Start your goat business CL ad

[NorTracNY]

Interesting thread. The CL add is pretty sad. She is looking for a sucker and is likely one herself. I see that at the bottom she has gotten calls for just the females. She mentions that they are Dwarf Nigerian & Dwarf Nigerian Pigmy Cross Goats (mutts). She doesn't mention that any of them are even registered, so around here they are worth about $50 maybe less as they are small and not worth eating for the community that often does that.

My daughter has several registered dairy goats that she shows. They cost several hundred and she sells them for several hundred when she has kids for sale. Males are not worth much. I find that goats are very similar to dogs. As for escaping, I don't see it. We have 3 rail for the horses and when the goats were added we put a few strands of electric up. Honestly, we just turn the wire on for when kids are little so they learn to stay in. After then are 6 months, they never escape and we don't have the wire on. All show goats are disbudded for safety, so that's not a problem.

 

[EddieWalker]

They are always entertaining. They where up higher on the bale before I got the camera out. Maybe next time I'll be faster.

 

[GeneV]

View attachment 670599

They are always entertaining. They where up higher on the bale before I got the camera out. Maybe next time I'll be faster.

You didn't disbud them, that's pretty cool. That process seems really barbaric, and also I like how goats look with horns, even though that creates problems I know.

 

[Jim Nelson]

Hey Eddie, I had a calico colored billy goat similar to the one on the hay stack in your pic. only quite a bit bigger. We would give our horses a little sweet feed and whenever he got into that he would get constipated and be miserable. I would take a 30 cc hypodermic syringe and fill it with mineral and squirt that down his throat. It would clean him out in a couple of hours. That's when I learned where the saying "Plugged up like Hogan's goat" came from.

 

[EddieWalker]

The calico was a rescue, along with a solid black one. They where both raised as pets and spent a lot of time inside the house. They had a small yard for them, and as they grew, it became a problem. They are both very friendly, but he calico is by far the friendliest of all our goats and really wants attention when she sees us.

We've only had one medical issue with our goats. She got a piece of hay net wrap around her back ankle. We could tell that it was cutting off circulation, so my wife and I had to get it off of her. She was one of our more wild goats, so getting close to her was a challenge. I still haven't built any sort of any way to handle or catch them yet. We let her into the chicken area and then I tackled her as she ran past me. The horns where all I could get ahold of. I held onto them as I got my weight on top of her and held her still. My wife cut off the hay net and she was fine. It's shocking how strong they are!!!!! I hope to never do that again, I'm getting too old for wrestling goats and risking an injury.

 

[Diggin It]

View attachment 670599

They are always entertaining. They where up higher on the bale before I got the camera out. Maybe next time I'll be faster.

Neighbor had a Billy. Stupid thing ate into the center of a large round bale. So deep into the center he caused the bale to collapse onto him, trapping him and killing him. Neighbor dug him out the next day.

 

[cqaigy2]

it tastes like goats smell, so nah. And that goes doubly for goat's milk.

Goat's milk from alfalfa is yummy, but if they eat willows, not so much.

 

[RichZ]

My wife and I used to have a dairy goat farm. We had about 120 goats, mostly does (not nannies) with several bucks (not billies). Every one had a name and was a pet in addition to being valued livestock. Goats are EXCEEDINGLY intelligent. Each goat knew many commands and were usually more obedient than my dogs. They are extremely friendly, especially when they are bottle raised, they consider you their parents and they pretty much learn very quickly and do what is expected of them. All of my goats know their names and come when called. They have complex personalities and are very loving.

Those of you who have had bad experiences with goats were probably dealing with goats who were never socialized with people and were just used to doing their own thing.

Oh, and the trick with good tasting goat milk is to keep the bucks away from the does. Only the bucks get that "goatie" smell, and then only during breeding season. The does don't smell at all, and if you keep them away from the bucks, their milk is sweet. Our grandkids call goat milk "juicy milk" and prefer it over cow's milk. And yes, for the milk to be sweet, there are certain things you can't let the does eat, such as onions.

In my area, I'm called the goatfarmerguy, and that's also my email. And I'm proud of that name. After 3 back surgeries, I no longer have the goat farm, but I still have pet goats, and my wife and I couldn't live without goats.

 

[grsthegreat]

You remembered 120 names... holy cra*. I can barely remember The name if my 3 horses.

 

[GeneV]

My neighbors had goats, sheep, and a cow. Sheep milk was the tastiest, but they were the hardest to milk.