New Goat

[RD]

When one of our goats gets sick, my wife reminds me of the old saying, "Goats are born looking for a place to die." That certainly seems to be the case at times.

I disagree, that saying was said to cover things that were forgotten to do to justify their mistakes.


RD

[W.Lynn]

I dunno, Vincent might agree. I never had any, so I can't put any weight on either side of that.

[redman2006]

Parasites, coccidia, and silent pneumonia are our big killers locally. If we deal with those, you can have a healthy herd. Worms are huge in the south. Northern and dry climates have it much easier in that regard. We really want some Boers, but they are some of the worst with parasites. People have started switching to Savannah goats here since they are naturally more parasite resistant. A purebred Savannah will set you back a ton on money. Far more than we are willing to spend.

[olfart]

We added a set of twin doelings to the family yesterday. Snow White and Cinderella are currently incarcerated away from the rest of the group until we can see and evaluate their poop and general health. Don't be fooled by their innocent appearance. They're wild as March hares and are plotting to make a jail break.

Snow White and Cinderella.JPG

[redman2006]

They look wild. Saanen? I have never been around them. How are they compared to nubians for personality, milk production, etc.

[olfart]

These are Nigerian Dwarf. We had a Saanen about 35 years ago, and she was very sweet-natured. She gave a gallon or more of milk a day, but with lower butterfat content than Nubians or Nigerians. She was in the habit of turning around and kissing my wife on the cheek while being milked. When my wife came up with poison ivy on her face/neck, she couldn't imagine where she got it until I pointed out that the goat eats poison ivy. Oops... so much for sweet-natured goats.

[redman2006]

Those ears and color remined me of saanen kids. How do you market your milk?

[olfart]

Yes, the kids do resemble Saanens, but Saanens would be a bit larger.

We don't market it. Don't want the hassle of dairy license, inspections, etc. If we have more than we can use, we give it to friends. Between soap and cheesemaking, we use a pretty good bit.

[kickstand]

If Gina were still active here, she'd be going nuts. When we all met up in Wyoming, Tex had a couple of baby goats, and Gina was trying everything that she could to figure out how to get one on the airplane without paying a fortune.

[redman2006]

Do you sell the soap?

[olfart]

What we don't use or store for future use, we give to friends for birthday/Christmas gifts.