Karel Soukup

Chris Vee wrote:I figure it's far enough behind the house that a billy could chomp down much of the smaller trees and shrubs and I won't feel like I'm losing out on milking years with the billy-- as well, a higher quality billy will be less start-up cost than a high-quality lady-goat

It depends. I got six commercial Kiko does for $250 a piece and later splurged for a registered buck for $700. If you're keeping any of the kids, the billy is certainly the one invest in, since he'll be passing on to half the herd. Also, since I was new to raising goats, I figured in might be easier to unload a registered buck if I decide the project's not for me.

Dynamics might be different for dairy breeds; though I should add, Kiko make decent milkers since they have lots of dairy in their lineage. They're not as high yield as specifically dairy breeds, but if you're mostly going for pasture clearing, they might be a good option.

I started off with the six nannies, and then added a buck later. It worked well for me.

I've been lurking on this board for nearly a decade, and this is my first post. More than anything, I want to introduce myself and what I'm doing, so that when I participate in future discussions, you all have a bit of perspective on where I'm coming from.

I've always been an animal person and have wanted goats for a long time. I decided to pull the trigger this fall. I recently purchased a bandsaw mill. I have lots of good timber on our property, but the buckbrush and honeysuckle and rose and grapevines are so thick, there's no way I could get a log out without an skidsteer mulcher, which is way out of my budget for the foreseeable future. Goats seemed like they might do the trick. So far, they have!

I purchased six nannies and a billy. The nannies are sort of kiko / spanish mutts; the buck is a registered kiko. I'm not too hung up on having registered animals, but I figured the buck is a big investment, registered or not, and if I decide keeping goats isn't for me, I think it might be easier to find a new home for a registered animal.

So far, things have been going really well. They clean out all the brush really well. I've been averaging about a quarter acre per week. I use Gallagher Smartfence with a solar charger. It's pricey, but its by far the easiest thing to navigate in the woods. I lucked out in getting pretty tame goats. They could easily jump over the fence, but they mostly stay put. Every once in a while I find one on the wrong side, but I figure, they're herd animals, and as long as most of them stay in the fence, one or two getting out won't go very far.

I'm kind of nervous about health care. I'd rather not pay vet bills, since a single trip might be more than the goat is worth. But I also want to treat them humanely and protect the investment I've already made. So far, they appear to be in good overall shape. One looks to be have a bit of mange issues on her face, ears and the back of her neck. I've been treating her with permethrin once a week for a couple of weeks. So far, I haven't noticed much improvement. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be happy to hear. Two others seem a bit wormy, with loose stools (I wouldn't quite call it diarrhea) and pale eyelids and gums. I've treated them with morantel. I'm really hoping that rotating them once a week will help them out eventually.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to participating more in this forum!