Why do you keep goats?

[Narnia75]

Would love to hear some of your motivations!

[Woolieface]

I keep goats as part of an overall goal of being more self sufficient and knowing where my food comes from. There's little in the stores that I fully trust to be eating these days.

[KareninPA]

They entertain me! They are lovable, silly and I love watching them interact with each other. Plus, the BABIES are irresistible and I can't wait to really start milking and making goat cheese!

[kasilofhome]

We, eat in my family. So insuring that we can tomorrow is important. Goats providence, cheese, butter, meat and fire wise my home from burning. Goats are a good choice for us.

[mygoat]

They started out as pets only. Then I got dairies, and realized the reality of breeding was that 50% of kids are male and should be butchered. From there we've had up to about 30 goats including boers and alpines as well as the few token pet minis.

I will admit my main motivation in raising goats is the challenge of raising animals. A close second is the bond that my father and I share, and how the shared interest in farming has only strengthened it. I love genetics, animal husbandry, trying to improve. I love things like AI, production testing etc, and using genetic evals to further goals in my herd. Anything animal management is a true passion for me. I love having something to do every day, and I love having the reliance that they have on me, but also that I have on them for the working relationship we have. I'm just suited to the farming life and philosophy, and They're truly enjoyable critters to be around. Animals to me are a necessity for my personality, and just as my dogs and cats are a staple I couldn't live without, so are my goats. I don't understand a situation where I would be happy without these animals for more than a temporary transitional period in my life. My bond with goats is based in livestock, but tempered with a true passion for these animals - and for our non-pets, it means I love them all but could sell or butcher them if needed. They are livestock, and that means they need to be reasonably easy to care for and feed us as well.

Nobody in my family came from a farming background. My father did produce and chickens as I was growing up, but the farm really developed into a 'homestead' type hobby farm because of my passion for raising livestock. Even at a very young age I took on the tasks of raising livestock by myself, learning all I could to keep them healthy and happy. Even my father grew to love it, though now while I'm in school we just have a tiny goat herd, no rabbits, and chickens... HE has suggested that we get calves and hogs to raise on goats' milk, pasture, and extra produce!! I was as shocked as the day my dad asked to 'buy in' to my farm business so we could become an LCC and be partners in this adventure. Especially because he's kinda afraid of animals bigger than he is. :P

[Narnia75]

Thank you all, for sharing! Interesting to hear the different motivations!

[where I want to]

Weed eating now. Used to raise for meat. Chose them over sheep as their personalities are charming but that proved to be my downfall as eventually it was too traumatic for me to kill such personable animals. I was not up to it.
But I will have some always because they hold back the forest.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Temporary insanity?

[Narnia75]

Originally Posted by Alice In TX/MO

Temporary insanity?

I second that!! I have claimed that to my friends!!

[marshalldodge]

Mainly to keep the weeds down, and as pets.

[where I want to]

Originally Posted by Alice In TX/MO

Temporary insanity?

Nothing temporary about it. The thought of life without goats....... shudder.

[marusempai]

When my oldest was small, she was very allergic to cow dairy and soy, but could tolerate goat dairy very well. Store goat milk was hideously expensive and didn't taste very good anyway, so we made a slightly extra-legal deal with a guy we knew who had goats, to "buy" some of his extra milk. Every time I went down there (half hour plus drive each way), I would think dang, it would be a heck of a lot easier to just have my own goats.

It isn't. But it is a lot more fun, and they make me laugh every day.

[Narnia75]

Originally Posted by marusempai

to "buy" some of his extra milk. Every time I went down there (half hour plus drive each way), I would think dang, it would be a heck of a lot easier to just have my own goats.

It isn't. But it is a lot more fun, and they make me laugh every day.

I must preface this by saying that we are newly into goats since two months ago. We had gotten on the "milk cure" with Jersey A2 cow milk. We experienced a lot of benefits, but then I developed a sensitivity to it after a while. So, I found someone about half hour away that sold goat milk for $10 per gallon (Saanens). The milk tasted so flat, chalky, and watery, especially after having been on Jersey cow milk. But, we were so grossed out!! There were goat hairs and debris in every half gallon!! Now that I know how dirty goats can be (mine wallow in dirt), I get even more grossed out every time I think about it!!!

So, I had to find another goat milk seller. Found one over an hour away, who sold for $14 /gal (Oberhaslis). We were drinking a gallon a day at the time, so that got to be rather expensive!!! So, I kept looking, and found someone that was the same distance from us in the opposite direction, who seemed very conscientious with her sanitation. Hers was $10 /gal (Lamanchas). We pared down to 1/2 gal per day and bought enough for 2 weeks each time. The travel felt arduous just to buy one item of food.

While doing my search for goat milk on "realmilk.com" I came across a lady who had shut down her goat milk biz. We became friendly and chatted from time to time. SHE suggested that we get our own goats. I balked at the suggestion. She said, "Do the math!" When I did some quick calculations, it looked much cheaper to produce our own goat milk! Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!

I never knew about all the extraneous expenses, like how much grain OUR goat can eat, alfalfa pellets, hays, treats, fecals, dewormers, supplements, bedding, all the supplies needed for maintenance...yadadadada!!!! Now that I know so much more, I am wanting to use organic feed now, which drives up the cost of our milk to be close to $14 per gallon!!!

Did I mention how much time it takes to care for these goats? Taking them browsing twice a day for 30-45 minutes at a time, poop-scooping twice a day, not to mention the time it takes to milk (prep, milking, straining, washing the equipment, etc.), running to the vet with fecals... I think it probably takes us about 4 hours of time each day!! Hahaha!! We were told by one person who had goats for sale, that it only took about 30 min. per day to take care of her goats!

So, yes! Temporary insanity under the heavy influence of other goat owners who never mentioned the work, the stress, and hidden costs involved!!! Bottom line, we got goats to save time and money, which has completely backfired on us!! It seems like our lives revolve around these goats now! This is the real math, had I known....4 hours travel every other week is a WHOLE LOT better than 4 hours every day, 7 days a week!!! Forget about the money!!

Are we enjoying our goats? Yes and no. We are enjoying the milk and the baby doeling, but her mother has not quite won our hearts yet. She is still resistant and stomping at milking but not quite as belligerent as she was. We were trimming her hooves today on the stanchion for the first time and she tried to bite me. Sigh....One of these days, I hope that she will settle down and be cooperative like she was with her first owner.

We have gone back and forth about whether to keep them or sell them and call it quits, but we like the control we have over the quality of our milk, so we are kind of stuck for now. If we were to quit, would I regret our experience? No! I have learned so much about a species of animal that I had been completely clueless about! I love to learn new things, have new experiences...to add to my knowledge base about life...enrichment! AND..a whole new world of goat parasitology...biology 101! My, my, my!!! Is that another HUGE unexpected dimension to goat-keeping!!!

I have experienced what it feels like to love and be loved by a baby goat...very different in so many ways from relating to a dog or a cat. There is a special quality about baby goats that I cannot explain...it's just very special. If we quit, I will miss her...that aspect of my life...I will always carry her in my heart.

So, I hope this helps other wanna-be goat keepers who may not be aware of the hidden costs (time and money), the "dangers of the heart (you will fall in love)," and other aspects of goat-keeping.

[where I want to]

Well, all I can say about that is that it gets better with practice. I know that spending 45 minutes a day taking them out to browse would not be acceptable to me either. But, since I have to trim trees, pull weeds, deadhead flowers anyway, giving the trimmings to the goats makes those activities a whole lot more fun and satifying. Economic too.
But I don't milk goats either.

[Narnia75]

Glad to hear that it gets better with practice!

They are taken out to browse 2x per day...30-45 minutes each time. Sometimes longer...depending on if she wants to eat longer.

[Rosepath]

A friend cuts browse for his goats and gives it to them daily. Might be a time-saver in a way, rather than the walkabout going on now.
And whoever was selling dirty goat milk (hairs, etc) for $10/gallon is quite the scam artist.

[SouthGAMan]

Currently for several reasons my goat pen is smaller than it used to be (and hoping to rectify that in the next couple of months). We have 2 does and 3 kids and cut browse for them frequently (usually at least once a day sometimes as much as 3x).

We keep goats more or less as a hobby and to help teach our children responsibility. They are certainly INTERESTING creatures lol.

[V-NH]

I wanted a jersey cow, but my wife and I are working with one acre currently so we decided that a few goats made a whole lot more sense. I have them for milk and meat, but whenever we get around to selling this house and buying an actual farm (hopefully within the next 3-4 years) we'll probably liquidate our whole goat setup and get a couple of dairy cows and some beef cattle.

One plus to goats is that they're easy to handle compared to cows.

[gibbsgirl]

Cause they're awesome. Except the stinkers. But those get sold or eaten. So yeah, cause they're awesome.

[Narnia75]

Originally Posted by gibbsgirl

Cause they're awesome. Except the stinkers. But those get sold or eaten. So yeah, cause they're awesome.

Please elaborate! Would love to hear what specifically ways you find them awesome!