When people buy their first goats, they often have a lot of questions about the process. After all, you don't just go into the local pet store and buy a couple of goats every day. Should you put down a deposit? Most experienced breeders require a deposit because unfortunately, there are some flakey people in the world who change their mind and don't bother to let the seller … [Read more...]

Last week, we talked about how many does you need to start your herd. But if you want milk or meat, those does will have to get pregnant, which means you need a buck -- or at least his semen. What are the pros and cons of having a buck or two -- or zero? The question of bucks Some people don't want to have a buck at all. They've heard that they're stinky and mean. While I … [Read more...]

Baby goats are so cute, you could easily get carried away and buy a lot, but that's probably not the best strategy. The number of goats you get depends on how much milk or meat you want. Since goats are herd animals, you can't have just one. That means the minimum is two does so they have company. But if you want to produce milk or meat, the does have to get pregnant, so you'll … [Read more...]

You're sold on the benefits of rotational grazing, but you're not quite sure exactly how to do it. You can't create a door from your barn directly into each pasture, so how do you get your goats (or sheep) to the area where you want them to graze? We rotate our does all over our property, and sometimes that means walking down our driveway to the area that we have fenced in with … [Read more...]

Even though I strongly believe that goat kids should be raised by mom, there are times when that simply is not possible. A doe may have more kids than she can feed. A kid may be born too small or weak to be able to nurse. And on rare occasion, a doe may reject one or more kids. So, if you find yourself with a bottle baby, what do you do? What do you feed? Goat milk is best, … [Read more...]