Sustainably raising goats and/or sheep in the most SS way.

[bibliophile birds]

well, a big thanks to all of you who came to my rescue over there. i try really really hard to stay polite and level-headed even when debating, but some people make that very, very hard. your support was very much appreciated!

 

[Beekissed]

Yeah, when we see it getting bad over there we usually unite in the "take back the streets" attitude and go over there and face off the bullies.

BYC is just too overrun for this kind of neighborhood watch but it usually works on BYH if everyone sticks together. You all oughta stop over there and add some support to my posts so we can get that thread back in order for real info about the OP.....

I think it's important to keep at them in order to lay the ground work for any other newbies with goat questions....it's quite apparent that the reigning goat regime are somewhat like the previous cow regime. Elitists and bullies..... who wants to participate in a forum about BYHs if they have to deal with that?

 

[dragonlaurel]

other than my family's farm, the majority of my farming experience was in New Zealand, where organics (or at least practices approaching organics) are part and parcel to the way almost everyone does business. you just won't find feedlots and the big bad commercial farms over there. there is so much easily grown grass that it makes no sense not to pasture raise your animals naturally. which is why they raise the BEST lamb meat in the world. maybe they have particularly low instances of parasites, but i don't remember any of the farmers i knew needing to use chemical dewormers. i mean, there are 40 million sheep there and only 4 million people, so it seems like constant deworming would take, well, forever!

and talk about self-sufficiency! there are people with sheep in their backyards in the middle of cities over there (granted, most of their cities aren't all that city-fied). there isn't a single place in the whole country where you can't find local products sold in every grocery. (sigh) i miss it so much...

i wanted to bring that up over there, but i knew it would be used to make me seem naive. goats and sheep being from different planets, i guess. and New Zealand being another unmentionable topic like organics.

New Zealand sounds amazing. Sounds like they have too much common sense to do the craziness that became too normal here. Beekissed has another breed that would also be good for your area. Hers don't need to be sheared if you want to get out of that chore. I just want the wool for projects and cause my Mom in law has a loom. She is great so I would want to keep her supplied.

 

[FarmerChick]

Bibliophile~check back to your thread on BYHs....I've given you and the naysayers some links for thought. I'm sorry for what happened to you over there....those folks always do that.

They think they are GOAT GODs over there because they raise a few overfed show goats and spend a fortune keeping them from dying.

We play nice over here and there are plenty of folks on here who raise normal, homestead type goats and are trying to find solutions just like you. No one wants to dump chemicals down an animal just to keep it alive and well, do they? Not me!

Good luck and let us know what you finally decide!

LOL on the Goat Gods. I didn't go to BYH because the way I raise my farm animals wouldn't set well I am sure..HA HA HA...not willing to attempt it.

I don't dump chemcials into them at all but I do use chemical wormers and such, but all is kept to a level of not needing alot and raising without much intervention.

WOW reading about BYH in this thread got me wondering. LOL-LOL--gotta pop over and check it out. I was there once when it opened and never since.

 

[FarmerChick]

UT OH--I went over and read saying Don't post, but I did....HA HA HA




now to stay away for my own sake..HA HA

 

[Javamama]

I haven't been over to BYH since the "natural" debacle months ago. It left a bad taste in my mouth. We ought to just have a "raising herds naturally" section here. Or SS Herds.
I don't even HAVE a herd, but I know this is THE way I will raise once I do. I figure if I can keep chickens and dogs, and my family healthy, then I can surely do it with goats.
Thanks for posting all the great sites and info to give me something to study in the meantime.

And New Zealand sounds wonderful! I have heard great things about it from a few folks now.

 

[lorihadams]

Oh, that is such a good idea! Raising Animals Naturally section!!! Do it do it!!! Who do we need to write to get that done?

I want to raise our future Nigerian dwarf goats as naturally as possible and we are trying to do that with our ducks and chickens too. My chickens barely eat any feed except for wintertime. I put food in their feeder maybe twice a month. They gets scraps almost every day and the compost pile is one of their favorite spots. I am still researching the goat stuff for the spring when my babies arrive. It's like I told the woman at Cornerstone Farm, who dam raises all her babies unless there is a real problem, I breastfed both my children---I get it. Why do some farms bottle raise their kids exclusively.....that makes no sense to me.

She looked at me and laughed! About the breastfeeding she said, no one has ever said that to me but that makes so much sense!

I haven't read the post on BYH and I don't know if I want to but I hope everything simmers down.

 

[FarmerChick]

Name of the game is land.

Do you have enough land to feed ruminents?

Simple.

They require alot of forage to be handled "only natural" when it comes to feed. each ruminent has their own requirements. Time to google and find real answers on what each person can handle.

So if you want to "forage for them and supply it" or buy commercial feeds or raise your own.....one must truly think of their land situation.

Keep in mind the animal and its required needs...then move forward from there.

 

[freemotion]

It seems that the kids are pulled and bottle-raised for a few reasons....the obvious, it is a dairy farm. The not-so-obvious, that the doe has CAE which is passed on to the kid through the milk, and they are trying to eradicate CAE from the herd. And the just silly, some feel that the only way to have a friendly goat is to bottle raise them. Not true. Just come to my house and get mobbed by a buncha not-bottle-raised goats, one who was abused and very shy when I got her.....she is the worst at trying to pull my clothes off to get my attention if I am snuggling with someone else!

 

[FarmerChick]

you are right
bottle fed does not mean perfect friendly goat--non fed are friendly also.

hands on while babies means (maybe) good goat...and not always..LOL
I have had a bunch of rogues in the group. Alot of babies no matter how much touched, follow mommas example.