LovinLife- Happy New Year's all!

[LovinLife]

MMmmm chicken pen. That sounds like something I need. I'm hoping the worst is over, the weakest of the flock have been picked off.

 

[LovinLife]

Went out today and did some remodeling in the chicken coop. I put a perch up so chicken butts don't hang into the nesting area. I put dividers up in the nesting area so they will have there own nesting boxes. I also cleaned all the old straw out and put new in. I put some golf balls in a few of the nesting boxes. I hope this will persuade the hens to lay in the coop. While I was working outside I found one egg in the shed and two nests with two eggs each in the tortoise house. Silly chickens.

 

[LovinLife]

Why do people prefer owning goats over cows for milk?

I really want a cow! I want a miniature cow but those suckers are EXPENSIVE! There is someone around here that sells them, I remember seeing them at the county fair last year. However I wouldn't expect to pay less that $1,100 (probably more) for a mini-cow. But today I saw a (300lb) heifer listed on CL for $300. I really want a mini-cow tho!

 

[pinkfox]

goats are more efficient at converting feed to milk and more efficient on space being they will eat anything...

they also produce less per sitting so are typiclaly "more manageble" in terms of volume for the average family.

cows need more sqft per lb than goats to be efficient on feed and a stubborn cow is harder to get to cooperate than a stubborn goat (not by much though lol)

i think though, if you have the space and prefer cows, get a dairy cow and enjoy.

i love the minature milk devons though

 

[ksalvagno]

One big thing for me was the manure. Goats have berries that get nicely spread throughout the pasture and I just can't stand those cow pies. We would have to keep a cow in the barn or at least give it barn space in the winter and it would just be too much of a mess to clean up. Also for above mentioned reasons.

 

[Javamama]

I have an irrational fear of animals bigger than me. An 80 pound goat is hard enough to drag around when they decide they want to go in the opposite direction - I'm not even trying a cow

 

[glenolam]

Goats are just easier to handle, IMO. Yes, it's their size that helps - when a goat decides to be honry it's a lot easier to put the 'choke hold' on them than a cow (of course, no one would really do that, now, would they? )

We have beef cows that roam around. They're definitely not as friendly as our goats, but we raised our goats up to be friendlier. We don't really treat our cows as pets since that's not their mission in life.

I'm not sure how much a mini-cow eats vs. a goat, but I can tell you our full sized cows sure pack a punch in the wallet when it comes to hay during the winter.

 

[freemotion]

I would really prefer a cow for the cream (butter) and the cheese (cheddar, etc.) But the start-up expense of a cow is much bigger, the hay needs, etc. I can stagger breedings of my goats and not have a dry period (in theory....buck escape means I had to dry off the gal that was to milk through this spring) but to have two cows and feed a non-producing one for a big chunk of a season.....no way!

Also, if a cow needs the vet, you get them here in a hurry and pay hundreds and hundreds and still may lose her in this area. Goats....sadly.....are more expendable. There are always doelings coming along to replace them.

Breeding is a simple thing, too. Cheap if you can own a buck, or buy a buckling in the spring, breed him to the does in the fall, and sell him or send him off to freezer camp. Or keep him for next season but not for his daughters....goats are fairly inexpensive to feed, especially if not on grain. Although they generally don't need much grain. Better yet, bring your gals to visit a neighbor's buck.

It was a drought summer and it cost me an extra $250 or so in hay to get 7 goats through the summer, normally I use almost no hay. If I had even one cow......yikes. Would've cost me a small fortune.

But I would love a little Jersey cow. I would only get one if I had too much pasture, enough to get me through a drought summer and enough to have fall pastures to rotate her into through the winter if the snow isn't too deep.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

i WISH i had a cow... stupid goats. i mean.. wow i love them goats!

i dont have enough pasture or i'd run right out and get a cow. a sweet little jersey who i'd get 3 gallons a day on grass!

if i could i would.

but here are some good reasons for a goat:

1. you can put them on crappy bramble and they will be happy. the only reason i even got goats was b/c our new place was infested in poison ivy which my first goats ate.

2. if they kick you in the head most likely you'll live

3. you can have a smaller space to keep them in

also - if you are nervous around or have never handled livestock goats are a good place to start. especially if you get an older gal already in milk.

i would NOT recommend getting doelings, feeding them out a year, breeding them, over wintering them and THEN finding out if they will milk or not. spend a little extra to find out immediately if you even like it - some people dont want to be 'tied down' by milking. but honestly, where's anybody gonna go when gas is so expensive. its cheap entertainment and keeps you out of the malls

;-)

 

[freemotion]

Goats ARE much more entertaining than cows!