[Shropshirelass]

Nah sorry I've had it off my uncles goat & shop bought & it tasted sour & bitter & just plain awful - plus the buggers bully sheep & destroy hedges - cute & friendly granted but if I had any I'd probably go for some Nubians for some meat & maybe a few pygmys & again any male kids would go for slaughter or sale as pets - any idea if anyone knows if the males are left entire until say 6-12 months as a slaughter age if the smell would taint the meat like boar taint in pigs x

[plumseverywhere]

Shop bought has a tang to it that makes it quite unpleasant but fresh goats milk doesn't taste any different to cow's milk unless something is wrong! If the goat has mastitis or the milk is not being cared for properly after milking or maybe the goat has a mineral deficiency then it will taste 'off' or 'goaty'.
My goats have lived with sheep and never bullied them. Best bet for meat would be Boer or BoerX. Pygmies are fine as pets but that's about it.
You'd most likely need to castrate billies for meat - they reach sexual maturity quite quickly!

[Lesley Silvester]

Very few people can tell they are having goat's milk in their tea in my house.  Shop stuff is horrible.  Goats are fun, affectionate, productive and will eat far scrubbier plants than most animals.  Males make good meat.
 
No prizes for guessing what I would recommend.  Would also run some chooks with them.

[Shropshirelass]

Mmm if we got a few would it be best to put up an area with just wooden fencing as all our lands hedgerows with wire in the middle suitable for sheep & cattle but when we had our last goat she was kept with sheep & a right bugger, - how many times do they breed a year? is it once like sheep or more? x

[manian]

my OH is the best all round smallholder animal; only problem is that bakewell market won't sell him for me and the abbatoir won't do the deed when he's no longer 'useful'
he also insists on sleeping in the house
Mx

[goosepimple]

 

[plumseverywhere]

Mmm if we got a few would it be best to put up an area with just wooden fencing as all our lands hedgerows with wire in the middle suitable for sheep & cattle but when we had our last goat she was kept with sheep & a right bugger, - how many times do they breed a year? is it once like sheep or more? x

Once a year for mating.


fencing - most goats need electric strands and very high fences to contain them

[Shropshirelass]

Ok I actually just found that the boers can breed up to 3 times a year but 1-2 is normal, does anyone find it difficult finding abbotoirs that accept goats as I'd like to send them local if possible does anyone in my area know of any? x

[plumseverywhere]

How do they do that with a average 150 day gestation period? would be interested to see the source of that info!


You might find this site useful [size=78%]http://www.allgoats.com/breeding.htm#What is the gestation[/size]   it will answer lots of questions about goat breeding. Or perhaps post in the goat section on here?

[Lesley Silvester]

Ok I actually just found that the boers can breed up to 3 times a year but 1-2 is normal, does anyone find it difficult finding abbotoirs that accept goats as I'd like to send them local if possible does anyone in my area know of any? x

I breed mine every two or three years or until they aren't producing enough milk.  My last one was producing milk for four years after kidding.
 
There is a slaughter house at Bishop's Castle which takes goats.  I will be using them fairly soon.

[Shropshirelass]

No see ours I'd like to see having the 1-2 litters a year from approx 5-6 nannies so that's maybe 36 kids tops - some of which will go to slaughter & the nanny kids sold or eaten if they don't make the grade - The one in Bishops castle is closed as we used to use them & the Lentwardine one which kills sheep pigs & cattle so maybe they do - craven arms do sheep but its supposedly a Halal slaughter house - which a lot of locals & us dont approve of  - with goats is it possible to keep the Billy with the Nannies all year round? or should I remove him & put him with castrated males when not wanted for breeding?, our hedges our high so would electric fencing simply be ok for the goats? or can anyone recommend dismatable fencing? As we'd move them to different fields occasionally x   

[little blue]

if you are a beginner ... chickens.
More than a few, just in case!

for all rounders, goats definitely fit the bill. Milk, less space needed than cattle, less suicidal than sheep (or so I'm told, I don't keep sheep so should stick to telling you what I know about)  intelligent, affectionate, generally few kidding problems (assuming you want them for purpose, ie to milk from) and, if you do your homework, buy good, tested stock, then usually little need for vet attention, with good husbandry.

depending on your land, pigs give good meat.

cats or terriers will keep down the rodents ...

.. after that, its a case of what you fancy keeping really!
best of luck

[little blue]

we keep our billy in all year. He soon shifts at the first sign of kidding!  he can't cope being shut in, so just sleeps out or well out of her way...

[little blue]

by the way, goats gestate for apporx 150 - 155 days, and won't mate til the kids are weaned.

do the sums, even boers would struggle to mate THAT many times a year!

[Shropshirelass]

Thanks little blue - trust me I'm nooo beginner  , I've been dealing with hens, ducks, geese sheep & beef & dairy cattle all through my life  I just want something a little easy & different that can be kept at the farm, to maintain it whilst we have the other stock elsewhere hence boer goats for meat - although a few dairy goats would be tempting for the milk maybe as I could cross them for kids for meat x