Hello Everyone! My name is Kathy and I found this group while searching for answers if having milking Nigerian Dwarf goats are for me? We are in the process of purchasing a hobby farm. My husband wants to have sheep and I would like to have a couple milking goats and some chickens. We are city folk so we are pretty green when it comes to living on a farm! The internet is a great place to start! Everyone on here seems so knowledgable! I will appreciate anything you have to offer! Looking forward to learning!!!
You need to be a member of Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats to add comments!
Replies
I think keeping them separate would work well... and I did just think of a good reason to at the very least be feeding them separately...
Sheep need much less copper than goats do, and their minerals should be different than those you offer your goats, who need a much higher copper level than sheep. The amounts that goats need can be toxic to goats.
Thank you Rachel! Would it be ok to keep them in the same building but separated and we could have them graze a different part of the pasture than the sheep? Thank you for your recommendations on the books. I will look into them!
Rams in my experience are a pretty aggressive animal. I personally wouldn't keep an in tact sheep in with my does. I don't know if there are more reasons, but my personal reason would be because I wouldn't want my does to be stressed out. I don't even keep my bucks in with my does, and from what I know of sheep, rams are even more unruly.
There are a lot of people that milk once a day, and get good milk production from their does. This will be a decision you will have to make for yourself, but here are some things I can think of that you should consider. If you milk twice a day, you should try to find someone to come and continue with twice a day milking. Not doing so could put your does at risk of milk supply reduction, and more dangerously, mastitis. If you can schedule your vacation after kidding, and you plan to dam raise, you could leave your kids on your does and not have to worry about milking, or have someone milking once a day without the risks I mentioned already. You can also plan to go on vacation when your does are pregnant and bred. There are options, you just have to plan a little.
No one will be able to decide for you whether you should or shouldn't get an LGD. That's something you will have to weigh for yourself. High fences will certainly help, but you also need to take other things into consideration when you decide if you will need an LGD. You'll need to know what kind of predators are in your area. If the holes in your fencing are large enough, predators can go through the fence rather than over it.
Here are some books that I think that you might find helpful in getting information to help you make the decisions you need to make for your herd.
Raising Goats Naturally
Livestock Guardians
Thank you! Do you know if sheep and goats get along well? Also our sheep will be in tact males and goats will be doe's so should we keep them apart? Also I have a big delima! We just bought a camper last year and like to camp during the warm months. The longest we are ever gone is 2 nights. Also we take a week vacation every year. I have read you are supposed to milk your goats twice a day. If we could get someone to come out once a day to milk them would that be good enough? I really want to be able to have milking goats! I just love all the pics and videos of these cute Nigerian goats! Also we will have an 8 foot wired fence is it necessary to have a guardian dog? We have two little house dogs right now and I really don't want anymore dogs if we don't have to. Thank you!
Welcome to the group!! I personally LOVE my Nigerians. They are just a perfect all around goat, and so EASY to manage!
Welcome Kathy! This truly is a wonderful group. We beginners and the more experienced all learn here. As for the Nigerian Dwarf goats - Warning: you will get hooked for life!