[Millwood]

Hi there,

Just wondered the best way to go about buying some goats. We are in Oxfordshire if there are any breeders you can recommend?

Many thanks

[HelenVF]

What breed?  I found the breeder of my pygmy goat via the pygmy goat website (luckily, he is very close to me) and found Dillon, via this site

Helen

[Roxy]

It depends what you are looking for.  Milking goats, or pet goats?  Pure breds will be more expensive.  Is there nothing advertised on here that is suitable?!!

[ScotsGirl]

I'm not far from Oxford (10 mins from Marlborough) and I have some Boer x for sale. You are welcome to come and have a look even just to decide on breed. They are friend,y and well socialised. PM if you want some pics or more info.

[ferretkeeper]

If you can work out what breed you're after or at least what purpose you could try the breed society or the BGS - is there a local group that meet where you could see different types of goat? Can you get to a show?

I can't quite remember how I came to find my goats, I think it was because the same breeder had pigs and I had some weaners from her...

[wytsend]

I have some goats for sale...............not suitable for showing..............but excellent pets and will milk adequately for a family.   
Roxy knows me and has bought several goats from me so can confirm that my animals are nice quality.

[wytsend]

should have said I am not far from Exeter & can recommend a specialist goat courier who lives in Checkenden.

[Roxy]

Yes, we have numerous Anglo Nubian ladies bearing the Wytsend prefix here .....and of course the handsome male, Darren.  All friendly, love a fuss - very nice goats.   And I have used the goat courier that Wytsend recommended.  Its a long way from Devon to Derbyshire, but the courier is a goat keeper himself, so they were in good hands.  He even fed the kids bottles en route.  Could not fault him at all, both in his care of the goats, and the service he offers.  And his prices are reasonable too, when you consider how much it would cost me to drive all that way and back!!

[Penninehillbilly]

My first came from a cattle market many years ago, had to give up for a while but knew I 'needed' some more (I always say it's because I'm a Capricorn!). When circumstances were right again an RSPCA lady came up with 2, they are gorgeous pure bred Toggs, I only wanted pets and a bit of milk, not sure I'm good enough for these 2 ladies! (but love them to bits).
You could always check with RSPCA, and/or see if there is a goat rescue in the area?

[Millwood]

Thanks for the replies guys. We want them for milk to make cheese etc. We have a shop and would love to sell our own milk & cheese from it as well as our veg! What sort of breeds are good for milk please?
 Sorry for all the questions, but good to learn through people who have had experience in these things!

[katie]

You might find selling milk and cheese in your shop a bit of a nightmare because of all the regulations nowadays. Goats are great fun (when they're not destroying sheds and fencing!) and at least you can use the milk yourselves without a licence!

[wytsend]

Modern Anglo Nubians are more likely to have both quantity & quality....................my own better girls are consistent producers of 5ltrs a day.  BF is good in this breed...........which is excellent for cheese making.
My pure Saanens are also heavy milkers......approx. 6ltrs a day at 4.5% BF.
You may need to register to sell dairy produce.............contact Food Standards Agency for advice on this one.   Technically, unless you have been approved, it is not possible to sell raw milk these days.

[ferretkeeper]

I've been pondering the same thing -  I have AN's too, lovely goats, excellent milkers and really creamy too! I only have one milking nanny and I don't take a lot from her, the kid has one side I have the other!

I am thinking about getting more goats now, plus I have three females that could potentially kid next year so what am I going to do with all these goats and the milk?

I could sell the offspring I suppose, might be easier to part with next year's babies, couldn't face it this year.

Milk wise there would be too much for me alone to use, I could make cheese and ice cream too but I don't think it's esp healthy having that much dairy produce in my diet.

But equally I wouldn't have enough to supply commercially, a shop would probably want more than I can produce. Might work for bartering except there's not much I need...

I haven't investigated the rules and regs for selling dairy products at all yet, I expect it may be prohibitive on a small scale; so it's either stick to a number I can manage with or buy a hundred more goats and start producing big time!

[Penninehillbilly]

you can sell milk for pet use, it's up to the buyer to decide wether it's too good for their dog/cat ?

[plumseverywhere]

We just have a saanenX for milk at the moment (as well as a batch of toggs who don't produce) she gives us 9 pints plus a day, it provides enough for our soap business as well as for the home. We also donate to a local farm sanctuary when they have young orphans etc.
all depends what you need as 'a lot' of milk means one thing to one, another to someone else