Tori Escobar

I will start by saying that I am no expert but I would love to share my experience thus far.
I currently have 3 goats. Two dairy does and a buck.
The management that has been working for us for the last year is rotational grazing them around our pasture/forest mix. I use the premier one electric chicken netting with just a solar charger. At night they are put into a small shed with two stalls.
This process is somewhat laborious since we move the paddock almost every day but they do not escape. I think the reason why this has been so successful is because of the frequent moves.
We also take walks with the goats to parts of the property that are not easily fenced. They follow pretty well but we definitely take steps to protect fruit trees and elderberry during these outings.
I have three different breeds of goats and they all get with the program. I have the stanchion in the stall and am currently milking one of my does every evening. It’s something I look forward.

Here’s my 2025 babies… hopefully more to come in 2026!

Hugo Morvan wrote:I got a canoo and went to all lakes where i am to collect as many differing plants and ecosystems (critters on plants and microbes) as possible. I had fish in there which i never fed for years, water stayed superclean till this day. Biodiversity is what does it.
If mosquitos are your problem, when i came to this house, we had to have a mosquito net to sleep. I planted as many differing trees ,shrubs and herbs around the garden as i could find( in the wild and in clients gardens). Now bats and birds and swallows keep it mosquito free. I can sleep with the window open. And i made 1 pond, and have 5 open basins full of rainwater. Again, biodiversity..

Thank you for this input. I like the idea of gathering some new water plants species to put in there. It would have a never occurred to me. We have some bat activity but hopefully we can increase the biodiversity!

Wow! I’m grateful for all these responses. I really wanted the ducks to eat mosquitoes and to perhaps increase the health of the pond. However, after reading the comments it seems the ducks may be a detriment to the pond. I wasn’t looking for another animal that is high management either, so now I’m pretty sure ducks are not for me. I have chickens for eggs/meat and goats for milk/meat and so I think I’ll hold off.
Thanks again all for this insight!

Hey. I’m considering getting ducks and putting them in my small pond.
My concern is that they will not be protected from predators, although, using a small mobile coop next to the pond is possible. I’m not sure if they will return to be closed in at night though.
Also, I’m not sure what breed is worth considering.
Any thoughts or insight would be helpful!
Thank you in advance!

Anne, thank you for this response. I will check out these threads. I think I may have to contact the vet as well. I appreciate your help.

Hi there. I’m just looking for some guidance dealing with a respiratory issue in my goats. I am new to owning goats and made the mistake of bringing home a buck that has a cough. Now my two does are also coughing. There is no fever and the cough has gotten worse over the last few weeks. One doe seems to be moving slower but everyone has normal appetite especially the new buck.
Has anyone encountered something like this? I would so appreciate some advice from goat owners who have been at this longer than me.
My management style is rotational grazing the goats through woods and pastures. They have access to lots of diverse forage including trees and shrubs. We use herbal dewormer but will consider something stronger if that’s the only option to save the does.
Most people I talk to where I live give vaccines, antibiotics and chemical dewormers, so it’s hard to find out other options.
Hopefully someone can share some insight here on permies. Thanks so much!!

Scott Leonard wrote:My 2cts worth;  Harvest weight should be how heavy/big you are still comfortable when handling the animal. The advantage to "bonus" livestock headed to the freezer is you get a pass on the weight, if you get it too big and you get bonus experience , as opposed to having 10-20 to process and knowing after the 1st that " if only I had done this 2 months ago" and have a slog to get to the end.    Castration; the moment you think it, do it, whatever way you choose they all work.    waiting will get you more goats in the spring, the does will get to the bucks, and vice versa, and the bucks get the job done long before a novice believes they're capable. The only true way to separate breeding viable goats is with a freezer

Thanks for your post.
So are you saying there’s no way for me to keep the two young bucks away from the does, even if I put them a couple acres away?
I didn’t want to castrate because it will hinder their growth rate. Or so I’ve read.
Thanks again!

Mark Miner wrote:Hi Tori,  
If you choose not to band, the meat quality is better with a somewhat earlier/younger kill, avoiding adolescence. If you think you might not get around to it before they go through adolescence, banding will buy you time. A wether goat (castrated buck) can also be used as a pack animal if trained to it, but while some friends of ours have gone this route, we have butchered the male kids. We have kept a buck for breeding in the past, but it's easier to cycle through different bucks to keep the bloodlines good. Letting one of our own bucklings mature would require new doe genetics, which is more of a hassle.

If you have really high quality bloodlines, though, keeping the best one as a sire-for-hire could be a path.

Congrats on the successful kidding, and good luck!
Mark

Hey Mark. Thank you so much for your helpful input. I think we may give that a try. They are small goats but will most likely be hard to sell since they are a mix and nothing special in bloodlines. Growing them out and then butchering ourselves would be a really valuable experience.
This sure is an adventure!
Thanks again!

Samantha Lewis wrote:Hello Tori!  
I raise up the young males and harvest them when they are big enough.   I do not castrate them.   I just separate them from the females so they are no trouble and cannot breed.

Okay, thank you. I think we are considering that very thing. A couple questions for you though, is it pretty difficult to keep the bucks from the does?
I could potentially put up a make shift paddock pretty far from the does but we don’t have any permanent fencing and have our does trained to electric netting.
Also, when do you usually harvest them?