22/01/2015
Things You Should
Know About Dairy Goats Before You
Start a Goat Farm
1. Goats in general are very social, curious, gentle,
independent and intelligent creatures. They get
bored and lonely when alone. It is never a good idea
to just have one goat, you need at a minimum two
goats. Two does or a doe and a wether (a neutered
male goat) or a buck and a doe, if you are ready to
start a little herd. They huddle and cuddle, they eat
and they sleep together, and no, a human, even
though much loved, cannot substitute as a
companion. A lonely goat will climb on cars, get into
your garden, and sit on your porch or escape. A
lonely goat will be a noisy goat, because they will
call for a companion.
2. Baby goats are kids. Males are bucks, females
are does. Neutered males are wethers.
3. Goats can climb, jump, crawl and run over or
under anything they want to. If they stay in their
pasture, it is because they want to be there. You
need to have good fencing before you get a goat or
two.
4. Goats hate to get wet and will stay out of or jump
over any puddles. Goats do not do well in wet,
swampy areas. You need to provide them with
ample dry shelter and dry paddocks or pasture
before you bring goats onto your farm.
5. Each goat has her own distinct personality and
some personality traits seem to be more common
in one breed than in another. We have found that
our Nubian Goats are the divas of the bunch. They
are very loving and loyal and incredibly demanding.
If a Nubian goat does not want to go on a milking
stand, then there is no way of making her, short of
picking her up. No small feat at an average of 200
pounds, and she will remember this “humiliation”
and get even at some point. Our LaManchas are
sweet and hardworking and easy to train. Our
Saanens are the clowns of the dairy and always
ready for mischief. Do your research before you
buy a goat to see which temperament will suit your
personality.
6. Dairy Goats love routine and get upset when the
routine changes. Keep that in mind when you
rearrange the milking stands to be more efficient.
The goats will not like it. Three weeks later, you will
change everything back.
7. Goats browse like deer. They will prefer bushes,
trees and hay over grass. Goats are not
lawnmowers and they will eat your rose bushes.
They are ruminants, they have four stomach
compartments and regurgitate. They will eat, chew
their cud (the green stuff that comes up
regurgitating their food) and repeat that process all
day long. A hungry goat will eat things it is not
supposed to eat and you will have trouble. By the
way, anything the goat eats, will impart a unique
flavor on the milk. Hence all the regional flavors of
cheese in Europe where the dairy goats live on
pastures and eat wild vegetation of the region. You
may want to ease up on feeding garlic.
8. Goats are very clean eaters, they do not eat tin
cans and do not like to eat any food that has been
soiled, contaminated or has been on the ground.
Goats also eat a lot, so plan for a sufficient budget
to feed them before you bring them onto your farm.
9. Goats only have a lower set of teeth in the front
of the mouth with which they love to nibble, and a
set of razor sharp teeth both on the top and bottom
in the back of the mouth with which they can break
tree limbs and your finger if it gets in the way.
10. Goats are curious, they will nibble on everything
including your hair and poisonous plants. They will
pull and tug and chew on everything that moves,
including gate latches. Goats are smarter than
dogs. Do not let them watch you open a feed can or
open a gate latch. You will regret it, because they
will practice it behind your back. They will stick
their head through a fence to try or see something
on the other side of the fence or just to watch you
walk up. This curiosity gets them into trouble
almost daily and they do not have nine lives like a
cat.
11. Dairy goats, or any goat, for that matter, will not
move away from pressure, they move into it. A
good fact to keep in mind when you want to move a
goat. Goats can be trained to walk on a leash. Show
goats do it and we are practicing it right now with
some of our goats.
12. Goats have a very distinct herd hierarchy, a
pecking order. They pick on lesser goats, especially
if they are new to the herd. Goats will ram and head
butt each other. When you introduce a new goat
into a herd, if you can, always introduce two
together so they have a buddy. Keep goats of the
same size together, exception when they are still
with their mom, so that the smaller goats don’t get
hurt.
13. Goats can hear very well. If they like you and
trust you, they will respond to your voice and come
when called. They will also call out to you when
they see you. But you will have to earn their love
and trust.
14. Bucks are stinky and sticky about 6 months out
of the year. Keep that in mind before you buy a
buck. You cannot pasture them with the milking
goats, because their smell will make the milk taste
bad.
15. Dairy goats need to be milked at least once a
day, seven days a week, rain or shine, cold or hot,
until they dry off. You cannot go on vacation and
leave them un-milked. They will be in pain and they
will develop mastitis. Plan on you staying home or
finding a knowledgeable farm sitter before you
bring goats onto your farm if you want to continue
to have a life off the farm.
16. Goats can get sick very easy and they die very
fast. That is the nature of an animal who can breed
young (at 3 months of age, although not
recommended) and has multiple kids in a birth.
Goats need to be watched and treated early and
fast if something is amiss. You need to plan on
learning what is normal in your goats, what is not
normal and have emergency medications on hand.
Two hours difference in giving a medication may
mean the difference between life and death. Forge a
great relationship with your vet. Finance college for
his or her kids. Be conscientious and on time with
worming and vaccinations.
17. Goats need to be disbudded, especially as dairy
goats or if you want to show. This needs to be done
at a very young age. This is a very unpleasant task,
both for you and the goat. Plan on having a very
experienced goat person do this for you (plan for
reimbursement of expenses or at least a very good
bottle of wine as a thank you), plan to be trained by
your vet, or plan to take the goat to the vet to have
this done.
18. If you want to drink your milk and eat your
cheese, plan on spending money to buy stainless
steel pails, a milking bench, buckets and create as
sanitary an environment as you can, be it in your
garage or porch or in a milking parlor. You cannot
be too careful with dairy products, but they are
worth it.
19. Check your zoning regulations if you are not
living on a farm out in the country. You may not be
allowed to have goats. Better research up front than
lose your heart and have to get rid of the goats
later.
