Looking For A Couple Of Goats

[thongdee]

Living in surin , to much grass to take care ... so I was looking for a couple of goats (for milk not for meat) anybody ?

[bina]

search this forum with the word goat or milk goat.... hae been discussions galore, but if u seriously think that goats can live on just grass, u are wrong. goats are foragers not grazers, they need rouphage (spelling?!) , decent amounts of food, and will not 'just eat anything'... and for milk u will need a male or access to a male (buck) to get the nanny preggers to have a kid so u can have the milk, and to milk once or twice daily for the next 3-8 months....

might just be easier to mow the lawn or get a buffalo/brahmin cow : more fits the climate anyhow.

bina

israel

[captbob]

Have a chek aroud Lopburi some farm there

[slapout]

TV member watersedge has a herd of weed eaters which he will probably sell on the hoof or butchered depending on your needs. Send him a pm after checking if location of both of you are conducive to a business deal.

[PoorSucker]

Send PM to Goatfarmer

Check out his website.

http://www.asiagoat.com/

Edited September 27, 2009 by PoorSucker

[WatersEdge]

Slapout is correct,

I have 20 young Alpine males I'd like to sell from a total herd of 75

B60 / kg live weight, cash and carry, led on a rope leash.

or if you are hungry right away, my men will be happy to box and ice it for you.

I'm in Mae Sot, Tak Province, right on the Burma border.

and you see in the other thread that GoatFarmer has young Anglo Nubian males for sale

He is in Pattaya

I bought his goats...fine majestic beasts accustomed from birth to human attention,

total personality

Bina is very correct...goats aren't easy to keep

If your goal is to milk them, then of course you need females from GoatFarmer.

Alpines are not milkers although they are much more vigorous foragers.

If you want to raise the little ones for milking as well,

then you'll need one buck from GoatFarmer,

three unrelated bucks for successive generations to keep the genes strong

I mention my Alpine males for the benefit of other readers.

If your goal is to just knock down the bramble,

then males work about as well,

and you can sell them to someone else.

These 75 animals keep a 400 meter long stretch of riverbank wilderness clean and trim.

and of course we feed them from the field as well.

One goat is no good...the loneliness will kill him.

They are 100% social creatures...they must have company.

Goats require serious fence...barbed wire will not hold them.

I put 2 meters of shadecloth on the barbed wire,

one meter does not hold them.

I understand that one strand electric fence is effective...I just have not used it.

They require dry open wall airy sleeping quarters,

an elevated wooden platform is best

with wide cracks for manure to fall through

not wide enough for goat feet to fall through

preferably with a camp fire to gather around on the dirt floor.

I expect they tell stories and jokes around the camp fire after humans leave them alone.

The babies get so close to the fire you'd think they'd be burned.

so it's important to replace the dirt and ash from the fire,

after the goats eat it for the minerals

I have lost babies in the fire when adults jostle them,

and they fall down into the fire pit.

The fire needs to be above ground level

so little ones cannot fall down into it.

In the rainy season, they require antibiotic injection for cough that leads to pneumonia.

I use Shotapens or Amoxicyllin because it's cheaper

It is good to worm them every two months or so.

I use Ivermec, but GoatFarmer says there is a better one.

They can tolerate very little wet ground...you have to watch for sore feet,

and treat it immediately with iodine / mercurichrome antiseptic,

the common cheap varieties sold in tiny yellow and red plastic bottles at every 7-11 store.

A goat with advanced foot rot is a pathetic sight...and will die from it.

It must be continually monitored and treated at first sign of limping.

Prepare to be offended by the male display of disgusting deviance.

My workers have humorously noted that these goats belong back in Pattaya.

But the Alpines are even more offensive than the Anglo Nubians...

so that's nothing against GoatFarmer's choice of hometown.

The females, by the way, are complete ladies, having no repulsive habits.

No dry hot season is too hot or dry for them

Even though they like nice green forage, they want it in dry heat.

They will forage at dawn, come to shade mid day,

then go back out in the mid afternoon until evening.

I could go on and on about goats...

one of my most enjoyable money losing concepts.

In order to make any money on goats,

I believe I'd need a herd of 200 to 300 animals,

so that a worker devotes his entire time to tending them.

He should live very near their sleeping barn,

to discourage thieves,

and to tend birthing mothers in the night.

A bad tempered dog is a good idea...

if raised with the goats he will defend them while not bothering them himself,

and the goats will not only tolerate him, they will completely ignore his presence.

[slapout]

Mr. Water if I had had no experience or association with goats you would have convinced me to buy several of the lovable little varmints. But alas,, no fencing to hold them, no guard to protect against theft, no live in farm help, etc etc. My fondest memories of goats other than their appetite for most anything was their BBQ quality. I had forgotten several of the things you mentioned, foot rot, available heat (a cut out 50 gallon drum works), the afternoon nap, (Mexicans love that), and you failed to mention their perchance for climbing. butting their reflection whether it is a car door or a window, their appetite for non organic foodstuffs,(paint, convertible top, etc.) They are adroable little critters aren't they?

[bina]

yes yes yes.......

btw, we have a herd of 300 alpines in a moshav (village) near my kibbutz, primarily for milking........and they are lovely animals. my preference is of course the anglo/nubi mixes with the noble but supremely ugly shammi (teh ones with the horrible over bite noses)...

never had problem with low wooden fencing ; as long as lead queen knew where home is and food, and the buck has his ladies he will not stray either...

ah, the joys of dents in the old subaru pick up , made by little goat feet climbing on roof to get to branches; the smell of buck that stays in your body even after many showers; the pitter patter of little feet , and little balls of poo, and pee, in the house (!)after a sick mother cant deal with her babies; the site of a nice buck giving himself head (never managed to kodak the moments though ) ) getting kissed by a buck after he perfumed himslef; and best of all, sleeping with beautiful big nannies while its raining outside and warm in the dir (goat house)...

i sooooo miss my goats.

ivorermak is super fine, before breeding, before giving birth, and before u start milking for your own use (have to wait a bit after that); we always used penstrep 300 for most illnesses with a shot of B vitamins, and some probiotics (yogurt) to eat, and mostly TLC. goats really respond to personal care when sick.