Author Topic: Whats so great about goats? (Read 8724 times)

Penninehillbilly · « **Reply #30 on:** January 06, 2016, 10:40:03 am »

Why not look out from some boer cross goat Buffy? They are cheaper than full bred and then you could breed up? If you don't want to be tied to a milking routine, they are still fun to keep, and useful for meat and / or milk (crosses can give lovely rich milk)

cuckoo · « **Reply #31 on:** January 06, 2016, 10:56:59 am »

Quote from: Buffy the eggs layer on January 05, 2016, 04:25:41 pm

I'm guessing that you take them off in order to milk their mums then or are these the boers kids? So they need to be bottle fed to about 5 weeks ish and then fed concentrates and grass? Am I right in thinking that it costs more to raise a goat for meat than a sheep? Is that why its not viable for you cuckoo?

Do you castate them or leave them intact?

If we have triplets then the extra one is taken off to be bottle reared. We leave the boers with their dams for 3-5 months depending on if female or male. We let the golden Guernsey reaer her kid naturally but will be milking this year so will split off the kids.

If rearing for meat then no we don't castrate the males - don't have a problem with them as they go when they are 6-9 months old. They are not disbudded unless ordered as such and can be rund if requested before 7 days old.

If bottle rearing then bottle them til 12 weeks old. Costs about £30 per kid plus time and faff. It is the time and faff factor I cant do at the moment I am afraid. Introduce creep at a few weeks old and hay / grass from birth. If you have plenty of grass cost is not an issue but they grow much better if given the creep - just like lambs and will get to finishing weight quicker. We aim for 40kg lw

Lesley Silvester · « **Reply #32 on:** January 06, 2016, 11:56:12 pm »

Quote from: penninehillbilly on January 05, 2016, 11:23:57 am

Down sides ?
Too addictive. Can be wasteful with hay from racks. Errrm errrm, can't think of anything else

Great time wasters? I can spend ages just sitting in the goat yard watching and cuddling my girls.

My excuse for having goats now is that I am intolerant of cows' milk and I've been drinking the nice stuff for too long to go back onto shop goats' milk.

Penninehillbilly · « **Reply #33 on:** January 07, 2016, 02:17:38 am »

Quote from: Mad Goatwoman of Madeley on January 06, 2016, 11:56:12 pm

Quote from: penninehillbilly on January 05, 2016, 11:23:57 am

Down sides ?
Too addictive. Can be wasteful with hay from racks. Errrm errrm, can't think of anything else

Great time wasters? I can spend ages just sitting in the goat yard watching and cuddling my girls.

Time you enjoy wasting is not time wasted