Calling all members with Goats :)

[Gen120]

Who here on AA has goats? I know Quakingcanopy has them, and a few other members but who else? Our neighbors have goats and we take care of them when they go on vacation etc, and we've known the goats from the very first day they got them, etc. They have 2 goats and I can't remember what kind they are (they are milking ones, dwarf somethings). We've helped the neighbors trim the goats hooves today and a time or 2 before as well. Tomorrow evening is a goat barn (where goat breeders sell their stock) that is apparently 1x a month here but we just found out about it a few days ago. So, we are going as a family tomorrow evening to learn more info, get advice, etc, basically just to learn more so when we do get goats we know as much as we possibly can. We have been researching about different breeds, the best kind of fencing, diet information, poisonous/safe plants, different health issues, so basically we've been researching out the wahooee (is that even an actual word!? LOL).

Also, my mom wanted to know if anyone had any recommendations for goat Yahoo Groups to join? Any advice is welcome.
Thanks in advance Victoria

 

[GG.]

V, we have talked about your neighbors goats - I want to think they are Nigerian Dwarf goats


Girlie is an African Pygmy Goat

 

[Gen120]

V, we have talked about your neighbors goats - I want to think they are Nigerian Dwarf goats


Girlie is an African Pygmy Goat

yes, that's what they are.. thanks Gg. I know we've talked about them- I just want advice about them and want to know if anyone knows any good yahoo groups for my mom to join

 

[GG.]

Surely someone will know - since we only have the one, I am not much help

 

[quakingcanopy]

Well, you got the Nigerian Dwarf goats thing down. Those are what I have too They are excellent for a family supply especially if there are kids learning to handle them and milk.

I don't know of any yahoo groups really, the ones I belong too mostly talk about genetics, showing, milk production on a competition level, etc. Not really helpful BUT there is a forum I really really like called Thegoatspot.net. Hopefully it's okay with admins that I share the link. I am quakingcanopy on there as well and I know several users personally. LOADS of information, a good place to start.

 

[GG.]

Thanks for the link Amanda, and yes, it is perfectly fine to share it!

 

[Gen120]

Thank you for the advice! I've relayed it all to my mom already-

 

[Gen120]

Google searched that forum and joined- . Screen name is Gen120 as it is on here.

 

[TITANIS]

Don't own any goats but wanted to say I have fond memories of the goats on my grandfather's farm. Always found them fascinating creatures.

 

[looniebirds]

I can milk a goat. Really.

 

[love4birds]

I have two goats! They are the cutest of all goats and I love them

Opie is just a "goat". The people we got him from didn't know what kind he was. We think he's a French Alpine crossed with something else. Tavi is a Saanen/Nubian/Toggenburg/??. I forget the last type that's he's got in him, I have it written down... somewhere. They are awesome.

We used to have pygmy goats once upon a time but ended up rehoming them when hay prices went sky high.

 

[Cydney]

I've never had goats but I worked on a farm with 70+ goats. Main points I remember? The rams STUNK, the kids were ADORABLE, and they had a ton of personality. I can't say I know how to milk a goat, but I got pretty good at trimming feet.

 

[chompie_puppy]

The only thing I've ever had to do with goats is collect their poop to check for parasites. Fun.

But.... one day I would LOVE to own a couple of goats! They are so cute!

 

[Gen120]

LOL Kelsey- Thanks for the advice you guys-

We are getting 2 females- I'll update about what we learned once we get back from the goat farm later tonight.

 

[LovieLuvr]

I have a few goats, I forget what kind they are because someone gave them to us because they didn't want them anymore. Funny thing was that the mom was pregnant with twins and she couldn't produce milk! So they all had to be handfed and they are the funniest goats ever.

 

[mjones]

We do not have goats but my MIL raises them. she has Boer goats. They are meat goats. Lately she has sold a lot ot kiddos in 4H. They are pretty cute goats. They have long floppy ears. I love the fainting goats. Just hilarious and they stay smaller. It looks like we will be getting a goat from my MIL though that my daughter can raise and show in our local 4H. So we better get to learning too!

 

[Gen120]

awesome Melody, that should be fun! Christina, I'd love to hear more about your goats and see pictures of them if possible. We decided not to go to the goat barn yet so we are going to go next month, they have the goat barn thing every month and we need to learn more about them before we go and try to think of as many questions as possible too.

 

[Cape Cod Bird Man]

Oh Man. It's been too long since I visited here. But we now have 4 goats. Our 1st 2; Male (Ben) is 75% Pygmy, 25% Dwarf and Female (Olivia) is 50-50 Pygmy/Dwarf. We got them last year in August when they were 4 & 5 months old.
We just today got 2 baby dwarf goats, just 4 weeks old, still being bottle fed, twice a day. Both are males and all of our males have been "fixed".

 

[bubblelady]

I've never had a goat but I used to drive past a field once a week that had a goat. I would always stop, roll down the window, & have a little "conversation" with him. Used to wonder what people would think if anyone saw me I also made a weekly visit to a family that had one goat who really thought he should be a house goat Was always trying to get in. Came out of the house one day & he was standing on the roof of my car Cute little fellow, even if he was into everything