Tiffani Wilson

Got it. That makes sense. I was thinking plastic might be lighter to move around than the wood structures our limited building skills have come up with.

Thanks a bunch!

That sounds perfect! I was wondering about a dogloo (or something like it) for shelter. Any opinions on that for bucks? Or should they have a permanent paddock that they come back to every night?

Thanks for the reply, Deborah! I'm so glad to have this answer now (and not be scrambling later). I hadn't even considered the need for two bucks, makes sense. Thanks for the link too... I'll definitely be checking that out! I've been reading through that site and learning a bunch.

I've enjoyed your book tremendously. It has been hard to find a book that is for owners of small herds who are naturally minded and want to eat what they raise (as opposed to books on conventionally raised, larger herds or people looking for backyard pets).

On the double fencing. Would stock panels work for bucks also?

I guess I'm off to shop for bucks and more fencing...

I've been reading Deborah's wonderful book (received it yesterday afternoon and just finished it, lol) and one of the things that got me thinking was her info on breeding. I admit I hadn't giving it much of a thought besides a vague "when the time comes we'll find someone who can breed our three girls". However, as time has progressed I've been feeling more and more like I should have a definite plan... I'd hate to get to fall only to have things not work as planned. First of all, we are the only people in our area that we know who are raising Nigerian Dwarf goats (or any goats for that matter). Second, we haven't had our little herd tested for Johnnes or CAE or any other the other diseases. We bought our goats this spring and each owner stated that they were all disease free etc., but I'm starting to "catch on" that people are pretty picky about who they will service because of these diseases. Plus they are probably busy enough with their own herd. Third, there is the transportation issue - our goats there for a week or a buck here for a month. I'm sure there are other things too... my brain's been a whirl. I did not want to own bucks because we have a small place here, are just starting out (and learning as we go) and all the stink, jumping, more fencing etc. that seems to come with bucks. However, now that I'm really thinking this through it might be a good idea to add a buck (or two). It would give us flexibility in breeding (if we wanted to stagger things a bit), no transportation stress, and we wouldn't have to jump through hoops of testing, coordinating schedules and such.

So what do you all think? Would you add a buck? Would you get one buck and a wether to keep him company? One buck and a meat goat? How much housing, fencing etc would he need and how far should he be from the girls? Should he be grazing in his own electronet or would that not keep him properly contained? If I want to breed this fall/late summer would I need to get a full grown buck? Thanks for all the help!

Thekla McDaniels wrote: Some goats did not have the temperament to do well at my place. In particular, I had a perfect milker, and she loved me, was quite personable, but she was too rough with other goats. I really think she did not like other goats. When I sold her, I told the buyer about it, and the buyers goats were even rougher, and my good milker ended up with a private pen, and is much loved and appreciated. I just could not accommodate her need for distance from other goats. I don't think that works in a rotational system.

This was helpful! We are in a similar situation with a new goat. I've been debating back and forth on whether or not to keep her, but ever since we got her we've had trouble. Our other two were very content to browse the woods in their electronet, but now one is a jumper and they are both bullied constantly. We have to put hay for them in a separate place because miss bully can't be in two places at the same time and they can actually eat. Ms. Bully loves people and is a good milker, but I think we need to find a home for her where she can be #1. I actually think she would like to be her own herd, lol. Never thought I'd see that! Anyhow, thanks for sharing, Thekla... it is giving me much needed insight!!

Hmmm... Thanks Alder! Hopefully we can be patient and make it to the second generation.

Kurt, we tried your suggestion and both goats took about 5 minutes to settle down. After that it was 5 minutes of eating and a few minutes of coming up to us for pets and assurance. They didn't seem bothered by the mosquitos at all (unlike us!) and they didn't jump out. After 30 minutes of this, my daughter went to go get the other goat so she could browse a while too. While she was gone they were restless and looked like they were thinking of a jail brake. When she brought the other doe and her doeling, they went right to town eating away. We had to take them back about 15 minutes later because of other things we had to do. And of course, milk supply was up a little. So interesting! I'm wondering if we will have to do this for a while until they get over their fear? Thanks for the idea - I'm glad we got at least a little bit of grazing time in for them!

Deborah, thanks for the comforting words... Hopefully these girls get over their fright soon!

Kurt, thanks for the idea! I will try that tomorrow. For some silly reason, as long as I have something new to try I'm not too frustrated, but today I just ran out of ideas and was at my wits end (hence the "help please"). I hadn't thought about sitting in the pen with them. I'm usually hanging out just outside of it talking to them. I appreciate all your comments and ideas - thanks!

Yay!! Congrats, Kurt and Thekla!!

Deborah - Thanks so much for hanging out and answering questions. I really appreciated hearing your thoughts on these topics!

Hi Rafael,

I can respond to #2. We have both Nigerian Dwarf goats and East Friesian sheep that we milk and use the milk for personal consumption. We drink it, make ice cream, yogurt, kefir, cheese, use the whey for making bread, etc. My kids all love both the sheep and goat milk. We've tasted some pretty bad goat milk in the past and weren't sure we would like the goat milk, but it has surprised us... we LOVE it! The sheep milk seems to be higher in fat (very creamy and the cream separates faster than the goat milk) and seems to make a higher amount of cheese vs. the goat milk so we usually make our milk products out of the sheep milk and drink the goat milk. I say "seems" because we haven't measured or done anything scientific to prove it, but eyeballing it that is our experience (and may vary depending on what they are eating or our particular animals). However, I must put in here, that once the sheep were adjusted to the forage here (as opposed to their former home) we have had zero problems with them. They have been very easy to care for. The goats have been incredibly hard to fence in the woodsy forage we want them to eat... My husband is definitely making plans for how we can just have sheep at this point, lol. Just our experience however. We are new and lacking in experience!

The sheep not only give us great milk, but their fleece isn't bad either. I'm not a connoisseur but I do like to knit and spin. The particular goats we have don't give us that option. Also, we are thinking of cross breeding the sheep to produce a hardier lamb that will be for meat production... not sure yet.

On a side note... both the sheep and the goats love our hostas (ornamental vegetation around here) and other ornamental plants. We've managed to keep them away from the Hazelnut trees though. We see the goats sampling bark, but not the sheep. Our sheep seem to prefer the broadleaf plants like plantain, dandelions and trilliums and will eat some leaves from low branches. To my husbands frustration (who would rather have lawnmowers that keep it looking nice, lol) they leave the tall skinny grasses intact.

Anyhow, I hope that is helpful. Congratulations on your new venture!

I need some help - even if it's a website or book to read. We have three milking ND goats and a doeling. They have a permanent paddock with fencing and shelter, we (ideally) take them out on good days to a temporary electric fence. Before buying our third goat, the other two would go happily enough to their temp fence, stay in and browse. We bought a third doe in milk a month ago and found out quickly that in spite of her girth, she is a fantastic fence jumper. She taught the younger of the other two goats to jump and we've been unable to keep them in the woods because of that (the non-jumper does not like to be there alone with just her doeling for company). I think I've mentioned this in the other post on temporary fencing for goats. We've reinforced the electric fence, tried stock panels instead etc.

The thing that boggles me is that the two jumpers seem frantic to escape... like they are afraid. They won't relax to eat. We took them for a walk in the woods today to see how they did. Previously they were curious little goats, sidetracked and munching away. This time we had to walk the dog behind them to get them to go and they ran us ragged all the way back! The non jumper is the only one who snacked and seemed fine. I can't figure out if something scared them back there (a coyote or other animal?), they are terrified of mosquitoes, if the new goat has told the younger goat scary forest stories, or ? And why it only seems to affect the jumpers and not the mom and her dueling. Totally at a loss here about what to do. Thanks!