THE Goat Thread (merged)

[oxj]

My goat cost $15. Being vegetarians, we can feed him table scraps instead of grain, he particularly likes banana peels, bread, rice, and squash, and dislikes tomatoes. He mows our yard for us, which is a benefit because I never have to mow, just move him around among the various stakes we have.

He does dig up the yard a bit and likes to eat lilacs and other ornamentals.

If it were warm year-round, I'd never have to pay anything for him except for the water and the occasional worming treat.

He has turned out to be a better companion than the dog we used to own. We even take him for walks.

On the other side, he makes little fibre. It's hardly worth it to shear him but I do it in the spring because he sheds so badly anyway.

Personally, I'd buy some pregnant Shetland sheep if you want fibre. Get pregnant ones because the offspring are much more docile towards you than the parents would be. Their wool's worth an aweful lot of money, some $30-$100 per pound, they are light and easy to shear and make wonderful wool that is a joy to spin. Keeping sheep is also quite cheap. Our Shetlands cost about $80 last year. Avoid extra genetic tricks like "the valuable white sock Shetlands." Whatever. You won't use that wool, anyway, and they're really not so valuable.

What you will spend money on is fencing, unless you picket them like we do.

But the thing to remember is that when you are paying $300 for a blanket, the money is going to the tools- to the shears, the wheel and the loom, and to the labor, not to the cost of raising and keeping the animal.

[Pops]

[quote="oxjBut the thing to remember is that when you are paying $300 for a blanket, the money is going to the tools- to the shears, the wheel and the loom, and to the labor, not to the cost of raising and keeping the animal.[/quote]
Personally I don't think we'll run out of "store bought" textiles any time soon - I hate to think about wearing "homespun" clothing!
I agree with ox, if you think this is a viable sideline, if it's the best use or a good companion to your land or if it just sounds interesting then go for it!

[DomusAlbion]

Goats are cute, curious and smart but they're very destructive. They'll ruin your garden in an afternoon and kill your trees.

Get some nice docile sheep. The only thing to worry about with sheep is the new and strange ways they end up killing themselves. They're not too bright.

[biofuel13]

Is it worth it to raise goats for the fiber?

Probably not, but they are high in protein. For fiber I'd suggest oats.

[mos6507]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned fertilizer. A goat certainly makes fertilizer faster than my worm or compost bin ever could.

[alokin]

oxj,if you move your goat in your yard,this must be a decent sized one - how big?

[EcoLayla]

Oh, I'd love to have sheep and goats!!

I researched a bit already, for where I live, your best bet is probably to go to a forum where goat keepers hang out (sorry don't know one in English language) and ask the breeders/farmers, ideally some that live near your area..

So far I've learnt yup, goats can wreak havoc of your trees and garden, they can injure one another (there are ways to prevent/minimize this), and different sorts are better in milk or meat production and some have better manners too!

It depends what kind of land you have - so far I read sheep may prefer grass and goats may prefer shrubbery.

Here in Slovenia even sheep wool is not highly priced currently, some farmers even bury or burn it due to low prices.. Sheep and goats are mostly kept to 'clean' steep terraine and such.. Some for milk or meat.. Haven't heard of goats being kept for fibre yet except online (briefly) and that's depending on the sort.

Costs - yup, fencing, worming, maybe vitamins/minerals.. Food - depends on how much land you have and how much can be homegrown.

Then again, also depends on what you had in mind - how many goats you'd have, would you do some brand awareness marketing, etc.? Would you sell these as luxury objects to trend-aware people who can afford it?

[kuidaskassikaeb]

Quick question for you all.

I want to buy some kind of heater to keep ice off the water bucket. Is there a photovoltaic and resistance heater combination you could reccommend.

[kuidaskassikaeb]

Okay no replies. My wife looked into it also and couldn't find anything that anybody liked. I have some ideas and if what I build works will post it.

[kuidaskassikaeb]

I did go and build the solar stock bucket. It was a 5 gallon black bucket. I placed it in a wooden frame and bought 2 used car windows. The car windows were placed in the frame with polyuethane foam (great stuff) and the frame was insulated using foam insulation and great stuff. The idea seems to work as in the water won't freeze all day, but will at night. The temps here are often below zero at night. So the bucket only needs to be refilled once a day, which you would do anyway. I did make the mistake of assuming that cold days would be sunny, not so, but the insultation alone seems to do most of the work. The whole thing cost about $75.00 cause I payed way too much for the car windows.

Anyway my next question is does anybody here know how to tan hides. We slaughtered the lambs and have some skins. They have been salted, but nobody knows what to do next.

[careinke]

Anyway my next question is does anybody here know how to tan hides. We slaughtered the lambs and have some skins. They have been salted, but nobody knows what to do next.

http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+tan+hides&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=&oe=

[wisconsin_cur]

We fenced the front yard this year as well as some shrub land we wanted the goats to clear. We also added some Icelandic Sheep to the mix.

So far they haven't killed themselves; though one did try.

The sheep are for meat; the goats are for milk. Wool goes to the garden as mulch.

So far we have never had a problem selling the female offspring and putting the males in the freezer.