Hi,
I just joined up. I was doing some more research online about dwarf goats and found this site. I am a single mom with two girls I adopted from China and homeschool. I work from home and we rent on 46 acres - shared with our landlord, who is out of sight. He doesn't mind small livestock and we have been thinking of chickens but I keep coming back to goats! I used to care for a friend's Nubian goats when he went out of town, and recently we visited someone with a baby dwarf Nigerian - oh my goodness my daughters and I were in a complete puddle of joy at this baby thing! One of my daughters really took to him and wants to try raising them. I would like a healthier source of milk (nonprocessed half to death LOL) if possible but if not we just love animals and would enjoy them, being outdoorsy, home-based, animal lovers! I also have another friend who has nubians and they are such a treat, but I don't know anyone with dwarf goats except the one we met briefly.
We have a fenced area that was a chicken yard with a three-sided wooden shelter. From what I have been told, goats don't mind the weather too much except rain - we live in Central Georgia. I wondered if I maybe nailed up aheavy tarp or boards over half of the open front if that would be sufficient? Or for one or two does, would a plastic doghouse be okay. The coop has a dirt floor - how would that work out if we put a thick layer of straw (I'll have to research the best bedding!) I feel it would absorb urine. We live a half mile off the road - would we be able to let them out semi-supervised without too much worry or do they tend to wander or would they get into plants they shouldn't eat? They wlil need a bigger area than the chicken yard. We have about a half acre of grassy area around the house but otherwise it is a wooded property.
As far as breeding so we can get milk, my friend used to cull most of the bucks when they were born, but I just could not do that! Are the dwarfs hard to find a home for if they are bucks, I wonder? I don't have the means for a bunch of fencing to separate them.
Sorry to ramble on so long but I want to be sure we can provide a proper home before I buy some books and further research. If anyone is in GA offering dwarf or pygmy goats for sale, please contact me!
Thanks so much - can't wait to read and learn more!
Jan J.
Replies
Adrienne said:
Jan
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
Most of your questions are answered on the FAQ page of my website:
http://nigeriandwarfdairygoats.com/faq.html
There is also a lot of good info in the archives of the forum here.
To answer your other questions . . .
In most areas, it is easy to find homes for wethers, because they make great pets, unlike the big goats, which can be harder to handle.
As for goats running around your yard -- that depends on what you want to grow. They love to eat young trees, and a few years ago, our goats escaped and killed five young apple trees. They also like rose bushes and daylilies, although the daylilies are not usually the first thing they grab.
I also wanted to mention that goats are herd animals, and they do better emotionally and physically if they have another goat friend. I won't sell a single goat, because every year I get at least one or two phone calls from people who were sold a single goat from someone else, and now they have some sort of problem and realize they need a second goat. The problems can be behavioral (goat constantly escaping in an attempt to find human companionship or getting in with other animals, such as unfriendly horses, that might hurt him, etc) or physical. I have heard of goats getting sick when isolated.
We milk our goats and make cheese and all sorts of yummy dairy products. Once you get started, I bet you'll it!