The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: egglady on November 12, 2010, 09:16:21 pm
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Been trying to persuade hubby for ages that we need goats (already have sheep, pigs, horses, ducks and chickens) and up till now he's always said no. of course i could just go ahead and get them anyway, but i do need him on board as i know they will need more looking after than, say the sheep.
any road up, we were watching giles and sue do the good life programme last night, and guess what???
he said "maybe we should get goats in the spring"..... could have knocked me down with a feather..
so all you lovely and experienced goat people, give me all your tips and advice please?????
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strange creatures men, bless em.
good luck with your hunt :wave:
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strange creatures men, bless em.
good luck with your hunt :wave:
fanks xx
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Ohh that is exciting!
Start researching now- you need to decide what you want them for, milk, meat, pets, fleece, to look pretty? And then go from that starting point to think about breeds you might want. Consider what males might be available locally as well, you might not want to keep a male yourself, and if you want to breed you will need some males... Fife is an ok location, there are other goatkeepers in the area which is always handy. If you want goats for you to hand milk, find yourself someone local you can visit to practice milking. Think about what sheds/buildings you might be keeping them in- would they be suitable, would you need to get/build something else?
I can put you in touch with dairy goat breeders in Fife anyway. Oh, and it might be an idea to join the Forth and Tay Goatkeepers, originally set up as a little club for goatkeepers who lived between the Forth and the Tay rivers, there aren't very many of us now, but we do get together during the winter months.
Beth
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as you can see im forever asking questions on ere as im just new to goat keeping myself
just over a year of experience :D
the people on ere are second to none with their knowledge of goat husbandry and im sure you will get all the tips and
advice that you will be looking for.
we at the moment are waiting for milly ( togg x anglio nubian ) to come into heat so we can bring her to see her fella that we have arranged a date
with on her behalf!!!
will be reading this post to see how get on, good luck ;)
langdon :goat:
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Aw that's lovely!! I remember when Tony decided getting goats was a good idea...oh hang on a minute, he still hasn't lol ;D
wouldtn' be without goats now, love em to bits! then again I'm dependent on their milk to keep my business running.
you are right that you will need him on board, I've found a lot of goat-jobs are 2 person ones, ear tagging today (well that took 3 of us in the end as the applicator jammed, luckly my 9 year old was there to help) hoof trimming can take 2 and when they need injections, get poorly etc. Joking apart, tony has been brilliant when I've needed 2nd pair of hands.
Read loads, think hard about what you want the goats for, if you want them for milk, what will you do with male kids etc etc. check your land for poisonous bushes, tree's, plants as goats only need a little bit of certain things to make them very ill indeedy (don't ask me how I know that ::) )
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Good, it took me a while to get OH on board, but he is very helpful and built me the most palacious goathouse ever (I just don't seem to be able to put pics on here...).
But they do need to be looked after 365 days a year! Especialy if you milk them you will be tied to the holding - but they are great animals to have around. And the milk is just sooooo much better than shop bought stuff.
If you are down in the Borders please come and have a look at mine, I found it really helpful to go and see how others house their goats and see the different breeds.
Also a number of books were really helpful, the best one (IMHO) is Ulrich Jaudas, "The New Goat Handbook", available through abebooks.co.uk. (I think) Also Storey guide very helpful.
Have fun!
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You will love them. I didn't have to persuade my hubby when I wanted some, he does love most animals though!
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That's great news. My husband announced recently that he always wants to keep goats. They are very good comedians and make us laugh all the time. Ours are just pets which we adopted from the RSPCA. You will love them. :)