[krazyman7]

hi
i have been thinking about getting goats for a while now but i just wanted to know what the best utility breed would be and how much acrage i would need per goat, also is there any other important factors i would need to think about?

thanks

andy

[Wizard]

Yes Andy there is although they can be a great pleasure they can also be----------------------------- Let one get in a next doors garden they will eat any thing Wellies boots frocks bed linen prize roses world class marrows and all the bark off their favourite fruit tree and all at one visit,Be warned LOL

[ballingall]

Hi Andy,

What utility are you looking for? Milking goat, meat goat, harness goat? There are lots of different types of utilities.

If you are looking for milking goats, with the possibility of keeping some of the offspring to go in the freezer, then I recommend getting some female Anglo-Nubian or British Saanens, then crossing them with a Boer male, which will give you meat from the crossed kids, and milk from the females.

It depends how you intend to keep your goats how much acrage they will need. For example, we have 16 goats and their field isn't much over 1/2 an acre. But they are kept inside a fair amount of the time, at least for 12 hours a day, and in winter, often aren't out side at all, except for a quick walk/exercise.

But if those same 16 goats were to be kept predominately outside, with access to a shed, that field would not be big enough.

Beth

[Anke]

Can I recommend you a couple of book(lets)that will give you good info on whats needed, including breeds. "Goat keeping - A booklet for beginners", Compiled by the Sussex County Goat club, and a new one by Peter Oldfield "Goatkeeping without the nonsense". Pete's book is available through himself, google Penborn Golden Guernseys. Really all you need to know.

If you want to look at different breeds (and pictures), try the British Goat Society's website, allgoats. org(?).uk.

Another goood book (you can get in through abeboooks.co.uk) is "The new Goat handbook", written by Ulrich Jaudas.

[little blue]

And the 'Storey's guides to...' are good, they do dairy goats, fibre, and meat as separate publications, as well as loads of other animals.

[cameldairy]

My advise would be to make SURE you have good fencing! Most goats are escape artists.     If they have horns they will get their heads stuck in a fence if they can get their heads through it. And never put anything inside their pen up next to the fence that they can jump up on because they will, then they will jump over the fence and be out. Goats are very clever for the most part, I sure love mine.