[Violetsprite]

I'm interested to know if other smallholders primarily keep goats for their own pleasure & milk for the home or whether they are able to offset costs by producing something from their goats? I'm looking for ideas but only have a small mixed herd of females and whilst i'm more than happy to have a few more - if i could think of a product,  i would not wish to farm them for meat or keep a dairy herd. Novel or quirky ideas particularly welcome 

[YorkshireLass]

Speak to Plumseverywhere, she makes goat milk soap 

[Lesley Silvester]

Selling milk and cheese is difficult anyway with all the rules and regs.  i was told I could only sell mine if it was marked "Not for human consumption".  I used to sell some to a couple of my friends and always emphasised this.  They agreed then said to child, "Look, here's your Snowflake milk."  I was covered and what they did with it was then up to them.

[Anke]

If you want to sell the milk for human consumption you will be drowning in paperwork... soapmaking is one route (but it doesn't use up loads of milk), other options are to feed a couple of weaners with the milk (and on reduced pig food concentrates), and so produce good pork (which you may find you can sell if going through a butcher). You could also feed bottle lambs (although this usually happens when you need most of your own goatsmilk for the goat kids) and taking in lambs from other farms where they may not have had an ideal start to life may just bring more problems than any profit, but it is an opportunity (or you can sell to a farmer nearby).

We only produce milk for the house, but invested in a cream separator, so now also make all our own butter, cream and ice cream, I make cheese for us, feed a couple of weaners on excess milk and at the time we have lambs any triplets/orphans will be on goatsmilk too... so not making money directly from the goats, but they save us money on a lot of things.

[wytsend]

You can sell "Pet Milk"..... produced to standard dairy regulations.

As long as it is marked clearly for an alternative use and sold to the end user..... you are not to know what it is used for when the milk leaves your premises.   

Of course Pets require clean milk.... they don't want any 'bugs' in their drink !!!!

[Old Shep]

 You could get some angoras and sell the wool? They're just as easy to keep as other goats, bit less likely to escape and graze grass as much as foraging.  I should be able to tell you how much you can get for the wool, but mines still in paper bags in the workshop   

http://www.britishangoragoats.org.uk/bags-sale.html

[Old Shep]

Price for mohair in 2009 was betwen £2 and £5 per kilo, you get 2 clips a year, not sure how much each fleece weighs ??

http://www.mohairmarketing.org.uk/?page_id=18

[plumseverywhere]

Yep, I make an income from goats    Still slightly shocked at the fact that my 'hobby' turned into a business but can't complain - love every minute!!

[Violetsprite]

Thanks Shep - i am considering the Angora route as i'm interested in textiles/arts&crafts etc ...

Plumseverywhere - thanks too & well done for making it work. Were you at the Welsh Winter Fair recently?

[plumseverywhere]

No I wasn't Violetsprite - I tend to avoid fairs now having had a gazebo blow away at a summer steam fair, came home having made a loss but turned on the PC and had taken more orders online than I could ever have sold at a fair, so easier to stay home now!

[tizaala]

After seeing how much hay we need for the coming winter I think Rugs, curry and dogfood is the way to go.