Hi everyone,
My name is Rosalyn and I've been reading through this forum for several months. It's amazing how much information is on here! I live on the east coast of Canada and while I currently live in a subdivision where it would be really difficult to get a permit for goats, I am hoping to buy my first little goats in two years when we will be moving. (Yes I tend to plan just a little in advance!) From what I can glean from the internet, there are very few Nigerian Dwarf breeders up here, or at least there are very few who have websites! I have found a breeder in Ontario that I was able to visit with my family last week when I was on vacation, and one in Nova Scotia who I haven't visited, but there don't seem to be very many others. I do have a couple of questions if anyone is able to help me out. First of all, do any of you know of any breeders in the maritime provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island)? I have seen the odd ad for Nigerian crosses in neighbouring provinces, but that is about it.
Also, I am unsure how to proceed as to what goats to buy. I am very, very new to goats. Other than the odd visit to a goats milk soap place in my home province (they own Saanens), petting the odd pygmy goat at hobby farms, and visiting those first NGDs in Ontario, I honestly don't have any experience with them but have been researching them for a little over a year. So because of my inexperience, I didn't really want to do anything with bucks at first and was hoping to just buy two does to start with. However, because I want to raise them for milk as well as for pets, and they seem to be nearly impossible to find in my neck of the woods, it is very improbable that I would be able to bring my does on any dates. And I am interested in being able to breed them myself at home. So I have started considering getting two does and two bucks. Rather than getting a wether to keep one buck company, I thought this would allow a little more genetic diversity in my teeny herd. I obviously knew that they could get rather odoriferous, but when I visited the farm in ON they barely smelled at all and were super friendly and adorable so I thought "I can do this!". Then I read a few more threads on here about bucks (and finished up with "Goat Raising for Dummies") and realized they probably just haven't started peeing all over themselves or acting all amorous because it's still early summer. :P So I've been a little bit frightened off, I have to say!
What would be your honest and experienced opinion about how I should go about getting goats once we move? Should I just get two doelings and become experienced in caring for them and put off the breeding/milking/buck wrangling until a year or two later? Should I just jump in and get two of each right off? Or do I even want bucks at all? What is the feasibility of AI? I realize that you are mostly Americans and the shipping of semen for AI might be very different up here.
If any of you could let me know what you think, I'd super appreciate it. I am so enjoying reading all of your advice for others, and thought perhaps although still a tad early, as I don't have any goats, I'd introduce myself and let you know I've been lurking. :)
Replies
Welcome!
I will be moving to Nova Scotia in October and am on a kidding list for 2014 from a farm in Sterling, Ontario. My plan it to get two doelings from them, I would love to get a pregnant doe or one in milk also but I haven't found any available so far. It is almost impossible to find ND's in the NS area, there is someone else on the forums from Cape Breton. She is currently trying to bring ND's up from the US, praying that happens. My plan is to get two bucks the following year for breeding, I'd get them earlier if I'm able to bring bucks up from the US. That way my doelings have a chance to mature with no worries of getting them bred & not having to feed the bucks over the season until the does are ready to breed.
I've be planning for about 6 months now, I can't wait until I have my own little goat herd. I've found this site to be informative, the people are wonderful and caring, & feel so much more ready to have goats then I did before I found this site.
I'll try to share any information I find on goats breeders in our area.
Thanks so much ladies! Rachel, I did wonder about being able to purchase a pregnant doe or two rather than two doelings. I'll have to make sure I can find someone to help me with the kidding though before I go ahead and do that. I don't know of many caprine veterinarians around here, but luckily we have an awesome veterinary college very close to where we live and I'm sure that the professors and/or students would be able to help us out. As for the bucks, I am currently leaning toward putting it off until a year later and the possibility of a buckling that is unrelated to one of the does is something I hadn't considered. Thanks! I am so excited about the possibilities and I still have to wait two years!
I'm hoping in the meantime to try to help out at the goat's milk soap place in order to become more familiar with goat handling, and possibly, hand milking. And waiting for that goat book to come into print! :) Thanks for the lovely welcome, you two.
WELCOME!!
Other things to consider are buying pregnant does, (so that you can get milk before having to purchase any bucks) If you were able to purchase two unrelated does, you might even be able to keep any bucklings that they had and breed accordingly. If I were to do it all over again, I would have purchased bred does, or does in milk to get my foundation herd started.
Welcome to the group! We have a couple of people on here who are in your neck of the woods! And the recent post "Heading towards a dream" was started by someone who is moving there soon.
As for the bucks ... I wouldn't have them in my backyard, and I'm not a fan of having them rub on me, but they aren't so stinky that they stink up the farm. You can smell them when you're 30-50 feet away and the wind is blowing from them to me. We've had bucks in a pen that is 150 feet from our house, and we don't smell them even when the wind is blowing from that direction and the windows are open. If you have smaller property, you can put them on the side of your barn that is opposite your house.
If you aren't in a hurry, you might get two doelings and wait a year to get your bucks. There is no guarantee that the doelings will grow fast enough to be bred as yearlings.
I'm sure others will have additional points to ponder.
Again, welcome to the group! I'm always happy to see people planning ahead!