Monday, July 2, 2012

Goats





We brought these two home late April of last year, bottle fed them for weeks, weaned them, been through a terrible poison scare when they ate skunk cabbage (were hand fed some by a one of our children), clipped hooves, repaired fences after numerous escapes (thankful that the onions and kale completely recovered)....

I have come to love these two girls.  Now comes the time when they are nearly ready to breed - this fall they should come into heat.  Now comes the time when my fears all surface - will I be able to handle the birthing, the milking, separating the babies from their moms.

Listening to reason I know that the goats' milk will be such a blessing to our family - to our daughter who has a mild lactose intolerance to a perfect second milk for a toddler.  Plus how wonderful it will be to not have to buy milk at the store or even rely on our neighbor's raw milk ($9.00 a gallon is a lot and for sure we will save some money).

Now to come up with a plan to get them bred.  Do we buy a buck and companion?  Do we find someone that rents one out?  For you goat owners, I would love it if you would share your thoughts and experiences.

Warm wishes,
Tonya

15 comments:

  1. We only have girl goats...but a good friend has a few males. They are (apparently) very stinky and difficult to deal with compared to the girls (although our goat, Penny, is terribly stubborn and I can't imagine any other goat being more difficult to deal with than her).

    I wish you the best in this...we would like to breed Penny as well...although I truly can't stand the taste of goat milk. I wish I did like it though. :)

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  2. Hi Tonya! I haven't blogged about them yet, but we have two goats now as well! I found two 1.5 year old goats already in milk! It has been such a wonderful thing for our family. We are all enjoying the milk and cheese, and I love milking twice each day.

    I don't have any good answers for you, as I was not the one to remove their kids, or attend their births. However, I got these goats the day their babies had been sold, at three months old. And they had never been hand milked... So we got to learn together! That was really a sharp learning curve let me tell you! I nearly gave up twice a day for about 2 weeks! It did get better though.

    Now I call to them as I leave the back door and walk towards the goat yard, and they come running to the gate. I open the gate and they run out and one jumps straight onto the milk stand and the other waits next to the fence for her turn! They are really very smart.

    I have several neighbours with billy goats, and with so many children I don't want to run the risk of having an aggressive buck here, we just feel that this is safest for our human kids,as they can get very dangerous especially near breeding season. So we are talking to neighbours trying to decide who to breed our girls to this fall for more milk next year!

    Good luck! Let us know what you decide. I enjoy reading about your goats.
    ~Rachel

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    1. Oh Rachel,
      Thank you for sharing!
      I would like to just borrow a buck for sure - I just have to find one:)
      So happy to hear about your girls - and how wonderful to find two in milk already.
      I look forward to reading more about your experiences.
      warm wishes,
      Tonya

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  3. Sorry, the only thing I know for sure about goats, is that if you turn your head or get distracted for a moment , they will eat holes in the skirt you are wearing and you will not notice until it is too late! :). Sweet girls though. How exciting, news baby goats in the future!

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  4. They have grown so much. And are so pretty. So my opinion is, with just 2 goats, I would find someone with a nice gentle YOUNG buck and borrow him for at least 2 cycles. Then take him home! Bucks are more trouble than they are worth really. I do have a buck because I have 6 goats. He has been in with all the girls for several months now with no nasty smell or anything going on. He acts like one of them right now. It's just too hot to be breeding. So in the fall I will have to separate him and the babies and put him with just the older does for breeding. This is unless you have another pasture far away from the 2 does to keep a buck. Then if they have does you can't use them with their father. So it's best to just borrow a buck.

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    1. Kris,
      Thank you for sharing. Yes, I would definitely prefer to borrow a buck.. so that is my quest now and pray that he is friendly enough to handle for the time we "need" him.
      Do you milk for your family's consumption as well as your soaps?
      warm wishes,
      Tonya

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  5. Oh Hi Tonya! They are so lovely - just like our girlies :)
    I am another for dont' buy a buck! We have always borrowed, and I have always been glad to say goodbye ;)
    We managed to borrow a very good one, simply by being prepared to kid very, very late - he had finished for the season and his owner wanted a) a vacation and b) to do some remodelling on his pen - so we had him for a month or two, and got cheap services too! We couldn't be happier with the progeny.
    You will not regret your decision! You'll handle kidding just fine - just remember if like me you are a convinced disbudder to get that done in the first few days, they are not like cows and have a blood supply to their horns, so you can't do a thing about it much later.
    And as for the milk? You will wonder how you lived without it, and the yoghurt, and the cheese ....
    Jackiex

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  6. Oh Tonya, what fun! I have nothing to offer except that we love love love raw goat's milk! It's like liquid gold! Enjoy...
    xo Jules

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  7. Tonya, I milk for us and I do have a few herd share customers too. I also make cheese. You will too one day soon. I use the book Goats Produce Too by Mary Jane Roth. It is a well used book. The marinated feta is a good seller for me. And most bucks are really friendly. I have never had a mean buck. I have had my Lamancha buck, John Henry, about a year now and he's amazing. I'll have to sell or trade him next year. I had a Nubian buck too who I named Tom Dooley. I sold him as I only have one Nubian doe and I kept her doe kid. I love goats and they are fun but sometimes a bit crazy and frustrating.

    As far as kidding, most goats do fine on their own, with an occasion bit of help. Most like to be alone. I try to be around when the time comes just in case. You just never know. So write down the day you get a buck in with the girls and when he leaves. Goats generally go 145-155 days. I am pretty right on the date most of the time.

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  8. Tonya, one other thing... I think it is generally customary to let the buck stay home and take your girls to visit the buck. I believe this is because they are extremely difficult to handle and keep fenced in during breeding season. And places with bucks are already used to dealing with them as opposed to homes with only does to handle. Not positive about it, but everyone I've heard talk about breeding goats talks about taking does to the buck not the other way around, so that is why I came up with that theory.

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  9. I can't offer any advice, but I am so looking forward to hearing all about this. Good luck!

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  10. Borrow, barter but dont buy is my advice. Boys have cooties. Well in this case, boys are stinky. Urinate on themselves and whomever else they can. Just all around a pain to deal with. They like the ladies when the ladies dont wanna be liked. Just tooooo much!

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  11. Love goats! I used to have 2 when I was growing up as a kid.Mine followed me every where even in the kitchen, sorry I have no advise- just happy for you :)

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  12. oh, I wrote you a long comment and it disappeared!
    you will love having the milk, and you will find the kidding straightforward, I am sure but I agree with everyone else - DON'T BUY A BUCK!
    We managed to borrow a really good one by kidding really, really late. He had finished for the season and his owner wanted to take a vacation and also get some building work done around his pen, so we got some cheap services and looked after him for a couple of months!
    Keep your eye open for a deal :)
    Jackie

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  13. Hey Tonya!

    I have a buck and, while he only "services" once a year, I love him and having him around. He keeps a separate pasture up for us with two wethers. I bottle fed him so he is easy to handle and he is just a sweetheart.

    The first kidding, I kept half the babies. The second one, I let them go and the third, I only kept the does that I thought would make good replacement ones for those that are aging out. I do "interviews" of the potential new owners and if I don't care for them, I don't sell my kids to them. I feel that I have that much of a responsibility for them! LOL

    For milking, do yourself a favor and go watch someone milk. Start playing with your does' teats so they are used to it. Get them into the stanchion as soon as you can, feed them, and handle them all over every day so that they are used to being handled under their belly. Even when we are not milking, I do this to keep them used to being milked.

    Hoegger's has a wonderful milk bucket, with a lid, that is perfect for milking. The lid has a half-moon opening which helps to keep any debris out. I use a plain stainless bucket with a (don't giggle) disposible "kitchen" hairnet over it. This keeps out any hair or whatever that might 'drop' into the milk. I did invest in a milk can that I can pack with ice and put my jars of milk into so that it starts chilling right away. That keeps the 'bleh' out of the milk.

    You are going to love milking! Enjoy! And, sorry for the long email, but when you get goat folks together, well....

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