We love Goats
Goats are fairly low maintenance but will give you meat, milk and therefore cheese and also provide entertainment. We will describe below how we created their housing, feeding and grazing and describe some of the problems that may occur.
Be aware that goats need some kind of entertainment, We don't mean that you need to hire a magician or a comedian a couple of times a week although it would be good, no, we mean that they need something to jump on, trampolines are bad but other stuff will do.
If they are happy then we are pretty sure that you will be as well, as always, make sure your animals are happy, have food, a great place to sleep, fresh water and access to the internet, they love to surf porn(not really).
Be aware that goats need some kind of entertainment, We don't mean that you need to hire a magician or a comedian a couple of times a week although it would be good, no, we mean that they need something to jump on, trampolines are bad but other stuff will do.
If they are happy then we are pretty sure that you will be as well, as always, make sure your animals are happy, have food, a great place to sleep, fresh water and access to the internet, they love to surf porn(not really).
Advice from Two Left Wellies…….do not, I repeat, do not think that your goats will arrive and everything will be hunky dory and you will be enjoying a fresh glass of milk that evening and making cheese the next day….you won’t unless you learn from our mistakes. What did we do? Well, our goats arrived, we walked them to the goat house, undid the ropes and they pissed off. Ok it was small area but we couldn’t lay a hand on them for 2 days, those buggers are quick and very agile. To catch them we had to make the area much smaller and gradually pen them before Jarvo was able to rugby tackle each one to the ground and get a rope on it. Another bit of advice, if you use a choke rope make sure that you keep a close eye on it as goats very quickly asphyxiate and drop like a stone and before you know it you are dragging them along the ground smacking their heads on rocks and knocking them unconscious…not that we ever did that of course. Anyway, for five days we had to closely restrain each one whilst milking and keep them roped in-between times. After that they became used to the routine and began to queue in order of rank to be milked. Lesson learned.
Goat Shaming
|
|
Type and General Information
We now have three types of goat, Dairy, what we think are Nigerian dwarfs but then we are numpties so we can’t be sure and also a mix between the two. The dairy goat is docile and ready for a fuss as is the mix which is her daughter, the others take years to get used to you. We have yet to attempt to milk the dwarf goats but expect to try soon as they are all pregnant so more on that later. Male babies once weaned go for meat, very much like lamb and the females for breeding although we will rotate males when available.
Housing
Our goats are the only animals we have that are still in their original house albeit with a few alterations along the way. As you see from the picture it is made of wood and incorporates a low sleeping area, a closed birthing shed with its own small area for segregation and a covered feeding area. Our goats appear to hate inclement weather so we needed somewhere for them to feed and take whatever hay they needed that was dry. Inside there are low tables arranged in an L shape as goats like to sleep off the floor. The water is also inside to reduce freezing risks. As usual with our house the roof is boarded and then covered with tin roofing sheets. If it wasn’t boarded the condensation would be dreadful. The feed trough is large enough to catch whatever falls out of the hay feeder above although this also means that the smaller ones like to sleep in it. The hay feeder is made from an old bedstead that we mounted at an angle over the trough and removed a number of the wires to enable the goats to get at the hay. Everything was fine until the birth of our latest goat, Carmen, who decided that the roof of the low sleeping area was a perfect place to play followed by leaping from the top of the hay feeder, the bitch. So we had to put in posts and fence off the roof to stop her.
|
|
|
|
Area
Let’s start with fencing. We made the tragic error of using cattle fencing which is basically formed of 15cm squares of fairly flimsy wire and about one and a half metres tall. We had one goat that would put its feet on top, bend it down and then nimbly leap over. On one occasion she jumped into the chicken area, landed on a hen and killed it so she had to go and very tasty she was, slow cooked with loads of herbs. We also found that they could wedge their heads through the fence and bow it outwards almost two thirds of a metre to reach a tasty morsel on the other side, the grass is always greener as you know. As a result we had to ensure that there were no branches within a reasonable distance that they could climb the fence and reach and then cut all the grass around the outside perimeter to remove temptation. Our fence is now a minimum of 1.5m tall, small gauge and dug down 50cm, pegged and stoned. This is for a number of reasons, firstly to protect them against predators or pests such as dogs, wolves, etc. and also there is the fact that although goats don’t dig they love to rub themselves quite brutally along a fence and will bow it outwards and pull a shallow fence out of the ground. They will climb a fence for the most trivial of reasons, to eat something you are holding even if it is at ground level and to reach the solar lights you have lovingly tied to the top of the fence for ambience and then eat them, the bastards!
When you position your entry gate to the goat area bear in mind that they will rub themselves along the entire length of your fencing so to avoid escape when they rub against a gate, position the gate in a corner to lessen the risk. In addition, ensure that your gate opens outwards so you can clear snow to get in and we have also ensured that all our gates, not just for Goats, can be opened with one hand, especially important when you have food or an armful of hay.
When you position your entry gate to the goat area bear in mind that they will rub themselves along the entire length of your fencing so to avoid escape when they rub against a gate, position the gate in a corner to lessen the risk. In addition, ensure that your gate opens outwards so you can clear snow to get in and we have also ensured that all our gates, not just for Goats, can be opened with one hand, especially important when you have food or an armful of hay.
|
|
Our goats have a lower area where the house is located along with their toys, they love to play and you should always have something for them to jump on and chase each other around.
We found that they love cable drums of different heights and particularly barrels especially when a tad unstable which gives them hours of fun as you can see in the video. Above the house area there is a paddock of about 1000 square metres for them to graze which also has some woodland for them to forage around in. This area will support probably 10 dwarf goats working on 100sqm each. |
Food and Water
|
We feed our goats a mixture of oats, barley and rabbit pellets about a cup a day each which we split between morning and afternoon feeding. Goats are creatures of habit and will let you know quite vocally if you are a few minutes late. We also supplement this feed with available goodies such as figs, apples, peppers, carrots and the tops from Brussels sprouts all of which should be chopped. In inclement weather and quite regularly during the winter we give them hay, about 30 square cms per goat per day and also throw in the occasional olive or oak branch. They love fresh leaves.
|
K will also take them out for a walk just to let them have a fill on greens. She puts a collar and rope on the queen and the rest will follow, she loves it. Goats can be incredibly fussy and will like something one day and not the next. For instance, their area is currently covered with acorns which they ignore; however, if I wonder past with a bucket of acorns for the pigs the goats with happily take them from my hand. We have found that goats are reticent about eating food that has dropped on the floor unless desperate although we should say that the dwarfs will eventually go back to it.
As you can see from the picture, the goat water is gravity fed from a jerry can into a small bowl. This bowl requires cleaning every day as they can make quite a mess of it and once it is dirty they will avoid the water. They will even shit in it, not deliberately I should point out.
An aside about hay: last year we were given the opportunity by a neighbour to have all they hay we wanted from his 2 acre field. Only problem was we had to cut it ourselves. We thought, great, why not, a bit more exercise as we don’t get enough, so off we headed in our 3-wheeler with scythe and strimmer in tow. We managed to make a small dent in the patch and it began to rain. OK home we go, back the next day, did some more and again it began to rain. After several days of this, we thought, OK, we’ll take what we have, bring it home and dry it here. Still continuing to rain, the stuff never dried, we had no real means of making bales. To make a long and tiring story short, don’t try and cut a hayfield unless you know the weather is good and you have something better than a sit-on lawnmower. Anything less does not pay.
An aside about hay: last year we were given the opportunity by a neighbour to have all they hay we wanted from his 2 acre field. Only problem was we had to cut it ourselves. We thought, great, why not, a bit more exercise as we don’t get enough, so off we headed in our 3-wheeler with scythe and strimmer in tow. We managed to make a small dent in the patch and it began to rain. OK home we go, back the next day, did some more and again it began to rain. After several days of this, we thought, OK, we’ll take what we have, bring it home and dry it here. Still continuing to rain, the stuff never dried, we had no real means of making bales. To make a long and tiring story short, don’t try and cut a hayfield unless you know the weather is good and you have something better than a sit-on lawnmower. Anything less does not pay.
|
|
|
|
Care and Maintenance
Goats are low maintenance once you have finished the required 2 years of changing all the fencing. They will graze quite happily if it isn’t raining and as long as you keep the perimeter clear of temptation you should be fine. With regards to cleaning, K sweeps out the trough each morning and evening before feeding to clear all the fallen hay and the inevitable turds. As I mentioned, I keep their water bowl clean and in common with all our animals we give them fresh water every day. However, unlike all our other animals we do not clean up their shit. Goats, unlike pigs and some humans I could mention, do not shit in the same place. They quite literally shit everywhere and we found that it breaks down beautifully and forms a warming layer in the house and doesn’t smell, no honestly, just like us their shit don’t stink. The only other thing to be aware of is the hooves. Occasionally they get overgrown and although most of them snap off you may need to do the occasional trim, God help you with that.
Breeding and Birthing
Always keep a male if you can. We have not separated ours although some say you should. We have tried with no success to “borrow” a male for an extended period but the girls just would not take to him. The other option is to take a female to a male for a period but we have not needed to do this. There is a final option which the locals here told us about which is to buy a syringe at your local pharmacy/chemist and artificially inseminate the female – no way is Jarvo sticking something up a rear-end – let alone a goat!!!
|
|
We have come to learn that when the male (Sid) is rutting he becomes quite vocal. Actually that’s putting it mildly – he has kept us awake night after night for a week when one of the girls was in heat. Part of this involves Sid sniffing the girls when they pee and raising his upper lip in a weird fashion as the smelling sense of a goat is actually inside their mouth – Jarvo video available to demonstrate. When Sid is very serious about making the event happen, he can even forego food to get their attention – much to the dismay of the girl in question. Caught in the deed (which is quite difficult as he is quite shy unlike pigs which like to do it right in front of us just to piss Jarvo off),
|
We quickly mark on the calendar 150 days when we can expect a new-born. Other clues that tell us the deed has been done is that Sid looks shagged out and stands in the corner smoking while the female has dirt all over her back end and is seriously pissed off.
|
We watch closely to see the udders developing for a first-time mother or filling on a repeat birth. The time this takes has varied greatly in our girls – one was 24 hours from udders full (and this is quite scary – they get really big!!!) to birth, another 3 weeks – we actually thought that might be a phantom pregnancy. Unlike pigs, goats do not nest – they simply moan like all mothers do and give birth, then and there. An obvious sign is that the expectant mother will become quite agitated and vocal and squat a lot as though peeing. She will then select a place to lie down and give birth, hopefully in the house. The other goats react differently. Most will ignore her but some will head butt her, especially the male.
|
|
We find it best to either separate the mother or the male depending on what's easier at the time. Now that we have our birthing area, we plan to separate an imminently due mother to that area so that she can birth in peace and have 48 hours on her own with her kid(s). This area has a separate feeder, hay feeder and water as well as a warm clean environment for her to give birth.
Milking
When we got our first goats, they were milking mothers – separated from their kids this did make it easier. We have separated the kid from the mother overnight to milk the mother in the morning. Obviously you cannot do this until the kid is eating solids at least some of the time. Very difficult – the kid bleated and bleated as did the mother. We were able to milk a mother who had given birth here and the kid was in bleating distance, but she in fact held back milk for the kid. This time we intend to separate the mother from the kid hoping that it will be at least a bit quieter and hopefully we will get more milk. Our milking shed is part of the birthing area so when the time comes we will leave mom in there overnight and milk in the morning and then put everyone together for the day and then separate again in the evening.
|
|
For the large goats we do not use a stand of any kind. K gets on her knees and puts the bucket under the udders and away she goes hoping the goat does not shit while she is doing this or kick over the milking bucket. We keep a tray of grain available during the milking to keep her occupied and calm. The locals have shown us that this is not necessary – if you get it right they will go into an almost trance and not need anything but you taking the milk correctly. As numpties, we have not mastered that very well yet. We plan to use a milking stand of sorts for the dwarf goats – will let you know how this goes when it comes – probably in 2016 sometime.
|
And of course, more about the cheese we make from goat’s milk in the food section. Check it out.
Problems
Sorry to repeat but get your fencing and perimeter right and most of your worries are gone. Ensure the feeding area is dry and the water clean. Do not, I repeat do not let them escape as they will wreak havoc on your crops, trees and flowers.
Bonuses
Goats are fun to watch and be around. They are the least productive of our animals in terms of bang for buck but we tend to ignore that, we are softies really. Milk is great when you have it and the meat from the young ones is beautiful. You will not achieve self-sufficiency from goats alone and you will find that you have long periods without return but if you like goats like we do you will put up with that. It is also possible to transport a goat in the back of a Fiat Panda as you can see. This one was in the car for hours as we had to make a supermarket stop and didn't even shit. The other lovely thing is that you can wake up one morning and find a brand new baby kid in the goat house.
|
|