We have always had Lamacha goats. As i said goats are very harey, we have a 3 sided shed type shelter and have never realy had much problem with winter. We have lost newborn kids when the temp. drops below 20 degrees while kidding. But all of the herd did just fine through our 30 below spell just a month ago. As far as replacer goes I feel it is a last resort, some animals do OK on it but just last year a friend had a bum calf he was feeding replacer to and it was sick almost to death ( couldnt even hold its head up, horrible scoures) we forced goat milk down it for 3 days and the calf got better. I cannot recomend the benifits of goat milk to any kind of baby strong enough. It is awsome to see the things it will do. When we started giving it to our children when they were young, we noticed a "filling out" they seemed to just get stronger an a more muscler build.My sisters chronic colic baby wolud be so hungry she would cry but would not nurse because of the pain afterwards, she tried many formulas before finnily giving goat milk a try. When she did her problems were over and her baby put on lots of weight and was active and happy. The doctors were stunned. Badwuf

Which particular breed of goat do you have? What do you do with them during these cold Wyoming winters as far as shelter and heat. It went up to 58 degrees yesterday with 37 being the low, so I doubt if they would need a heat source here in this mild climate. I had never heard about the benefits of goats milk before. We have always bought "milk replacer" to raise our stray, abandoned and orphaned wildlife type critters. Thanks for your input badwuf.

I thought I would add my 2 cents worth here. First of all goat milk is great, we have given goat milk to lots of people wanting to raise all kinds of babies from bobcat to human. As far as the benifit to human babies,I have recomended it and had great sucess with people who have had babies allergic to mothers milk, had extream cases of colic,or for some reason were not doing well on mothers milk,some of these babies were not doing well on $150 a month doctor perscribed formula. I have not seen a situation that goat milk has not worked much to moms relief and doctors dismay. cows milk does not repeat these results.
As far as brush and weed eaters we bought a overgrown mess when we bought our property, we bought 5 foot high stock panels and put 4 goats in the enclosure and moved it every week untill all the area we wanted cleaned of overgroth was cleared.
Goat meat is very good we realy like it smoked like ham as we dont eat pork, it is tender and tasty.
The value as a survival animal cannot be overstated,as they are very hardy, require minmumal feed, will be happy eating just about anything, are personable ( like people and are easy to handle) and are very prolific they will have 2-4 kids a year, the milk cant be beat. as testomony to their value look to the desert beddoins of the middle east who have survived in a desolate land for hundreds of years with goats as their food source. Badwuf

Hi Toepopper,
You are wellcome. I hope you get your goats. Forgot to add that you will need good fences. Goats are jumpers like deer. Goats are addictive and two may not be enough. We have about 12 now. Mostly small goats. And mixed breeds. Two are pygmy goats. We dehorn to prevent injuries.

There are several online goat egroups. My favorite is http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/homedairygoats/ I have no ideal why it is listed in tech.groups, The topics range from dairy goats to fixing kitchen sinks, autos and other off topic post. Plus prayer request are allowed.

I've sent my post to Mary Stille and asked her for other goat uses that I may have forgotten. Hope she visits and joins this Survival group. Blessings mama_tj in Arkansas.

:P Thanx for the information, I appreciate it.

This is another good website for goat information.

http://fiascofarm.com/goats/index.htm

Goats milk is good for many people and most babies. We paid $100. for our first goat in milk. Prices vary on if they are registered or not and location.

I haven't eaten any goat meat. I've heard that is its good, depending on the age of the goat. And how it is prepared. I have a friend who makes goat sausage and she is also a third generation goat keeper. Her name is Mary Turner Stille, she has written two goat books, for people to read before they get their first goats. The lastest one is " The Goat Care Handbook", 2nd edition. there are several places online where you can get her book. I haven't found them at Walmarts yet. I hope it is okay to post her name and her book.

Goats are herd animals and will run away if they are by themselves. That is how we got one of our goats. We purchased her from a neighbor, she got lonesome and jumped the fences, to be with our herd. They got tired of coming to take her back home.

They can be taught to carry backpacks, pull carts, and other things.
Depending on how they are raised they can be very friendly.

Only the Bucks, male unneutered goats get smelly. I've read that the bucks don't make good pets, because they can get aggressive when they are in rut. And they are most times kept in a separate area from the Does, female goats. If the milk goats run with the bucks the milk can get an off taste.

Pygmy goats milk is similar to cows milk in taste and the cream rises to the top like cows milk. In some cities pygmy and mini goats are being allowed as pets because they can be house trained. I haven't learned how to do that yet.

I do have a pygmy goat who will come into the house if we don't watch her. She will walk on a leash with the dogs. I had her trained to jump on a dog crate to be milked at one time. The milk stand is more comfortable for us.

My husband said compared to rabbits, goats are barren. I had to add his comment.

Mama_tj
PS. We've only been goat keepers for 3 1/2 years still learning.

A good site for sheep and goat breeds.


http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep/

QUESTIONS:

HOW GOOD IS GOATS MILK FOR BABIES.

HOW MUCH WOULD AGOAT FOR MILK COST.

HOW EDIBLE IS THE MEAT .

HOW PRODUCTIVE ARE THEY COMPARED TO RABBITS.

IN HARD TIMES WHAT CAN THEY DO FOR ME.

[b]Howdy!
There's a lot to learn about goats. I will be answering at different times when I find more info to post. Here is one site to get started on: http://www.saanendoah.com/goatss.html

You may not know, but goats are not like sheep, even tho they are lumped with them in vet circles, USDA and other ag orgs. Goats are not grazers but browsers like deer (hence being called bucks and does....not the proverbial nannies and billies). They prefer bushes, trees and some weeds. In the state of Montana, the forest service & BLM are experimenting using goats to eat leafy spurge.

I can't say what a good price is. It depends on what part of the country you are in. It depends on if you want good, healthy goats or sale barn goats where you don't know what you are getting.

Any breed is good for brush removal. Heinz-57s are good as well as my Registered Saanen dairy goats....you should see what is left of a lilac bush that was growing thru a fence :lol: nothing....just what we wanted. What few twigs grew back were killed in the second year.

Question 3....I will have to talk with friends. Again, I would say it depends on where you live, what variety of bushes and the type of goat. In Montana, with dairy goats....even if they were all wethers (denutted male), I would feed grass hay thru the winter. Unless you have milking does, I wouldn't feed straight alfalfa or grain. Loose (not block) Goat mineral should be put out. Goat mineral has the proper amount of copper which cattle and definitely sheep mineral do NOT have. In fact, if you have sheep or horses, they CANNOT eat goat mineral because of the copper level. I use loose cattle mineral presently because, being out in the middle of nowhere, I can't get goat mineral. It does have a fair amount of copper, but not the optimal amount. I figure some is better than none....which is bad.

I'll do some research and talking with friends that live where there is more shrubs and bushes than where I live and I'll post the info.

Sorry it took so long to get back to your question. It was a BAD week and I wasn't on line much and totally forgot about the forum. Some of the pressures have eased, I think, so now I can be online more :D
MTLaura[/b]

I am considering getting a goat to be used strictly as a brush / poison oak removal type unit. I am not looking for a meat source.
1 What is a good price for a goat?
2 Is one breed any better than another for brush removal?
3 Do I need to supplament its diet with grain / alfalfa or can a goat survive on brush alone?
Any information appreciated as I am goat ignorant. :oops:


Toepopper