Are you wanting goats for pets? For weed eating? For fiber? For market/meat? For dairy?

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Pets?  Great! Goats make great pets. I suggest wethers because you don't have to worry about milking, breeding, smelling them, or hormones. Keep in mind that whatever your breeding goals are, that goats are herd animals and you will need to have at least two. Two wethers, two does, a wether and a doe, etc. At least two is the important thing.

Some articles on why it is highly recommended to have at least two: 

21 Things to Know Before Starting a Goat Farm | MOTHER EARTH NEWS,

Can You Have Just One Goat? - Farmhouse Guide

Thinking of Getting Goats? (thriftyhomesteader.com)

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For weed eating?  Great! But it depends on what you have growing. Contrary to popular belief, goats have a very complex diet and do not eat just anything and everything. Goats are foragers and browsers, not grazers. Want grazers? Get sheep. Want browsers? Get goats. My dairy goats are SO picky compared to our old meat goats. We will get more into what to feed your goat later. In our brief season of raising meats we noticed that our Kiko goats were the best for weed control, even compared to our Boer goats. 

 

For fiber? You're in the wrong goat group and I have no fiber goat connections.

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For market or meat? Wrong group again, but I could probably suggest a few farms to check out. I am planning on culling (butchering and eating) our Nigerian Dwarf goats this coming year that don't make the cut. 

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For dairy? PERFECT! Welcome to the right group! Now, even in each subdivision of goats, I am certain that people have different herd goals for what they want. For example, I would break Dairy down into a few more groups:

 

Pet breeders: those breeding without showing or participating in any milk tests or linear appraisal and have no herd goals in place. Now they might be breeding so that they could provide milk and milk by-products for their family and that's great! I would encourage them to look into the milk testing still though because if they're already milking once or twice a day, it's actually pretty easy to get on a test plan that fits with their schedule and then they can see on paper the results of their hard work and the goat gets credit earned for all their hard work! Linear Appraisal (LA) is another program I would encourage breeders to participate in because it allows the breeder to make better informed decisions on which buck to breed with. LA is also just a one day event so also very easy to do.

 

We need to stop breeding for "cute kids with blue eyes and moonspots." This is poor breeding practice and the market is flooded with less than quality goats right now due to "cuteness." All kids are cute and we all need to be breeding for goats that are bettering the breed, period.

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Show breeders: Those who are breeding for a specific type in mind that would allow their goat to place well in a class compared to other goat participants. I love this and I encourage it! I think it's great for children (or adults) to compete and see how their animals measure up to others. You get to meet new people and learn new things and go new places. You get to learn how to better market your herd. The only drawbacks to showing are that you are only getting judged and placing against those who are also attending the same show as you and you are also subjecting your goat and herd to potential biosecurity hazards. Note: I have no personal experience with showing goats.

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I would encourage a show breeder to also participate in LA because it's like a show but it grades or judges your goat as a whole and not against just who shows up. If you attended a show that only had three goats all together and your goat placed first, that's good, but how does it compare to the actual breed standards? It could have placed first but the other goats might not have been tough competition to begin with. LA will offer you an actual visual to what your goat lacks in and what your goat is stellar in and will give you a better idea on which direction to head with your herd.

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Milk production: This is me. I am breeding for high milk production because that is what is important to me and my homestead. We use our milk to drink, make cheeses and soaps and supplement any other animal projects we have going on. There is a huge difference in a goat that gives a pint a day, a quart a day, a half gallon a day vs a gallon a day. If I could milk fewer goats and get more milk from them vs milking lots and getting the same amount from the few, I would for sure prefer to milk fewer as it saves me time and allows me to do other things. It costs the same amount to feed a great producing goat as a not great producing goat.

 

Now, not everybody needs a high-producing goat because a person could easily become overwhelmed with getting a half or a whole gallon of milk per day, even with making cheese and drinking it. This is where milk testing comes in. By putting does on test you can see trends in different lines and throughout the lactation and then pick what is best for you and your herd goals. Getting on milk test can seem overwhelming when just getting started but there are a few Facebook groups and Youtube videos that can walk you through each step of the way. 

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Steps for DHIA

https://ADGA.org/steps-for-ADGA-DHIR/

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Information on Linear Appraisal - American Dairy Goat Association - ADGA

https://adga.org/performance-programs/linear-appraisal/

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Next, let's quickly go over the different dairy goat breeds recognized by ADGA.

Click here for BREEDS OF DAIRY GOATS

Click here to go back to Goat Group Home Page.