We've got our first goat....

[Millymollymandy]

I think Shirlz will be OK - she's got a few friends here who'd know how to milk a goat!

Great piccy Shirlz!

[PurpleDragon]

What a great pic. Pretty girls! You lucky, you!

[Shirley]

thanks

They are brilliant... am so pleased that we've got them.... although wasn't too chuffed yesterday when the young one escaped and wasn't happy about going back in... typically it happened when David had gone out to pick up some meat, and when I was trying to tidy up for our visitors later in the evening... the other one will come to you... but this one... Nia... (generally called Mia by our youngest) is just out to eat the apple trees.

[hedgewizard]

Thanks for the tips, I might start to work on Toni and the neighbours in the hope that we might be able to "share" a couple of goats with them. I think the deal would basically be that we got to use their land in exchange for free milk, with us doing the daily care and milking except when we're on holiday. Assuming we ever have enough money to again, of course! I haven't floated this idea past the neighbours yet though, they might not be at all keen but then again, you never know!

Can someone run through the daily routine for looking after goats for me?

Love the pushmi-pullyu shot!

[ina]

Daily routine - well, that depends a bit...

Assuming that they are out all day, and in (or with access to shelter) all night.

1. Early morning, you stumble out of bed and swear at them.

Sorry, seriously now:

If they are in full milk, you'll have to be milking twice a day, at roughly the same times - although I think they are more flexible as to times than some people want to make you believe! It doesn't have to be exactly 12 hours between the milkings, you can get away with, say, 10 hours during the day, and 14 hours at night (for example, milking at 7am and 5pm).

Some people find it easier to feed them some concentrate during milking (some, again, say you should try to avoid that ). I've always fed them their grain/concentrate while milking, which gives them something nice to look forward to, even when the positive experience of getting rid of that pressure on the boobs is not enough anymore (later in lactation) to make it something to eagerly queue up for! Quantities - again, that depends on breed/size of goat/milk they produce.

Goat should then go out and have access to green stuff or, in winter, hay and straw. They hate the wet, so if it's raining or the field is very muddy, it's better to keep them in - which makes it important to have a shed big enough for them to turn around in. Make sure they have enough clean water at all times. And if it's a "typical" nice flat bit of pasture they are in, it's a good idea to give them something to play with - trunks of trees to jump up on, or big rocks, or anything they can stand on, hide behind, run around... Goats get bored very easily, and when they are bored, they try to get out and explore beyond the fence!

Basically, repeat milking in evening and, either lock them up in shed, or leave them out with access to shelter. Give them a bit of hay or straw to chew on for the night.

That is the minimum of attention they need on a daily basis. You'll have to do new bedding once every few days - goats produce fairly dry muck, so they actually stay pretty clean and don't need as much bedding as, say, cows. They don't need mucking out more than once or twice a year; it is, in fact, better to leave the muck to build up, as it gives them valuable insulation against cold from the ground. I muck mine out in late spring, once the nights aren't too cold any more, and again in autumn (with less build up), before it starts getting cold - just to avoid that by the end of winter the muck reaches the top of the shed...

Since I don't have enough grass for mine, I go and pick an armful of weeds every day (willow herb, cow's parsley, groundelder, cleavers, thistles...). It's always good to supplement their feed with weeds and leaves (prunings from trees etc). Goats aren't good grazers; they are browsers, and would naturally prefer to walk about in light wooded areas, where they have access to all sorts of herbs, grasses and leaves, so if the pasture you have doesn't supply that, you should! But that's not an absolute necessity - they'll do well enough with just boring old grass, some concentrate (if you want milk), and mineral supplements. (Mine get seaweed meal.)

During the year, you also have "special events" like kidding to cope with, getting them pregnant in the first place (depending on how you want to do that - borrow or buy a billy, or AI); also footcare, and possibly other health problems. Generally, goats don't have that many problems - mine have never been sick in two years, and I've only needed to do their feet once a year. Dairy goats, however, might have problems like mastitis...

Oh yes, and you'll probably spend time now and again on fixing fences. Even if there is no hole in them, some goats will find one or make one, if necessary.

Not a very structured picture of goaty requirements, I'm afraid, but I hope it helps to give an impression of what keeping goats entails.

[Shirley]

Sounds like a good description to me... especially the holes in the fence bit !!!!

We milk at 7ish and 7ish.... and she gets some concentrates at those times... plenty of weeds and leaves too... and some of the goats milk that she produces.

Actually... Madeleine doesn't seem intent on escaping... the young goat Nia is escape artist extraordinaire... gets out of the fencing and then decides she wants a drink and so tries to put her head through the fence to get the water... funny how she seems to be able to escape but can't seem to get back in LOL

[hedgewizard]

Thanks for that... discussions with the OH are now between goats and dairy sheep (since the next-doors have experience of them) but the all-important discussions with the next-doors are still a ways off

[red]

8 pints of milk? are there lots of you? whatcha gonna do with all that milk?

[Boots]

At most there are only 4 or 5 of us, so I have only ever milked once a day. And going right against convention, I milked at night! On dusk.

I am not a morning person... AT ALL... EVER. (And I wish someone had told the census people who arrived here this morning setting all the dogs off barking, peacocks hooting, donkeys braying etc.... )

Oops, sorry, another tangent. Goat was ok with it, a routine is a routine. She was such a sweet old thing... so easy going. Bloody ell I miss her

[ina]

Hi Red - Shirley seems to have missed your question - cheese is the answer! You need a lot of milk for a little cheese... And I suppose they might be making yoghurt, too; and icecream, and butter, if there's still a lot left!

Boots, you are quite right - goats get used to a lot of things; as long as they have some kind of routine, they're fine. I would probably only milk once a day, too, and leave the youngsters on as long as possible; gives you a lot more freedom, and still enough milk. It helps not having a massively productive champion goat that produces gallons a day! Fewer potential health problems, too, if you have an ordinary, average milker rather than a high yielder.

[Shirley]

Ooops sorry red.... yeah,,, what Ina said :))

Interesting about milking once per day - will discuss this with David!!

[Camile]

Hello,

I just recently got a nanny goat .... and the vet, who's german and worked in Switzerland for a while, have a good experience with goats ..

And she was telling me that you could actually start milking your goat even if she didn't get pregnant .. and you will get milk ...

Would it be true ? did anyone tried that ?

Camile

[Wormella]

named nia (think that's how it's spelt... welsh name apparently) .

Thats a Wonderful name for both people and Goats

Nia 'Wormella' Williams

It also means you get a goat called after a Princess, not many of them around!

I too also get called Mia a lot!! They look great!

[PurpleDragon]

And she was telling me that you could actually start milking your goat even if she didn't get pregnant .. and you will get milk ...

Would it be true ? did anyone tried that ?

I read in a library book recently that nannys without kids (like never been pregnant) can start producing milk.

...it is not at all unusual for the udder of unmated females to develop to the point where they need milking. These females are usually called maiden milkers ...

"Practical Goat Keeping" Alan Mowlem, p22, The Crowood Press, 2001

[Chickpea]

Wormella, where in Liverpool are you? I grew up in Waterloo.