Just for reference to help other newbies here are some photos of the two barns I built for my starting goat herd. We are starting out with 4 does and 2 bucks. The first barn is the doe barn and the second is the buck barn. I will be glad to answer
Read more…I"m a first time goat owner. My doe delivered two babies yesterday and they are up and wagging their tails this morning. I am not finding any evidence of horns. Does that mean they are polled? If not polled when will the horns become noticeable?
Read more…Posted this to the goat forum I'm in this morning, but thought it might be good in a couple of different places. :) I need some tips for some babies not thriving (appear healthy, just not gaining). I had two does kid May 15/16. One mama had a twin
Read more…I have a hillside that is starting to erode away. I was thinking about planting either creeping juniper or creeping thyme to help stop the erosion. The hillside is not in the goat yard but it's within a few feet from it. I don't want to plant anythin
Read more…How would you handle goats that refuse minerals? Even my two Icelandic lambs, who live with my does, are refusing them. I started using Crystal Creek (available at my feed store) but they won't touch it. Not the does, not the lambs, not the wether
Read more…Hey all!
I don't have any goats yet, but dream of it someday when we get our own property. I'm wondering, if you could buy your property with goats in mind, what would be the ideal kind of landscape for pasturing them? I'm assuming not open mown fiel
Read more…I've been feeding my lactating does DuMor Sweet Feed for a couple of years. I add BOSS and top dress it with kelp. Quite often, the does will leave behind the pelleted part of the feed. Umbarger makes a dairy goat feed and doesn't really have pellete
Read more…I am not one of those people who has to have the newest and the best fence out there. I do have to face the fact great fencing is expensive but there has to be a trade off as price is an issue given we are starting from scratch here. I am in the fina
Read more…We have 2 wethers that will be 1 year old in June neither of them were dehorned. One of them has recently started sticking his head threw the field fence and getting it stuck when he tries to get out. I'm leaving tomorrow for 2 weeks and my girlfrien
Read more…Hello all! I currently feed my goats timothy hay because my horses eat it. They like it but is there another, less expensive, hay that they would like just as much? I'm in Southern California and the most readily available hays seem to be alfalfa, be
Read more…I am trying to buy a few does to milk for my family this year. Ideally I am looking for a buckling from the same herd that is unrelated to the does so I can keep having milk year to year. What questions should I be asking potential sellers?
Read more…May be a silly question, but is it possible to change the color and/or the name of a registered doe? As I've learned more about Nigerians (and goats in general), I realize:
1. I've given at least one of my goats the wrong color. I guess 'wrong' isn't
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My wife just got two young Dwarf Nigerian goats, 10 weeks old. They weight 17 and 14 pounds and have been fed twice a day by the breeder, at 7AM and 5PM. The breeder explained that she always feeds her goats twice a day.
My wife had a visitor yesterda
Two months ago, I castrated an 11 month old with a burdizzo (emasculator from Jeffers), and only one side took. This definitely could have been operator error, it was my first time using the tool, but I think the burdizzo was the culprit. I didn't
Read more…Here's a new one - goat yoga!! Really!! Saw it on FB so it must be true.................
Read more…Hello...I’m new to the group and also a new Nigerian dwarf goat owner...we have 2 weathers and are going to get 2 more in about a month...I feed them twice a day and they usually eat all the hay I put in their feeder...I just want to make sure their
Read more…I have searched many websites and many of the posts on this forum but have not found the answers to some new questions.
Gardenias: I have a large gardenia bush in the middle of the pasture that I am going to fence in for goats. Are gardenias safe
Hi everyone!
I just wanted to let you know that the second edition of Raising Goats Naturally is now hot off the press. It's available through my website at a discount until the end of the month, and I have an even bigger discount for those of you wh
Read more…As a child, my family raised Nubians, Lamanchas, Alpines, and more. We kept about 6-8 full size goats at a time and showed them at fair. Now as an adult, I knew I wanted to start over with goats (I love so much!). I don't own the same land and the sh
Read more…One of the things we really have to nail down in the next couple weeks is water for our goats. Problem is, no one has been able to tell me even a ballpark on what to expect in terms of water consumption. Would it be similar to how much a similar size
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