Fran best hay for goats is a long grass weedy hay. I give oat hay occasionally just because we had some left over from our horse who died. Otherwise my goats wouldn't get it. Not sure how much straw you actually need since it's only for their bedding when you first get it down. After that you can add all the hay they waste! They won't eat what they drop on the ground. For just a couple of goats you'd be better off buying 3 or 4 bales of straw a year. For hay my 5 will use about 50 - 60 bales this winter. Figure 2 goats will run through about 15 bales maybe 12 for the winter.
MollyD
Beating the heat...
yes, that is where the chickens come in handy, cleaning up after the goats!
and it will save you in the end to do like Molly said and buy ones with kids or about to freshen. we spent 75 each on two does kids at one week of age. all the work was a good lesson for our boy-kids, but it was rather costly to bottle feed them so long.
i have nearly entirely cut corn out of my flocks diet. i buy the individual grains and mix myself according to who is getting it. whole oats, crimped barley [the only way it comes here] whole milo, black oil sunflower seed. alfalfa is the only hay available here currently at 8 a bale... the grains are about 10 per 50# bag. pelleted pre-mixed horse feed, which has corn in it, is over 12 per bag!
for a high butterfat content milk, go with a Yak. i will buy the offspring from you!
temp is better. wish i felt up to enjoying it more LOL
" Hi 88 F
Lo 58 F Pleasant weather to start your weekend as yet another push of cool air has made its way into the Panhandle this morning. High today will top off primarily in the 80s with breezy winds about 10-20mph from the northeast. Temperatures climb a bit as we head into the weekend....with a slight chance for thunderstorms late Saturday afternoon.
Enjoy the nice, calm weather."
tf
I'm so new to goats that I don't even know what kind we have. My DH wanted a cow...but a little too pricey right now. We were also looking for a solution to the price of milk.....and the fact that we are 20 miles away from any...so if we run out, we run out until we do get to town. We bought 2 doe kids and 1 billy kid....from 2 different Amish farms (for different blood lines) ....we paid $25 each for the does and $5 for the billy. The milk replacer is what about put us in the poor house and we were so happy for that phase to pass. They are 4 months old now, and have their own fenced in pasture....that they could get out of when they wanted too....but we got the holes closed up. They really do not seem that interested in the grass they have, so we have to mow part of it. We let them out every night to visit with us, run around to explore, and to forage. It really seems that they love nothing more than leaves off of trees and bushes and plants of all kinds. We laugh all the time at their antics in getting a hold of the last little bits of leaves and blooms they can get. They either try climbing up the side of the house or stand straight up on their back legs...it is so funny...well...until Princess's legs almost broke a window anyway. I heard once that a goat will eat ANYTHING.....from what I have seen, that must be true. I have caught them chewing away at boards, ropes, they LOVE paper.....I am still amused a befuddled about it.
I wish I had pictures.....maybe we could play.....'what kind am I?' Oh well, hopefully I will have some soon.
We also have a grown nanny goat, that my DH just bought....I could bonk him in the head for buying her....I'm not sure of her age, but she has been open for a year, has a hard quarter, and had mastitus. Right after we got her, he dried her up. From what I know about cows...a lot....if this were the same situation with a cow....she would be as good as useless....as in she will not cycle if she is dry....therefore not getting bred or ever producing milk again.....is this true for a goat? I'm hoping one of you will know for sure......
Here today the temp is 67* with 82% humidity. It's not feeling too bad today, yet. We are overcast right now....wondering if the rain will come.....I need to get laundry on the line.
Christy
Christy I hate to say this but I think those farmers saw you guys coming!!! No buck (real goat people never call their goats billys or nannys - it's insulting!) worth the trouble of feeding will ever be bought for $5.00 As for does mine cost $200. each. My wether (castrated male) (who's really only good as meat on the table) cost $50.00. I have two buckling kids. One is for sale. Asking price is $350.00 He's got a pedigree a mile long LOL Makes me feel like a peasant.
I know you can find good dairy goats for less if you don't care about registrations and that kind of stuff but I really doubt you can find good milking does for what you paid. That old one sounds like she won't make it to years end. The others sound okay but you don't even know if they're milk or meat goats!
btw contrary to the popular image Hollywood puts out about goats eating anything don't let them!!! Your goats will end up very sick with high vet bills if they eat paper, ropes and boards. They're stomachs are actually very sensitive. Have you wormed them? Have they had their CDT shots? Were they tested for Cae ? All those are very important in keeping your herd healthy and producing milk for you.
You should visited some of these links:
http://fiascofarm.com/
http://www.goatwisdom.com/
http://www.jackmauldin.com/health/copper_deficiency.htm
http://www.goatworld.com/
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/goats/
http://www.goatworld.com/articles/cae/
Those will give you a lot of information on the care of goats. My vet told me to never feed my goats any feed products intended for horses or sheep. The level of copper for either of those is very wrong for goats.
Not trying to preach at you here, just sharing information.
MollyD
Molly.. I think the slight difference in terminology here might be regional.. someone else might be able to say.. as you all know I am not a goat person.. but I would be willing to bet.. the Buck/Billy term here and south of here is very acceptable.. in the Amish community.. as is the $5 price tag.. it is not about the money or what he has / you have.. good owner or bad, or what can I do for you.. rather I don't need this animal.. you can use it.. fair price.. $5 will do!
Now I only butt in (pun intended) because I've had this type of question raised in many other situations.
Now with all that said... I think they may have got ripped with the grown nanny..
fran
I can't see it Fran. If that buck had any value I doubt they would have let him go for $5. That isn't fair market value for any animal when you consider how much it cost to feed it. Something isn't right about that deal.
MollyD
oh wow, where to start.......on the terminology issue....I have also found that it is a regional issue, not just on goats...but for about all animals. I have lived in Southern Illinois, Southern Wisconsin and now Northern Missouri and have heard of many different ways of referring to many different animals, so I have learned to be a little flexible on what certain animals are called. Not only are the areas different and call them different things, when they may be referring to the same thing but then at auctions and different sales you have people from ALL over the place. At the last auction I went to, there was even a couple there that had moved here from Russia....and they didn't speak very good English.....they sure bought an awful lot and I couldn't begin to guess how they knew what was what. I have even seen the auctioneers refer to things in a different ways...but based on what the tag on a cage says, the owner, and what they are telling you about the animal....you can almost always figure out what it is you are actually bidding on.
The other thing with this, is that I am learning...so my terminology could be off because I have not learned in detail what the difference is yet...or if there is one. I have to go off what I have heard them called or when I learn what the difference is, I call them that. I know there are a lot of people that will see any cattle in a pasture and call them cows. Well, I know about cows....and that's not true,they all are not cows. I don't know what the farmers called them when we got the 3 kids...my DH went and got them. I think my DH might know what breed they are....but I have forgotten. I know they are dairy because the reason the farmers were selling them was because they were selling the goat milk, had all the goats and kids they needed and didn't want to lose any more goat milk to kids they didn't need. They were 1-2 days old when we got them and they were lining up buyers before they were even born.
We've been feeding them the grass in the pasture, and goat pellet from the feed store. We don't feed them the boards, ropes, or paper....they have just gotten a hold of it and we have thought it was funny that they would do so.....I will have to keep an eye on them and make sure they don't in the future. Shouldn't be too hard to do...they follow us everywhere....the kids anyway.
Thanks for the links Molly......I have some reading to do. I love to read and learn new things....and would rather be know about it than guess. I will have to ask my DH about the shots, worming, and testing.
Molly.....would the old one be called a Nanny? My DH got her from a neighbor, not the Amish, who didn't want her anymore. I think we got took too.....I begged my DH not to get her.....based on my knowledge of cows, I just knew she was no good, and he should have too........but he did it anyway. The poor thing was being kept on a heavy chain on a dirt patch....when she got here she tore right into the same grass the kids turned their noses up to. Does anyone know if she with be much as meat? I know an old cow gets tougher and has less flavor...is this true with an old goat? If she can be eaten, then what we paid for her might not be that bad. (sigh)
Speaking of nomenclature: I know that "chook" is the familiar Australian term for "chicken", but when do you use it? Would my chicks be chooks? Or only when they are older? Is a roo ever a chook--or is it only for hens?
Luckycharm, can you tell us?
Hi Ladybug,
Thank you for not being offended by my post. I really had good intentions (remember when they taught us the road to H**l was paved with those? LOL). I belong to a goat email group and I posted asking them if you (anyone) can catch CAE from an infected goat via it's milk or meat. That was one of my main concerns with these cheap goats. CAE is infectious to people, dogs and horses. It makes nasty abscesses on the surface but also on the internal organs killing the host. I know it's passed to the kids via mom's milk.
I've only eaten young goat meat so I can't tell you if she would be too tough. Sounds like the poor thing has had a rough life! She is also a doe :-)
Your male may not be fertile too. At $5. I would really wonder if he can get the job done.
Don't forget to get them salt blocks and a mineral block specifically for goats.
MollyD
OH... thanks for those links too Molly, They were great.. I had been to a few but there were a couple I hadn't found yet.
?? Does goat taste like chicken?
Catscan....I never even heard the word chook....and haven't I seen it also spelled 'chuke'....
until I came here to DG, so I wouldn't have a clue.
Molly....to tell you the truth, I wasn't really sure until just now if I should be.......from your post, I couldn't really tell if you were mad or just VERY passionate and helpful. I kept reading it and saw LOL in there, and then something about trying to be helpful....so I thought I would wait it out and see. I was actually more worried that you were mad......with my ignorance of goats and goat care and not even knowing what we bought, etc.
Thank you for going to so much trouble on my behalf and that of my family. If the kids were passes CAE......is it too late for them to be treated for it? Would they be showing signs of it yet?
How can you tell if a male will be fertile at a young age? Is it something you can tell from looking at something on them....or does it depend on how they were born? I know with cows, if they have twins and one is a bull and one is a heifer....the heifer is considered a free martin...and will never breed....is it anything like that?
In the Amish community we got them from....all the males (bucks?) were $5 and at the auction barn last week they sold from $3-$7....no one wanted to bother with them....so in this area I don't know if one being so cheap is an indication that it won't breed.
I did read in a goat book that if the does are born with a 'bump' on their vulva....they aren't any good for breeding either....is this true? Ours don't have any.
Thanks for reminding me about salt blocks and mineral blocks....I should have known that.....cattle have to have them too.
Well, our old worn out doe might be ok.....with enough time in the crock pot and enough seasoning she might be just fine.....course then again...I've never had goat before and have nothing to compare it to. : )
fran I thought it tasted more like lamb. Could be just my taste buds here.
Ladybug not in the least bit mad! Just concerned about your well being and that of your goats. I can't pass myself off as an expert but I've now been immersed (sounds messy!!) in the goat world almost 3 months. I know that normally boy- girl twin goats are fertile.
I don't know of any way to test the bucks fertility without trying them. Most sellers will say something like we can't guarantee his fertility but his father was great. That tells you the genetics are in his favor but you can't know for sure.
The vet can test all your goats for the CAE. If they don't have it yet get them innoculated. The vet can tell you how many cc's to give each of them. You can buy the vaccine at your local feed store. I use Tractor Supply and they carried it for $10.00 I did boosters on both my bucklings and had plenty left over. It's good for almost 2 year stored in the fridge.
Lighting storm got to log off.
6/14 continuing.
You also need to watch for a disease called CL. I went this morning and checked the CAE affects the goats, the CL is the one with the abcesses and contagious to humans, dogs and horses. Sorry those C's get me confused. Both diseases are serious for a goat. The fact that no one bid on them was a real bad sign. If they had been worth getting there would have been some competition for them.
There are some inexpensive goats out there that are a good buy if you just want meat and milk but given the diseases that can affect your health you really should have them checked by a good live stock vet (preferably one who knows goats) . Get them test for CAE and vaccinated fast! I really don't know if there is a cure but the vet can tell you. Check inside their eyelids for signs of anemia too. That will stop or slow down their milk production and kill them after a while.
MollyD
This message was edited Jun 14, 2008 9:53 AM
man, i take a day to catch up on chores and hit a couple garage sales, take a load to the dump, pick up a load of trees.... and ya'll hijack my "i;m dying from the temperatuers" thread to discuss....
goats, my favorite subject!
thanks. sitll hot here. will be 100 by Sudnay. but thank God we are not in the flood regions of the mississippi river.
time for supper!
tf
whoops, sorry tf....someone mentioned goats up there earlier, then it kind of took off from there.....then of course I got a bit 'windy' again (wonder if I'll ever run out of air) and thought for a minute my big mouth got me into trouble....maybe a little bit of a 'tornado' you could say, then the posts where 'flooded' with talks of goats and was 'heated' for a minute....then it seemed to 'cool' down quite a bit after that. Don't see many more 'showers' coming from that....but I guess you can't really predict the 'weather', huh? lol.....just 'kidding'....lol ...I crack myself up sometimes......I didn't plan all that out, it just came out that way and I ran with it!
Kept meaning to write about the weather, then I forgot to. It was pretty nice here....it didn't get too awful hot, but the humidity is still so high.....I am wheezing from my asthma. Oh goodness.....and it's only June?
Hey tf.....who brought up goats anyway.........oh yeah, there it is...........when are you going to start passing out those yummy milkshakes made with frozen berries and 'fresh goats milk?' : )
(ladybug must be a bit punchy tonight......lack of air to the brain from the humidity) : )
ladybug: oh, go breath into a paper bag... no wait, that is for hiccups!
no probelm, i love talking goats! if you can find it there is a la mancha thread here somewhere!
tf
the kids REALLY like those shakes...
hey.. I love hyjacking....
not too hot right now... but if we have to move... hmmmph..
I think I like ladybugsabound2 sense of humor... kind of right up my ally huh tf???
yeha, well don't float away! should be only in the mid 90s today...
Very nice and pleasant here today...in the 70s. Now THAT is my kind of weather. Humidity is still very high, but since I am inside for most of the day, that's okay too. Did have some damage from Wednesday's storms here. We lost part of our drive and our yard light. The problem with the light turned out to be bad wiring from when it was put up. So, that will probably be fixed Tuesday. The drive will probably be fixed Monday or Tuesday too. Only thing that makes me mad is we are not on a "flood plain" so we can't get flood insurance and they say that it was "friendly water" that took out the drive. Bummer.
GG
that pictrure of the sebastapol geese in the snow reminded me how stinking hot is STILL is here.....
Sorry, TF, it is 49 degrees right now, 11:30 PM. Using my back porch to cool down my freezer slaw dressing so I can mix it before I go to bed. Had another surprise this morning when DH started to wash clothes (yep, he does all that too). Pump on the washer went out. So, more money going out of this house. Don't know when it's going to end.
GG
Here it is 68 degrees at 10:50 pm. It feels just right!
Granny, I can't believe your washer went out this morning.......mine did too and I was way bummed and I was wondering the same thing.....when is it going to end? I am hoping ours is a cheap fix....DH told me what the do-hicky was called, but the water won't run into my machine. Hope yours gets fixed soon ! : )
ladybug have your DH check the filter screen where your water comes in. It might be clogged with sediment from the water. That happened to ours a few months ago. Paul just took the hose off and cleaned the filter. Presto! Machine was working fine again. No cost.
MollyD
Hey Molly, I will go and check it out.....I know what you are talking about, we have had that happen many times, usually when the water has been shut off for repairs it has happened. When that has happened before though, the machine will make a noise like it wants to run the water, but just a tiny trickle. This time there is no noise or water at all, but it couldn't hurt
to look. Thanks for the tip! ..........now where did I put them pliers? (got pink handled ones for the house so DH wouldn't swipe them........didn't bother him a bit, so I stashed 'em!) :
Hope that's it ladybug! (fingers crossed for you)
MollyD
Well, mine turned out to be the switch when you close the lid. Cost me 111.04 to get it fixed. $75.00 service charge. Ouch!!!
Got the yard light fixed too. The guy put in a bigger commercial one that is much brighter. So, am happy. But have had to pay out almost $1000.00 this week for repairs to different things. Hope that's the last of it.
GG
I wonder how ladybug made out? Sorry yours was so expensive GG.
MollyD
Hi granny.....glad to hear you got your washer fixed and your light brighter....(crossing my fingers that this is the last of it)
Molly....I have been so busy that I have not had a chance to look at it. My DH just got home though, so I'll have him check......just in case it an easy fix. I'll be sure to let you know!
Christy
HI, Christy, the only thing left that is in limbo is that the outdoor wood burner we are having installed has been back-ordered till about the end of the month. There is just so many people ordering them that the people who make them can't keep up with demand. So, again we wait.
GG
Good luck Christy! Hope that's all it takes.
MollyD
Hi Granny, I had a feeling A LOT of people would be ordering those! I hope it comes in when they told you it would and you can have some peace of mind! I think heavens that the house my DH is tearing down had a good size wood burner in it....or is the kind that goes inside a wood stove?........and that it came with all the air blowers and everything, so we can heat the whole house. I don't know that we would be able to get through this next winter without it. With current prices, and they are bound to go even higher, it would cost us $2000 to fill the tank with LP gas and it would have taken us 2 tanks to get through the winter. I am so grateful for it!
Molly, I hope thats all it takes too. By the time my DH got home, did a few night time chores and rigged together a rain shelter for some of our outdoor critters, he was dead tired and went to bed. I found my pink handled pliers though, so I will be looking at it tomorrow. If I don't I'm going to have dirty laundry coming out my ears........and with all the chicks already coming out of them, there just isn't any more room for that! : )
Christy
oh I almost forgot......its 63 degrees here at 9:34pm. Kids thought it was getting a little chilly, but after my hot sweaty day I think it feels wonderful!
Hi, ladybug, since we live in a double-wide, we can't have a "solid fuel" burner or fireplace inside. Our insurance policy clearly states this. If we did, there is a surcharge for it. Hence, the outdoor wood burner. But that's okay as both DH and i have asthma. I also have COPD. And, of course, smoke is one of my triggers. So, if it is outside, we can live with it.
It went done to 49 degrees this morning at 6:00AM. Don't know what it is now.
GG
Hi granny....I can see why you couldn't have one inside. I don't know if your double wide is older or newer and if they are being built any better than they use to be, but they used to catch on fire and go up in no time flat. With you and your DH having asthma, I'm glad you could find a solution to work for you!
Christy
was upposed to get hot, was gonna hang two loads out on the line. had company right as the clouds started rolling in, left one load on the front proch... well, while she was here, we got a little rain, that was nice, then
BAM! hail from NOWHERE, got huge fast! so i put an empty trree pot on my head andmoved her vehicle [she didn't know where the carport was LOL]
i got soaked a little while ago. it startted raining while i was cleaning up under the apricot tree... little apricots the hail knocked down... spent some time fidning hens that ended up in the wrong pens and moving them. hey when you are running for cover, you don't always pay attention or care where you end up!
then got soaked a little more covering the Coop DVille. they were already wet with a cold wet ground, couldn't stand for them to get more wet tonight... DH is getting a little behind in that particular thing. it looks nice, but it ain't done yet LOL...
so in i come to put on dry clothes and scrub up to milk the goat. then i sit on the stool, and get a soaking again, only on my underside!
it was so wet, my one 55 gallong rain barrel is FULL! and the poor setting duck got the runover, so i took her some wood chips...
i hope it dries out tomorrow, at least i got the double soaked laundry back into the house!
Hi 87 F
Lo 63 F The rain and thunderstorm chances continue through today as yet another disturbance will pass thorough this afternoon and evening. Daytime highs will top out in the 80s and 90s across the Panhandles with breezy southeast winds at 10-20 mph. Some thunderstorms could become severe this evening with hail and high winds being the main concern.
Currently in Amarillo
66F (Feels like 64F) Sunrise: 06:33
Sunset: 21:04
Humidity: 68%
Visibility: 10.0 m
Partly Cloudy
Wind: E24gusting to 31 mph
Barometer: 30.07
We just had hail here too. Rain of course. Just about everyday now for the last two weeks. Causes real problems hybridizing the plants.
MollyD
Hot--somewhere well into the hundred teens for the last week--ugh! Still hot late at night most nights. I have misters on most of the birds most of the day. And now of course, I have lots of ladies who want to go broody. Grrr--IT"S TOO HOT, but will they listen? No.
Swamp/evap coolers and misters work fantastic in dry climates, not so well in humid conditions. BTW, June is always our hottest month.
Suze, melting
melting with you...
Yesterday here was very warm and muggy. 92 degrees and 92% humidity....ugggg. I don't know about anyone else, but I am sooo sick of the rain! For 2 nights in a row we got horrible thunderstorms.....high winds, lots of thunder boomers, cold rain. This morning it was cold so cold that I am now wearing sweatpants. Today it is rainy, nasty, and gray out at 64 degrees.
The cold rain has blown in so hard here the past couple of nights that the little chicks and turkey poults in our outside pen got wet, so DH and I were out in the rain getting them cozied up in the middle of the night. They are all doing ok now....all warmed up and dry with a very warm set of heat lamps.
Guess I'm beating the heat today......now how do I beat the rain? (sigh)
Christy
Oh Christy, stay dry hun. We had that last year I think they said we had 60+ straight days with rain somewhere here in Oklahoma last summer. We were looking for an Ark to float off in. Then in December we had a bad ice storm that we were with out power for 7 days. Mom, sis and I dragging my mama dog and 2 week old puppies to a motel. Oh that was fun. We have a generator now so if that happens again we will be parked in the great room at my moms. What a weird year 2007 was.
They say we might get rain friday and sat. Dang it saturday I want hubby to build my coop. Oh well may have to wait till sunday. We could use a drop or two of it.
I totally feel for all the people that are either getting flood out or wild fires. Gosh just make you look at that pantry a lil closer and ask, will I be prepared.
thowing in a pic of mama dog and her new puppies, once they start eating food she is going to the vet. I am done with puppies.
ohL2G, how sweet!