until later? Thank you!

[tambo]

Welcome littlemother

[Alice In TX/MO]

Welcome to the board.

You aren't ready. There will be other goats. Reading and having the barn, fences, water source, etc etc etc prepared ahead of time is essential.

Using a heat lamp in an old barn is a recipe for a fire. LOTS of folks have barn fires from heat lamps.

Get your prep done, study, THEN get goats. It will save a lot of stress and grief.

[Goat Servant]

From what I understand a calf is a whole lot harder to bring through with scours than a goat.
But the bottom line is if you are overwhelmed with learning curve just keep doing what you are for now.
Goats are a steep learning curve by themselves.
Meantime stop in, we'll get you converted, but not before you are ready.

[ne prairiemama]

Hi!!! It's me Glad you found your way over. There's so much to be learned here and lots oflovely "goat people" lol!

[Backfourty,MI.]

I agree with Alice & Goat Servant. It doesn't sound like your quite ready & with goats some prep work, reading, etc. really helps in the long run & will save you a lot of stress.
Welcome to the forum & I hope your calf pulls through the scours & is doing better soon.

[KrisD]

Hi welcome!

First things first get your calf under control so you have one less thing to worry about. I only use heat lamps for kidding time if it's pretty cold out, and they are secured REALLY well so they can't catch on fire.

In goats the first thing you want to do is make sure they are disease tested and that they are negative. I use www.pavlab.com but most on here use www.biotracking.com. See if your friend can test them for you and if possible they can show you how to draw blood. Testing is inexpensive and good insurance.

Unless you're going to run the buck with your girls full time (I don't recommend it) he will need a very secure fence and a friend like a nice wether. If you run your buck with your does you will never have breeding dates so figuring out when future babies are going to come can be a real pain in the rear. I take mine to another farm for breeding so I know exact dates and I can plan around family vacations, holidays and bad weather.

Once you get fencing that is appropriate for goats the rest is fairly easy. Personally I would not get the goats this close to kidding if you have no experience. So many things can go wrong that could be disastrous. Ask us how we know! You should be somewhat familiar with goats before you start dealing with goats giving birth. If you decide you really want them wait until the does kid and give them 2-3 weeks to get settled into a nursing routine before you get them.

Here is an excellent website for newbies www.fiascofarm.com. Once you have your feet wet try the Tennesseemeatgoats.com web site lots of good information but will make your head swim.

Best of luck and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

Kris

[littlemother]

Thank you, everyone. We did decide to let the great opportunity pass, hard as that was to do. Looking back now, we are amazed that we were trying so hard to make it work. I can't imagine this past weekend adding in getting goats and all that we would've had to do to get ready for them happening before them. Yes, that would be a lot of stress!

The good news is, we are all fired up for getting goats and can get ready for them. We have a tendancy to do everything spur of the moment without any previous planning, so we are looking forward to doing it more "planned".
It will be odd to buy books ahead of time and actually be prepared, but I think we can handle it.

THank you for confirming that we did the right thing and helping us feel good about letting go of some wonderful goats. I look forward to joining you all in the future!