* Welcome Kate Downham, author of Backyard Dairy Goats!

Please join me in welcoming Kate Downham, author of Backyard Dairy Goats: A Natural Approach to Keeping Goats in Any Yard We love Kate, and are so glad to have her as part of our forum!




Read the book review here!

Kate will be hanging out in the forums until June 7th, answering questions and sharing her experiences with you all.

At the end of the week, we'll make a draw for 4 lucky winners to win a copy of her
book! From now until Friday, all new posts in the Goats, Sheep, & Llama's forum are eligible to win.

To win, you must use a name that follows our naming policy and you must have your email set up to receive the Daily-ish email.

The winners will be notified by Personal Moosage and must respond within 24 hours. Only the winners who respond within that timeframe will receive their book. Watch for a PM, and a notice in this thread announcing the winners!


Please remember that we favour perennial discussion.  The threads you start will last beyond the event.  You don't need to use Kate's name get her attention. We like these threads to be accessible to everyone, and some people may not post their experiences if the thread is directed to the author alone.

Posts in this thread won't count as an entry to win the book, but please say "Hi!" to Kate and make her feel welcome!

Hi Kate and welcome to the forum.  

I am a long time goat owner, previously we had a couple angora weathers for 10 years for the fiber, then for the past 10 years we have kept Nigerian Dwarf Dairy goats for our households dairy supply, including cheese making

Thank you Nicole and Debi for the warm welcome. I look forward to answering questions this week. Often when I'm searching online for an answer to some obscure question, a thread on Permies will pop up and I'll find answers there, I hope this week will spark some good discussions and help others seeking natural goat advice.

Hey Kate!

Looking forward to the discussions this week!

This is the proof that you've made it, Kate!

Ducks in any yard?

Timothy Markus wrote:Ducks in any yard?

Being a sleep-deprived mother who's kids just wouldn't fall asleep last night, I didn't get to working at this until midnight. Thanks for catching the typo! If there's any more, feel free to use the button so we don't fill up the thread with my typos :).

Hi Kate, excited to have you around.  I'm sure many people will make use of your presence!

Good Job.

We are from HARITHTHARANG, Chennai is participating

Really excited!

Hi Kate, looking forward to topics and discussions that may occur this week! Since 6 years I am a (Dutch) passionate goat keeper on a poor and dry Capeverdean Island. Still feel like having a lot to learn, but a bit experienced too
Do you think your book and experience will come in handy, despite my geographical situation and with no vet on the island. (please say yes...)

Marèt
Kaza di Zaza, Brava, Cape Verde

How COOL! We are bringing in our first goats ever this week! Nigerian Dwarfs and we are nervous/excited.

I am interested about the upkeep of goats as I need something to keep down the near impossible to mow banks of the dam.

This looks like an interesting read. I have tossed around the idea of getting a couple temporary goats to help manage the overgrowth of grasses and perennial herbaceous weeds on my 1 acre of land, then butchering for meat or selling them once they've fattened up. I'm thinking it might just be better for me to rent a few goats though since I'm more interested in botany than animal husbandry.

I’m totally interested in this book either way!

Marijke Katsburg wrote:Hi Kate, looking forward to topics and discussions that may occur this week! Since 6 years I am a (Dutch) passionate goat keeper on a poor and dry Capeverdean Island. Still feel like having a lot to learn, but a bit experienced too
Do you think your book and experience will come in handy, despite my geographical situation and with no vet on the island. (please say yes...)

Marèt
Kaza di Zaza, Brava, Cape Verde

I'd say yes. While I am from a different climate, there are a lot of things we can do to prevent goat illness and the need for a vet that can apply to any climate - good nutrition, respecting the goat's nature as browsing animals that need food high off the ground, observation, and choosing goat breeds based on which ones are best for your climate.

Kate Downham wrote: and choosing goat breeds based on which ones are best for your climate.

Thanks for your reply.
According to my local neighbour I have the common Capeverdean type of goat, with it's roots on the Canary Islands. So they are used to the harsh climate, very natural and strong. So far during this 6 years of goat keeping, they never had a condition that couldn't be cured a natural way (observing, common sense, local wisdom).
With the vet remark, I was referring to some online goat groups who talk about antibiotics all the time. That's not what I need - and since you are invited by the Permies, it's not what I expect from you either

Hi Kate,
I know nothing about keeping goats but have just bought some land in Spain and am thinking about the possibility as part of our sustainable farm.  Looking forward to the discussions here over the next weeks.
David

Sigh.  We haven't managed to root out all the azaleas yet.

How do I feel about announcing winners? Like this!



Congratulations to

Hunter Miller
A Philipsen
Marijke Katsburg
Franklee Idunkeur

I'm PMing all four of you! Please reply to the PM by Monday to claim your prize!

And, a big thank you for Kate for not only writing such a great goat resource, but also sharing your knowledge here on the forum with us!

Congratulations to the winners, and thank you Permies for hosting the giveaway!

Thank you to everyone that's posted thoughtful questions and posts, its been a good experience getting to talk about goats with other permies that also love goats and permaculture.

If I've missed responding to anything and you'd still like an answer, feel free to post a link to your post here in this thread to get my attention.

If anyone would like to support Permies and get an eBook copy of my book at the same time, it can be found on the Permies digital market here: https://permies.com/t/111481/Backyard-Dairy-Goats-ebook

CONGRATULATIONS! I will be buying a copy when my pension arrives!

I've now ordered the giveaway copies and they should be arriving for the winners in the next couple of weeks.

For anyone that missed out on winning a copy - I have paperbacks and hardcovers available (as well as the ebook) on most online bookshops including Amazon, Book Depository, and the ebook here on Permies. Whenever someone buys a copy of my book (or requests that their local library order it in), it helps me to implement exciting permaculture stuff on my land.