Dairy Goat Keepers General - Discuss the care and keeping of goats, updates about your herd, etc.

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Baguette Child

Baguette Child

so tender and mild
True & Honest Fan
kiwifarms.net
Joined
Mar 21, 2020

Dairy Goat Keeper General​


Can we have a dairy goat general thread? Dairy comes with a number of considerations distinct from general livestock that I feel might warrant a discussion thread separate from the general livestock one. If the mods don't agree with this decision, of course, I understand. I don't want to spam up the forum.

I also know there's at least a handful of other people on here I've talked to who keep dairy herds. Keeping a dairy herd provides a simple and efficient source of dietary diversity beyond simply being meat animals for minimal investment; A crucial consideration when discussing long term sufficiency planning.

Please share your advice, experiences, hard learned lessons, and updates about your own herd here. You can also facedox your best goats if you want.

I've found the following three books helpful over the past year and a half or so I've had my goats. You might find them helpful too.



Books for Goat Newfags:​


Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats, 5th Edition
- General knowledge base for anyone engaging in the craft.

The Dairy Goat Handbook
- The management section is a good reference and breaks down regular tasks month by month to help ease newcomers into proper goat care. Also has good healthcare information.

Dairy Goat Reproduction
- What it says on the tin. how make babby. Has good information on the birth process, constructing a kidding stall, and milking.

Anyone with additional resources they'd recommend to newfags please let me know so I can add them here! I'll update the post to add anything useful.
 
Cirrhosis_of_Liver said:
I'm a meat goat producer. I'd like to widen up to also producing for-family levels of dairy.
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If you're already raising meat goat, it's a smart move to make. You're probably already mostly accustomed to the bulk of the labor required in terms of rearing, it shouldn't be rough for you guys to pick up the dairy related skills on top of that.

I actually wish we had started with meat; My immediate neighbors, who've been a really good resource while we've been learning, do meat and dairy both. The overlap in skills and resources needed make it a really natural extension of your self sufficiency. We're planning to expand and do meat next year now that we're seeing a higher level of production from our existing dairy herd.
 
I was just talking to my wife, and she reminded me we already do testing for the genes related to higher casein in milk. I have nothing to back it up but my own observations, but we think it makes for faster-growing kids.

I am not sure how to make it all work together.1 Do you breed year round? Or do you keep milking goats long after weaning? We have a pretty simple cycle of breeding in summer to get all the kids born before freezing temps in winter, which also plays into having good sized bucklings for Easter.

Does goat milk freeze and thaw ok? We freeze colostrum for cold kids, but they never fill out comment cards. If I could do a production cycle of producing a lot of milk, pasteurizing it, and freezing it, and come out with a still.good product, that could definitely work.
 
Cirrhosis_of_Liver said:
Do you breed year round? Or do you keep milking goats long after weaning?
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So I'm not sure how much it varies on breed; My husband and I have French Alpines. Our property is way out in the southern half of the Appalachians so they're pretty happy up here on the ridge. Breeding is seasonal; Late summer has been our window. Production continued for us about 9 months or so past that, followed by 3 months "dry" bare minimum for them to appropriately recover.

Winters here are surprisingly not shitty so we haven't had any issues with the kids being too small before the chill, this may be a consideration for you if your climate tends more severe.
Cirrhosis_of_Liver said:
Does goat milk freeze and thaw ok?
Click to expand...
We've frozen a significant portion of our yield, since two folks can't drink the whole amount we don't sell, and it seems to do alright. There's a minimal (yet noticeable) loss of flavor, but it's perfectly enjoyable/nutritious. Husband says he can't even tell the difference so maybe it's just me even.
 
Sorry to doublepost, but I did want to make a followup to this post in the "How are you doing?" thread I made awhile back. It's worth highlighting just how important properly trained, correct species dogs can be when it comes to protecting your livestock from predators.

Coyote made another run on the goat enclosure two nights ago. This time we weren't late. Our dogs are Australian Cattle Dogs, and they're fast motherfuckers. But I've never once seen them move like they did that night. It was insane. Pretty sure they were as pissed off by the results last time as we were.

By the time I got in and put the fucker down, there wasn't much left to do. Our top dog cornered the coyote and tore it to fucking shreds. I'm convinced she regards those goats as HER goats and took the loss of one as a blow to her professional pride.

We made sure the whole pack feasted good at the house afterwards. Top dog insisted on inspecting the herd and then hung out in the enclosure for the rest of the night. No one had what I would regard as serious injuries but I did take top dog and one other to the vet the next morning as a precaution since they got the worst of it.

I don't relish animal suffering. But there was something uniquely primal and exhilarating about me and the dogs slaying a blood enemy together. I'm also feeling a lot more confident now that I've seen my new fencing layout actually deter the bastards long enough to keep from losing a goat.
 
I love goats so much. I haven’t been able to run livestock yet, we’ve been focused on our day jobs. So I support my neighbour by buying her eggs, pork and goat milk, and she doesn’t mind if my little one and I come visit her herd.

She has been expanding her dairy herd by buying them a few at a time from a lovely euro couple who built theirs up over 40 years and are getting too old to run animals anymore, so she only taking more on as her skills increase. It seems to be working well for her.

And I get to make cheese, which is so fun.
 
Things Once Remembered said:
I'm here to say that I'm glad you goat minded kiwis exist, I'm buying some property soon and goats have long been on my list for self sufficiency.
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Can't recommend them highly enough. They're versatile animals and (relatively) simple to manage and care for. Anyone interested in creating a stable supply of food resources on their own land should at least consider looking into them.

Plus, being honest about it, they bring me a lot of joy. They're always happy to see me when I wake up or get home, and it's fun to sit on the deck and watch them when I'm relaxing.
 
Pls pray for my goats.

We live in the rural south. In the middle of nowhere.

County is trying to rezone our hillside because of shitty fucking pipeline. They're trying to push through some bullshit that would limit "possession of livestock" on our property and others in our immediate area.

I will 100% commit a fedpost if they try to take my goats. They may be stinky and obnoxious beasts but they are my stinky and obnoxious beasts and I do not intend to surrender them.
 
I made a new account specifically to talk dairy and give ruminant and small-scale farming advice in this segment of the forum. Really hoping to see more people getting interested in homestead-scale dairy; it's both easier and harder than people envision and it really benefits from mentorship. It's a great thing to teach your kids and for a lot of people it also become a passion in life. I ultrasounded our dairy herd just last night for pregnancy confirmations, SO COOL.
 
Keeping dairy goats has been a goal of mine for many years now. Trying to save enough money to actually buy a place where I can keep said goats is the biggest hurdle though. The dream lives on...
 
Zeb Macahan said:
Keeping dairy goats has been a goal of mine for many years now. Trying to save enough money to actually buy a place where I can keep said goats is the biggest hurdle though. The dream lives on...
Click to expand...
It's a lot of work, but extremely rewarding. Maybe the greatest step I've taken to selfsufficiency.
 
If anyone has a small piece of land, a passion for learning and a little bit of time on your hands, you CAN keep dairy goats. There is a big learning curve because goats are challenging and cow vets know fuckall about them (and they care even less) but goats have an amazing and admirable ability to take brush and overgrowth from the most marginal land and convert it into the best milk. Lower allergens than cow milk, naturally homogenized and creamy, and easy to turn into cheese.

If you don't have any predators in your area, all you need is fencing and a three-sided shelter. If you have predators you need a shelter with a door or you need a livestock guardian dog (or a llama). The hardest part is finding a hay supplier for the winter months because most guys who sell hay are troublesome to deal with and don't text (possibly because they only have 6 1/2 fingers).
 
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