I want a goat. Actually I want like two or three goats. Goats do better
if they have friends. We had goats when I was a kid. Toggenburgs. They
were big goats. My Aunt raised pygmys when we lived in Arizona. The pros
and cons that just keep running through my mind though. I don't mind
sending bucklings to freezer camp. I just have to make sure I can cook
them so my family will eat them. I really want dairy goats. The minis
need less feed and produce more milk per pound of food. But I want a Big
goat. Nubians. But do I want to be tied to the house every day she's
being milked? I can separate the kids at night and milk only in the
mornings, but it's Every day without fail. I have to be here, have to be
awake the same time every morning. Before I go to work, good weather or
bad. Can I find a friend that is willing to come over, milk, and turn every one out together, then separate at night?
When we were kids, I'm pretty sure we just threw the goats hay, and
whatever grass they ate from the yard. Now I'm looking at grains, and
free choice minerals for a milking goat. Pens, and fencing, and shelter, and a milking stand, and ..... But I really like the idea of having goats. I
have scenes and scenarios running through my head, and have feelings
attached to the pictures, and I don't even have a goat yet. I would put
them out under the stand of trees. Add another strand of hot fence to
what is already out there along the short pasture. Have to run three
strands across the front next to the round pen, reinforce over by
Rebecca's property. And Scott want to put the pig pen over there. The
goats could browse to their hearts content on the grasses, and trees
growing there. Eat down all the new starts of cottonwoods I go out and
haul up by the roots every year. Take over a corner of Scots garage for
my milking stand. But then I have to be committed to sweeping out the
goat berries every day. If they get out they will decimate the garden I
have planned for the new year. I don't want to have a buck on my
property so I will have to find one that belongs to a disease free herd
that I can borrow on a moments notice. Goats are noisy. They like to
talk to you, to each other, to the birds flying over heard. They are so
entertaining to watch though. Especially the kids, jumping and butting,
and bouncing around sideways. I already have horses I'm tied to the
property with. I can always have the neighbor zip over, throw some hay
in the winter, or just make sure the water tanks are full in the summer.
I can still go away over night, or even up to a week I've had Andrea
keep an eye on them for me.Goats I think are going to take a little more
attention. This isn't even close to the thoughts I chase around inside my head about the chickens though. :)
If you're looking for someone to talk you OUT of having goats....can't say that I can help ya! I love my goats (Purebred Saanens & F1 Mini-Saanens), and yes they can be a pain, but still worth their weight in fresh, creamy, homestead milk!
ReplyDeleteToo bad I'm not still in Arkansas. There are a few good breeders here in Idaho close by. I'm not set up yet anyhow, but I can still dream.
ReplyDeleteI love my Nigerian goats, they are part of the family. Wonderful personalities and great milk. I won't talk you out of them, but they are attention hogs.
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