Sunday, October 12, 2008

A Little About Goats Part I "Breeds"

This is the first in a series of posts about goats. I say a little about goats because that is really all it is and will be. I am in no way an expert and have only owned goats for about 3 years so I hardly know all there is to know about them. I will be posting some of the information that I have found in diferent places, book, the net and so on. If I am mistaken in any of the information please leave a comment to let me and my readers know. There is a lot of information out there for those of you who may be interested in owning these wonderful animals and I will provide links for additional information. First lets talk about the different breeds of Goats.

Goat Breeds



Goats can and are raised for many reasons around the farm and homestead, Dairy Goats are raised for their abilty to produce a good amount of milk, though all goats give milk, these will give you the most amount of milk. Meat goats, these are ofcourse raised for thier meat which is known as Chevon and eaten throught the world. And ofcourse if you just want a pet you can just purchase the goat that most appeals to you. Here is a great link with lots of information of Goat Breeds. Please read as this will help you learn a lot about which goat would be best for you. There are many breeds so don't let that scare you.


We have, here on our small farm, 2 Boer does, 1 Pygmy doe and 1 Pygmy Buck. Ok, now why did I choose these breeds. The Boers where close by and well bred and cheap. We fell in love with these flop eared girls as soon as we seen them. The Pygmy doe, I seen at a local flea market and just felt so sorry for her. She was being kept in a small dog crate. I was larger enough for her but I just wanted to bring her home and let her have a much better life. Through a friend I found Cheif, our Pygmy buck. We were looking for a buck to add to our small herd and he was perfect for us. So, we just sorta fell into these breeds so to speak. We would love to add some Dairy Goats to the herd in the spring.

This is just the start of what I hope will be an infomative series of posts for those readers who would love to own goats. Please be sure to follow the links provided. Rather than copy and paste this information I would rather let you follow the link and maybe find more information than I would have provided. Stay tuned for "A Little About Goats" Part II in the near future. Next we will be discussing "Terminology".

5 comments:

Marie said...

Though I doubt that I will ever own a goat, I like to gather new information. Who knew that goats were so smart? (I figure they must be if they can adapt so quickly to being wild and go from dependent to independent in terms of feeding themselves.) Interesting stuff :).

Anonymous said...

Fun stuff! Gen--IL Homesteader

TEAM HALL said...

Hey Chris!
Thanks a bunch for this info!! I really appreciate you going to all this trouble!
Soooo, you're one of those softie animal people too eh? Every pet we've had was "saved" and I swear they know what you've done for them and do everything in their power to thank you!
Thanks again,
Cath

TEAM HALL said...

Hey there
My goat book arrived today...can't wait to wade through it this weekend!
Have a good one,

The Scavenger said...

Marie, ya just never know what might show up in your life. You may even have a goat someday too. They are very smart.

Able oaks dairy, I would love to have Nubians someday, maybe this spring. Love your site too.

Gen, goats are just too much fun, nothing but pets.

Cath, if there were a black bear in our yard it would be trying to sit in my lap in a matter of minutes. I truly belive that animals know who will be good to them and who won't. Hope you enjoy the book. Lots of good info in there.

Thanks to everyone for your comments,

Chris