[macgro7]

Hello
Sorry to bother you again but I want to do it properly - at the moment I have two options when it comes to our new (first ever) goats:

1. Two castrated boys. 7 months old. Large breed - british saanen cross British alpine. Both horned. Both are tame as puppies. Went to see them the other day. They were intended for meat but after hand feeding for 7 months they want them to go as pets. The current owners are local smallholders too. They mainly raise calves for meat as well as sheep and poultry. Those are their only goats.

2. Two goatlings. At the moment only one week old! Choice of boys and girls. Could take girl and castrates boy in case we actually want to milk her later on. Mix of breeds - guernsey, saanen, toggenburg and alpine - which means they could potentially be slightly smaller than two boys from option 1. They are all born on small goat dairy farm  (or rather 10 acre smallholding). We are going to see them tomorrow hopefully.
That's their website
http://gandersgoat.com/trump-the-herd/

What would you say are pros and cons of either of those two options?

[farmershort]

What do you want them for? That would be my starting point...

We've not yet secured our goats, but our list went like this:

1) native breed if possible
2) milk for the house, but not too much
3) helping a rarer breed
4) dual purpose if possible

With all of that in mind, it's easy to see that we'd be looking at old English goats, or English goats (they are different), and that we want in-kid nannies (at this time of year) as an ideal. This would mean the ability to provide the house with milk this year.

If you're just getting pets, then I guess 2 of the above might still apply.

[macgro7]

I was looking at guernsey initially as I like their size. Also because they are fairly rare. Same goes for English goats.

Our ones are gonna be mainly pets (let's be honest!). Hopefully also milkers - unless I take those two boys obviously and then add a girl for milk once I am more comfortable with goat husbandry in real life.

I think their main purpose will be education for kids. Nowadays kids think milk and meat and everything else comes from asda!

[farmershort]

I was looking at guernsey initially as I like their size. Also because they are fairly rare. Same goes for English goats.

Our ones are gonna be mainly pets (let's be honest!). Hopefully also milkers - unless I take those two boys obviously and then add a girl for milk once I am more comfortable with goat husbandry in real life.

I think their main purpose will be education for kids. Nowadays kids think milk and meat and everything else comes from asda!

It all depends how strongly you feel about the above elements then. Personally, i don't be waiting until I found the right GG'S or English goats, rather than jumping in for the first random stuff you find. That sounds harsh when written down, but hopefully you know I'm not meaning to sound harsh. GG'S and EG'S are nicer to look at too, I reckon.

[macgro7]

The looks must also be compatible with my wives preference lol

What do people think of the subject regardless the looks? Ease of management etc. Babies will obviously be have to be fed with bottle. The older ones were destined for meat so won't have any wormers or immunisation given to them.
Price is also not an issue - they want £40 for the new born and £60 for the 7 month old so it's not that bad. I understand babies will cost more to feed initially (I. E. Milk), in long term will need the same accommodation and fencing anyway.
Oh dear...

[Talana]

You have to think do you want horned goats or polled/ disbudded and stick with what you decide,(most dairy goats are either disbudded  polled) eg. sell polled kids born or disbudd horned kids. What type of goat you like the look of  as you have to interact with them every day. Do you want to get into a rare breed or specific breed or just cross breeds. If taking in female kids ideally you what them to kid for the first time below 3years as some people say after 3 yrs kidding for the first time may bring kidding problems. Different breeds can have different temperaments  but individuals can vary and also upbringing plays a huge part. How much space do you have for goats in how may individual animals can you keep. For example if you get two wethers and at a later date decide to get a female or 2 and have your own kids will you still have room for the wethers. When sourcing stock also check their health status cae,ect.(saves heartbreak at a later stage) Taking on kids bottle feeding 3 times a day bringing them up correctly to avoid getting them into bad habits.Electric fencing is a must for goats.

[Caroline1]

There will be lots of goats for sale over the next couple of months and I would also suggest having a good think about what you want considering that goats are a long commitment.

I started keeping goats 2 years ago and wanted to live a more self-sufficient life so for me, I knew I wanted females for milk and decided to get some kids so I could learn the animal husbandry before I had to learn about kidding and milking which will be on the cards next month. I also wanted to do cheese and butter making so went for Anglo Nubians because of their butterfat content. I had the chance to have some Toggs and thought a different type of milk might be good to experiment with. I have since also added Boer goats as a meat herd.

Your 2 options are the complete opposite of each other and whilst having some as pets is great, what is your main goal. Good luck

[macgro7]

I spoke to that guy several months ago and knew they expect them around that time.
I have 7 and 6 foot fence all the way around they will would be.
They will have approximately 20x9 metres permanent enclosure + 4 times as much browsing/grazing space (all together about half an acre)+ allotments next door overgrown with brambles.
I potentially might have space for more than two but don't want to get to many at the moment.

[Steph Hen]

I was in a similar boat a few years ago. I wanted boer/meat goats, planned to rear a couple for meat, eat them. Then either repeat or breed my own and have a little herd. As well as this, I wanted them to be tame for walks/harness goats? And for my toddler to grow up around other animals. We also have a lot of ground that they could tidy up, 10+ acres.

At the time I couldn't find any boers, then met some local Anglo Nubians and when the breeder said all males are culled at birth I decided I'd get two. Similarly to you - so that I could get used to the species, and all the care, and if I liked them, get more/breeding stock down the line.

I got two disbudded wethers, bottle fed, then one died so replaced with a British toggenburg wether. I take them for walks most days, they are like dogs, great to be around and kids love them :-)

Don't get babies. Mine are were/are super tame which is LOVELY, but they saw me as mum and had issues with being left - essentially they would only eat if I was with them and otherwise starved themselves. They started eating, but after months of being skinny, I recon this is why, aged 2 my Anglo Nubian is stunted :-( Ive no idea why mine ended up with this issue or how I could do anything different next time, so wouldn't get bottle fed kids again.

Don't get the wethers. If you think you might like to breed/milk sometime, why not get females that you might be able to do that with down the line. It doesn't sound like you have masses of space, so id avoid limiting your operation before you start. If you take them on as pets, you can't eat them and you might struggle to sell them on as pets to make room for others.

With all the time and cash that you'll invest over the lifetime of the goats, wait and drive as far as you need to get the ones that best match your criteria.

[Talana]

If your ultimate aim is for your own milk get females, if purely pets/harness goats only, get wethers. Older goats are best to start off with that have been brought up well for new keepers.

Sorry but I can't help it -Steph Hen you do not have a British toggenburg wether but have a Toggenburg wether often prefixed as pure or pure swiss toggenburg to differentiate them from the more common British Toggenburg which is a separate breed. Toggenburgs are now rarer than the Golden Guernsey.

[Steph Hen]

 

Thank you for the correction! -and take anything I say with a pinch of salt as I don't even know what breeds I have lol!  Dash is doing fine, been out in the field on dry days and been doing lots of walks with me and the pram. He bullies Broardsword a bit, but they love each other really   

[Goatmamma]

I'm biased but if the goats are purely for pets I would say pygmy wethers! I have two that are horned. They are great characters, very entertaining. The horns are not a problem if you lay down the ground rules re butting and don't play push me pull me when they are little (it's really tempting though, because they are such fun!).

[bj_cardiff]

If their pets then I'd keep wethers, their full of charicter and my goats are horned and I can't see what the issue is.. well apart from when their young and keep sticking their heads through the stock fence...

[macgro7]

Well I'm pleased to announce we have both two young goatlings - nanny and a wether.
They are 6 weeks old at the moment, still on milk but eating brambles, docks and little bit of concentrates.
Their mum is pure golden guernsey and their dad is saanen cross British alpine.
They came from good milking flock. Their mother gives about 2.5-3 litres every day and their fathers sisters give around 5 a day.
They are silly tame - like puppies.
They are horned, and their horns are growing fast at the moment.
I am planning to breed the girl and milk her later on.
Have planted hybrid willows and poplars with intention of growing forage for them. Part of my work involves grounds maintenance so I bring a lot of branches from willows and other shrubs and trees. Will have loads and loads of them during the whole summer.

[macgro7]

I am wondering if it's too late to re-train as a tree surgeon...

I was actually looking into it couple of months ago lol
Good job actually. I've cut some trees down as well - chainsaw paid for itself! Saved a looooot of money on tree surgeons!
They would have charged me thousands! I had two van loads of logs from my forest. And I have quiet a lot still to be cut down. Mainly well overgrown hollies which trunks are nearly a foot wide. They grow along the fence, I'm sure someone many years ago planted them as a hedge but unlike in front of the house, no one's been trimming them for decades. But that's probably next winters job