Nowhere near self sufficient

Thank you all for the warm welcome! When my husband and I first bought this place, he was very straightforward "we will not have goats." And I completely agreed for years. They can be ..a handful. 😂 My grandparents used to have them & they had a habit of eating everyone's clothes, while they were wearing them...Though there was that time Grandma hung the clothes out and Billy escaped....

But I have a ridiculous poison ivy rash right this moment from putting up the chicken run before things fully leafed out, and I'm thinking a goat could sure help us out with things out here. 😉 So I will just have to keep working on the hubby on that one. He might cave. Hehe.

I look forward to getting to know you all more. Thanks again!
 
welcome from Texas! it sounds like youre doing alot more than you give yourself credit for. we arent anywhere near self sufficient either, but i think we grow/raise around 40% of our food and it REALLY helps these days with groceries being so high $$$.

goats are neat, but i choose rabbits and meat chickens. rabbits make lots of gold for the garden and the meat birds get moved through my orchard daily to fertilize there.
 
Esker Ridge said:
Thank you all for the warm welcome! When my husband and I first bought this place, he was very straightforward "we will not have goats." And I completely agreed for years. They can be ..a handful. 😂 My grandparents used to have them & they had a habit of eating everyone's clothes, while they were wearing them...Though there was that time Grandma hung the clothes out and Billy escaped....

But I have a ridiculous poison ivy rash right this moment from putting up the chicken run before things fully leafed out, and I'm thinking a goat could sure help us out with things out here. 😉 So I will just have to keep working on the hubby on that one. He might cave. Hehe.

I look forward to getting to know you all more. Thanks again!
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You could try sheep? They're much easier to fence in than goats and will eat your poison ivy. I used to adore goats obsessively (and I do have 2 old goat wethers), but sheep are just as sweet and much easier to live with. If you buy an orphaned or bottle-raised ewe or wether, they are usually very tame and easy to lead train. That might work best if you are thinking to tie-out a sheep in a specific spot to eat down weeds.

I use my sheep to clean up windfall apples and clear my lawn of dandelions. But watch out - they love hostas almost as much as dandelions, your landscaping is not safe with free-range sheep.
 
tortoise said:
You could try sheep? They're much easier to fence in than goats and will eat your poison ivy. I used to adore goats obsessively (and I do have 2 old goat wethers), but sheep are just as sweet and much easier to live with. If you buy an orphaned or bottle-raised ewe or wether, they are usually very tame and easy to lead train. That might work best if you are thinking to tie-out a sheep in a specific spot to eat down weeds.

I use my sheep to clean up windfall apples and clear my lawn of dandelions. But watch out - they love hostas almost as much as dandelions, your landscaping is not safe with free-range sheep.
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lamb is also delicious
 
I have Katahdin hair sheep and love them. Hair sheep browse like goats and also graze. They don’t challenge fences, stay where I put them and don’t stay awake all night plotting against me. LOL I’ve had sheep 8 years and have never assisted a birth. I had 2 bottle babies last year, first ones, both were triplets. I can’t say enough about my sheep!
 
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