[McRennet]

Hello!

I know that some of you might have read some of my posts on here and as a result have some idea of what my, OUR (must include the OH!) future plans are.

We are hoping to set up a goats cheese dairy and as a result need a little bit of help starting our herd off.

We currently have around 30 goats that will be ready to kid next spring (ish) but this leaves us around 20 short. I realise that there are absolutely wonderful goats south of the border but we would really like to get some goats with some form of Scottish heritage!

Does anyone know of any breeders that might have that kind of number? Or maybe less, I don't mind if I have to collect from here and there to form the numbers but it might get tedious with movement restrictions etc etc. Pedigree isn't vital (would be nice) but health status is. Also no need to be the most stunning, perfection can come from imperfection! But a good milker is needed.

We would be looking to start rounding them up and to get the herd formed from end of july onwards.

Really appreciate any help you can offer,

Kind Regards,
McR & the OH

[wytsend]

Wondered if you are still interested in my kids .... have got around 5/6 available + males, which wouldn't be closely related anything 'up north'.

Just need to know at this stage,.....can you ring me this evening if possible.

[ballingall]

There are no breeders in Scotland that would have that many available from one herd. However, it may well be possible to round up that many from scottish breeders, although they may have to be collated together. For instance we may have a heavy milker BT available in August/September- but only 1.

I can certainly give you some contact numbers- Gordon Smith is the Stock Secretary for the Scottish Goatkeepers Federation (I am on the committee) and his number is 01382 370259. Just to confuse you- there are two Gordon's (Gordon Smith & Gordon Webster) but really either can help.


Beth

[Anke]

Again I would only have one BT goatling (her dam is giving 6.5kgs atm) available this summer, and if you are a member of BGS you can search for goatkeepers in Scotland and talk to them directly. You will have to probably build the herd up slowly over time.

Also remember the 13 day standstill only applies for animals going off - you can bring on new stock anytime, just then don't take them off for a fortnight. And as long as you have a couple of isolation fields/sheds you should be fine, if you are looking for about 20 females. You going to keep your own males?

So are you going to be near Selkirk? Am just nosy...

[McRennet]

Hello!

This is good.

Wytsend- I am so sorry that I have only just managed to log on after a day out in warwickshire countryside. Are you available for a chat tomorrow afternoon? I would very much like to talk to you about any females that you might have following on from my complete balls up a few weeks ago. I don't think I can apologise enough.

Ballingall & Anke - Obviously subject to further conversations I would be very interested in your ladies! On the flip side, do wither of you have a billy? In time, we do want to keep our own males but for the first year we might have to have a 'visit' form a healthy frisky chap!

I shall contact the SGF stock secretary to see if they have any grand ideas.

I realise that it is cheaper to grow your own herd but in order to make the figures work we really do need more than the current 30 girls. Bearing in mind that only 22 of them will be definite milkers. The others are still wee and I am hopeful that we can get them mated etc but I realistically need to allow for the fact that we might not.

We are in the deep dark depths of buying a property near Selkirk. We managed to negotiate extra grazing that is on the hill behind the house which rules out the problems that we had earlier.

We are nearly there with the purchase but I felt it was pretty important to find out about stock as at present we are remarkably short!

On another point can I ask if any of you lovely scottish folk know of a good animal feed merchants in that locality?

Thanks again, McR

[ballingall]

Anke is your best person to ask for local feed merchants.

On the other hand, I can recommend this company http://www.davidsonsfeeds.co.uk/index.php who will deliver feed- minimum order 1 ton, but with that many animals you shouldn't have an issue. They don't do any "goat food" however, we feed both their Sheep course mix, and their Cattle dairy nuts, and both are very good. On top of that- their service is top notch. They will phone and tell you if the price is going up, so that you can order before the increase, and they do the same in reverse if thye know the price will be going down. They phone about a week after you get your delivery to check everything is ok with it.

We do generally always have a billy- I virtually always have an Anglo-Nubian, and we currently have a British Alpine male as well. If either were to "visit" you, your herd would need to be CAE tested (not sure if you are just now?).

Beth

[McRennet]

Once again, great stuff!

We are currently in the process of, just awaiting the results.

Really interesting in terms of feed co's.

Will contact them tomorrow to get pricing.

McR

[wytsend]

Yes I expect to be around Weds afternoon... particularly between 2 - 4pm.

Look forward to talking to you.   Have a billy suggestion.

[McRennet]

Super, will call you then.

McR

[Anke]

Re feed merchant - I currently use a new outfit in Newtown St Boswells at the local auction mart - it's Tarff's. Good service, they get me the Carrs/Billingtons Dairy nuts (18%), that I now use mainly for the milkers. You will find that this part of the Borders is not dairy country, but with a herd of that size you should be able to negotiate a delivery. In Selkirk itself there is Carrs Billingtons as well, just taken over the local merchants. They are very horsey orientated though, but again you will be able to speak to them and arrange delivery etc.

Re vets - I use Greenside vets in St Boswells, don't know about any farm vets in Selkirk area though.

If your main aim is to breed females for milk production (and they would be AOV/HB?) you should find individual males from small herds that I am sure could come on loan or are for sale.

The local abattoir in Galashiels does goats/male kids on the same day as sheep (if that would come into your business plan), and I know there are dealers for the restaurant trade that go through Gala (so it is not Halal). The auction mart at St Boswells (Swann's) would probably know someone in that direction.

Looking forward to hear more about the goat farm/dairy once you are up and running.

Regards, Anke.

[McRennet]

It is with a heavy heart that I write to inform that the sale of 'our' farm fell through last week and as a result we are back looking. 

But we aren't going to give up so easily! Last week we were so blue it was shocking, I don't think either of us had realised just how much this all meant to us and just how much we want it. Oh well, at least some good has come out of it, if we know that much!

We have given ourselves a much more realistic time scale for this time next year to have found a place and to be moved in. The plan now is to move back to scotland with the girls (goat girls that is) in the new year. Beg, steal or borrow some land to house them on and find anywhere that will do for us. A tent is looking probable at the moment. 
But this would mean that we will be in a better situation to go see places if we are already up there. Plus we can keep our eyes peeled for any land that comes available. We are willing to consider anything, old farm, new farm, land etc. Just so long as it is in scotland!

I want to say thank you to those who responded so quickly in terms of growing our heard, that is of course on hold for now, but thank you so so much regardless.

If anyone hears of anything it would be great if you could let me know.

Many many thanks from all of us.

McR xxx

[ballingall]

Oh I am really sorry to hear that McRennet. Don't give up, it will all come together for you in the future. How much land do you need? We can all keep our eyes peeled out for you.


Beth

[Roxy]

So sorry things have not turned out as you had hoped ...but, you never know, something better may be just round the corner.  I have been there, in the same position, several times lately - it does dishearten you.  But, we have picked ourselves up and still looking for that right place.

[wytsend]

So sorry to hear this Lee-Anna,  but of course this usually means .. tho you can't see it at the time..  the farm in question may not have been  right in the long term, fate has an uncanny way of sorting things.

Also, it gives you time to source a number of goats for the future.

Will call you in the near future... chin up,

[McRennet]

Hello folks,

Thanks for your support. I too am a great believer in that things happen for a reason. And Wytsend, I'm sure you're right that the farm perhaps wasn't THE most suitable option. I'm sure there are others out there but at least by giving ourselves more time we can properly think it through rather than feeling rushed to make the decision.

So we are now both looking for the house, land, outbuildings and jobs - not too much to ask for!
House: 3-4 bed room for a good kitchen, it's the most important room IMO.
Land: ideally 20 acres, perhaps a little more but we are flexible on this depending on the outbuildings involved.
Outbuildings: Not crucial, as we can build from new, from my reasearch it is alarmingly cheaper to build from new rather than to refurb an old place. What a shame.
Jobs: We have both worked in the cheese industry for the last 10 years, covering all aspects. More recently I have achieved a degree in cheesemaking. Both of us have a strong love of animals, so although we might not be lucky enough to get a job that is hands on, anything that has some form of connection to animals might be nice.  To be honest we just need jobs to be able to feed the goats and ourselves. But I draw line at working for Te*co's! 

Thanks everyone.

McR