Yes, I've had the same thoughts about goats. Which is probably why we don't have any yet! At this point we don't have kids yet either, so we like going on lots of spontaneous trips. Maybe that will work out later. :)
We're lucky about our garden: we already have potatoes, rhubarb (with some frozen in our freezer), blueberries, raspberries, asparagus, currents, a couple of fruit trees, and wild blackberries. The soil is also good quality as I think the previous owners were into gardening. We have high expectations for our first garden, so I hope we don't disappoint ourselves! I think we'll be excited by whatever we get, though. Someday I'd love to can and freeze quite a bit of food to enjoy throughout the year (just like my mom used to). I'm anxious to plan our mini-orchard and start planting trees this spring.
And about our chickens: we got TWO green eggs today, confirming that both our Americaunas are laying now! That makes four of four. It's amazing how much joy having chickens brings into our lives. :) Also a nostalgic thing for me, besides the fact that we have lots of fresh eggs!
It's great to find people with similar visions here. Hopefully we can inspire one another to keep pursuing our dreams!
Share your homesteading experiences and dreams.
Well, I'm surprised Horseshoe doesn't just pack up that nanny goat and take her along when he wants to travel. If he buys a few of those disposable paint buckets, he can milk her along the way and leave a bucket of milk as a tip at diners!
Hah! I hear ya Weezin!
One of my problems though was I was hankering to come up your way one day...and if I brought the goat (Freckles was her name!) I was so afraid it would be so cold there I'd be getting nothing but ice cream outta them pull-downs!
Course now, once again, I just realized I lost a moment of opportunity...shucks! If I had put some ding-a-ling bells on that goat we coulda been like the neighborhood ice cream truck that draws all the little children in the land to it! Oh my...another loss of income and happiness in the process of earning it! I declare!
I pegged you for an entrepreneur right off, Shoe! Shoot, you could hook that goat up to a cart and save the gas on your ice cream runs! You could make a little extra selling organic Milk Duds, too!
Weez............Shoe..................you all are a hoot ! ! ! ! Keep me sitting here at my computer just grinning. Some of the stuff you guys come up with !!!
See? That's the kind of stuff I'm looking for...............a way to make a few bucks after my retirement to suppliment the old pocketbook. LOL
hah! (Now I gotta start raising goats again or I'll have these weird dreams about goats, ice cream, and "Milk Duds"!) (I can only assume Weezin is referring to Nanny Berries?) :>*
I can see it now...
"Step right up, folks! Get your fresh ice cream here! And don 't pass on these natural organic Milk Duds....something that'll last a long time, something that'll REALLY stick to your ribs (because they've DONE IT BEFORE!)!!!
ok what is the story on goats? why does everyone, living off the land want goats? do they have to have kids to give milk?how much milk per goat? what is the goat story ?My dh believes there is a coming oil crisis so we are working at being self sufficient but live kinda in the city, we want to check out land prices in carolina, seems like a good area to survive in. love this thread. thankyou carol
Oh, you're leaving Washington?? I love it here. I'd like to hear the rundown on goats, too. I think if we had more animals, a goat would be it, but I don't know much about them...
I'm going to school for a Master's of Environmental Studies degree and the topic this week was oil. Quite an interesting debate! It's always good to be prepared. It's like an earthquake: it's going to come, but we just don't know when.
Shoe, if them Nanny Nuggets stick to your ribs, you've probably been rolling around in the goat barn with your shirt off! Ohhhh, you mean from the inside!... yes, eating those organic milk duds is probably part of some big wide recycling program.
I'm certainly no expert on goats. Haven't had one since I was a youngster. My understanding is that you breed your nanny, then continue milking her after the kid is weaned so she doesn't dry up. I think that goat milk is an acquired taste, but it has to be more economical to raise a goat than a milk cow.
Hi veejay, welcome to the forum. I'm just learning about goats too.
From what I understand, the milk is very good if milking and sanitation
proceedures are followed correctly. Some folks say that there is a little different flavor to it, and others say it gets an off taste if contaminated. I really don't know , since I've never had a goat or drank goat milk. But I too would like to have the chance to be self-sufficient enough to have a few of the necessary nutritional supplies we might need if crisis should occur
with our food supply system, or the price of groceries skyrockets to where milk is $ 10. a gallon, and eggs are $ 6. a dozen. Besides, I think it just gives me a good feeling to know I can survive with what I have if need be.
Some of these other folks know lots more than me, and they're so good to share their wisdom and experiences. Again, welcome, and feel free to ask questions. Someone will post an answer when they have a chance.
Weez.......thanks for the info on breeding the nanny and milking. I guess it's the same as a cow with a calf ? No doubt, it's gotta be more economical than a cow. Besides..........those big animals intimidate me. LOL. I tried to milk a lady from our church's cow once to help her out while her DH was away. (she was a stroke victim and couldn't do it) but the cow seemed so BIG, and she wouldn't stand still, and when she finally kicked the pail over, that was it........................I'd had enough. No one was there to show me how to do it, so I didn't have the best experience. But........you all know how I am by now.............I'll try most anything.....once. Hehe
Yep...tis true, the goat needs to kid to produce milk, and to keep her in milk production you'll need to milk her each day, preferably twice a day. She can produce milk for over a year if you prefer but it's a kindness to give her a break after 18-20 months of milking.
As for the off taste, that can happen according to the goats diet. Goats are browsers (like deer) and prefer to eat plants above ground but will also eat ground level plants which might include wild onions or the like. Contrary to popular belief though, goats do not eat just anything, and are actually fairly picky about what they eat. A diet rich in green stuff, a good hay supplement, and a small amount of sweetfeed will give you a healthy goat who offers you some of the best milk/cheese you'll ever have.
As for food intake/milk offering ratio...yep, a goat will give you much more milk per food quantity it eats than a cow will. (Plus they are much more entertaining!)
Shoe.
Jumping right in after been lurking for some time, :0))
Another big plus with goatmilk is for those who are Lactose intolerent (milkallergy) they can often drink and eat produkts from goats but get very, some times deadly sick from cowmilk.
Janett
So true. I know of several people who have put babies on goats milk after not being able to find an infant formula that was agreeable to their digestion.
Hmm. all this talk about goat milk makes me think I need to buy some and try it...............I'm curious now. Yikes ! I priced it at the Wal-Mart grocery department here in Okla. and just a quart is $ 3.89. Must be something good about it. Still think I'll get around to trying it soon.
I haven't tried goat milk but goat cheese and yougart are the best.
The Nigerian Pygmy goat is half body half udder.Lots of milk.
Yum! Yes, goat cheese is what I was thinking too! Yogurt is a great idea too. :)
It's really difficult to keep a goat here in Seward, particularly the pymy type. The bears treat them like snacks!
Ya need to tell the bears that the goats are 'baaaaaaa-d' for them!! .. LOL
- Magpye
Oh gosh ! That's a little bit bigger problem than the racoons that got my chickens. Yep, that would make it a bit harder.
My DH started stocking extra supplies in case of an emergency, he bought lots of deodrant for 1.00 each now a few weeks later deodrant is selling for 2.50 to 5.50 each, so prices are going up, I will now be stocking up also I only live on 1/4 acre but have a postage stamp orchard and veggie garden, trying to do a greenhouse this year. maybe try a few chickens, gotta see if they are legal here. just growing and saving because I am getting near retitment will be good
When I was speaking to alot of people who have dairy goats I was told that i should get a donkey to protect them.A donkey is very protective and will start braying (or what ever it is that donkeys do) and scare off what ever preditor is after the goats.
We don't have quite as many bears in NC as in Alaska but they are there.Don't think this would work in Alaska.
veeja, same here. I think a greenhouse and a flock of chickens is a very good idea. I also believe that it's wise to stock up on certain items in case of emergency. We never know what might happen to the supplies of things that we so take for granted. In our country we've become very spoiled by having everything we need at our convenience. If something should disrupt that, we'd see a lot of people who didn't know what to do and they would have much hardship. People who made it thru the depression years the best were the ones who had their own resources to draw from. They may not have had much, but they had food, while lots of others stood in soup lines for something to eat. We seem to think that we're immune to that happening again........................wrong.
I've always thought I might like to have a donkey, but this wet cool weather here is really hard on hoofed animals, not to mention the cost of feed. We have lots of months when grazing isn't possible.
Emergency deodorant! LOL! I'd have stocked up on toilet paper, but I wouldn't have thought of deodorant..until I didn't have any!
Yikes, we might be eyeing the corn cobs in the compost heap. TP is good to stock up on but it takes up so much space.
I'm sure there are viable options on TP, but we'd need to visit a third world country or two to determine what they are. In the old days, people would set their old catalogs in the outhouse as reading material, then TP. You need to crumple the pages up a few times to soften them up first.
Why not make hollow furniture that is filled with TP. That way, you could disassemble the coffee table or easy chair as needed! LOL!
Can anyone reccommend a good source for a greenhouse? I think it's time to get one, although I have a room in my house an add on that was a studio with a sky light only one small window, I am thinking maybe I can put in a large south facing picture window and use it as a greenhouse. how much light do I need for a greenhouse? thankyou carol
carol, we are in zone 6 and I have plants growing like crazy in an upstairs window that faces south. It's ok for starting seeds, but not enough room for very many.
You can go to the greenhouse forum here at DG and see lots of different pictures of other people's. They will be glad to share their ideas on what would be a good source for you. good luck
Started my own little homestead 1 1/2 years ago. Got a land contract on an extreme fixer upper. Have a mortgage, but it's under $200 a month. That will tell you the extent of fixer upper! Only on just shy of an acre. Moved from the heart of the city to the middle of nowhere! My BH is still driving around in circles, desperately looking for a Media Play or Barnes & Noble! Not a country boy!
Planted a mini orchard, complete with lots of berries around it, pasture 20 or so chickens for eggs and more in the spring for meat and put in a huge vegetable garden. Trying to find a couple dwarf nigerian dairy goats. Putting a simple solar collector on the back of the chicken coop. I'm as organic as I can get! Organic chicken feed is around, but very cost prohibitive. Nice part is the summer, then the girls get as much fresh produce as they can eat. Happy spoiled chickens!
We also heat with wood, and I am scouring Wyoming County NY for a wood cook stove. Gotta run a wood stove, might as well cook on it!
It's been rough at times, but very worth it!
Also have an electric water well that I'd love to have a hand pump on it too! Any ideas?
And- any ideas on building a rabbit house with some sort of "nugget collector" to raise worms in the rabbit poop? Some type of trough type thing?
What's a Toyo Oil Stove (I can't remember the actual spelling or name) previously mentioned above. Always looking for cost effective heat!
wow hippiehill, sounds like you have got it all together. It's so rewarding to be able to supply so many of your own needs from the good things that so many take for granted.
Is your well the only source of water? And I'd love to hear more about your
solar collector on back of chicken coop. Is that something that's simple to make, or something you buy ? Sounds like a good idea, but I know nothing about how to make anything solar.
back room greenhouse is out, wall for window is load bearing so very costly to put in, so I need a good source for a 9x10 greenhouse
Thanks PeggieK! Sounds much more together than it is! Usually a running comedy of errors! Our well is our only source of water. Deep, very cold, and high in iron. It's in a tiny, nasty well house that I hope will be revamped. Right now, we kind of have to crawl into it to turn on the hose.
Solar collector is very simple. Runners from old pallets are attached to the south side of the coop. South side and runners are painted flat black, and double layers of plastic cover the frame. Simple doors are cut into the coop at the bottom and top of frame. Open the doors and the air should circulate. Check out mother earth news, they have a ton of info. I'll try to send you the actual prototype photos. Not mine yet! #1 I still need to insulate the coop to keep the heat in! #2 I have to wait till the 30" of snow and the 3' drifts go away. (Right now I'm thinking that coop is waaaayyyy too far from the house) Basically, when the sun is shining it will warm up the coop and the insulation will keep it in. Now the question is, will it work?
Yet another experiment to have the neighbors and farmers around here look at me and shake their heads! While they buy my eggs...........
Hippiehill, I'm interested in what you are doing (solar) also. Please post photos!
We have a small nursery business in our town, so we need lots of greenhouse space in the spring. I have a small one covered in fiberglass that I use for seedlings, then a larger one covered in plastic sheeting that I use for my baskets, etc. Last year we ran out of space, so we purchased one of those big tents from Costco or Sam's Club.
Instead of using the tarp coverings included, we used plastic sheeting and added a Toyostove until the weather warmed. Once the weather heated, we cut the ends out of it, and cut out some windows, and we had a nice covered tent for the plants that melt in our rainy summers... mostly the petunias! Anyway, the tent cost around $200, and we took it apart and put it away in the fall. For those who only need the greenhouse in the spring, the regular tarp top could be put on it for a shady spot in the summer, or you could take it down for more room in the yard.
Nice, weezingreens! I never thought of that. By the way, in contact with toyostove manufacturers. Thank you!
I had a little greenhouse I made out of scrap lumber and pvc electrical conduit. High winds blew the sucker down the hill with all my started seeds scattered to the wind! This time I'm making a half house attached to my house using what I salvaged from the bottom of the hill and more plastic. I'm hoping to sell hierloom tomato and herb starts.
We'll see, so many plans, so little time. I'm also planning a very simple graywater system to water my fruit trees this spring. Just happens that my plumbing for my tub and washing machine are no longer hooked into my septic. Guess I should've insulated THOSE pipes too!
Any project for me has to be simple and cheap! I'm also blessed with an 18 year old son with limitless strength and energy!
Now only if the snow would melt!
Melting snow is our problem around here. The ground is frozen, but the snow has turned to rain and the standing water has nowhere to go. That's a combo that means flooded basement for us. We're sumping it out right now.
I think this is just the most awesome thread! Some of you know me and some don't. We just up and bought a small 7 1/4 farm in September. We had a few goals in mind starting out but I can see lots will be changing! Our very most important reason for moving out to the country was to get our six daughters out of the city public school system. The second reason was so that I could open a small nursery. We moved from a 1/4 acre lot that was pretty well stuffed full of plants. So, we are here but things are tight because we haven't sold our other house yet.
Now that we are here and I see that huge back yard, I am aching to grow tons of veggies! I started into gardening after my elderly neighbor gave me a few tomato plants and I ate the abundance of them with joy, made salsa, put them in soups and chili and in or on anything else I could. LOL From there, I expanded and expanded and ended up canning plenty too. Sadly I got side tracked with flowers and on 1/4 acre you sort of have to pick one or the other. The flowers won. It is so absolutely cool that I have room for both now but it also sort of has me spinning in one place. I think I'm a bit overwhelmed!
I do know we will be growing a lot of veggies! I also want to have my wells checked out and start using some of that water too. The city water we have is really hard and leaves a white skin on everything!
I can't say for certain where our plans will go or how our life will change, but I do know it will be one heck of a ride!! I am so happy someone pointed me to the Poutry forum because it is great but I also accidentally found this one too! Thank you so much for this thread.
Badseed, welcome to the thread. You have excellent reasons to move to the country. I wish we could have enjoyed this type lifestyle when our children were still home. It's truly a wholesome and rich life, that kids now days don't get a lot of chances to experience.
It's great to have a well. As many plants as you plan to grow, and a nursery, you're going to need a lot of water. We used to have a friend that had a well that he used specifically for his garden. He always had lush green plants while the rest of us wondered when the rain would come, and our gardens burned up. lol.
Thank you very much for the welcome Peggie.
It's amazing to be out here and have such a huge yard. LOL We have lots of plans and it will be neat to see how things change. We've been here since November and I have already seen changes in the girls. They are much more relaxed but seem to have so much more energy. They are getting invited to friend's houses now and to birthday parties. I can't wait for it to warm up and dry up so I can pop them out the door! We really enjoy getting out and looking around and it will be neat to find all the natural treasures. We also need to clean up the metal treasures in the back corner. LOL
Badseed, I'm so happy for you! Having lived in rentals for so many years, then a small shaded cabin for six more, I can understand how you feel about all that potential growing space! And how wonderful to be able to make the move while your children are young enough to enjoy it! By the time we moved into the log house, my youngest had gone to college!
Did you move into a home with an established yard? That would make it so much easier! That way you can concentrate on you flower beds, greenhouse, etc. We had to establish beds and lawn here, pulling hundreds and hundreds of alder seedlings and young trees from the yard, sowing grass, sifting soil, composting, hauling rocks... I couldn't do all that today!
Check out my tradelist and see if there are any seeds you'd like. They can be a housewarming present!