What is a good little milk goat to have for 4 people?
 

What is a good little milk goat? and how does the milk and cheese taste?

Re: What is a good little milk goat to have for 4 people?
 

If you do not want to live as a nomadic shepherd, goats require a lot of very good fencing. They are smart and some even learn to climb some kinds of fences.

That said, I like nubians. The cream does not separate in goat milk so no butter or cream. I like goat cheese ok and the milk too. I suggest you buy some of each at a clean goat farm before buying any goats.

Goats have many advantages in that they eat kinds of pasture cattle cannot get much good from and are smaller and require less feed. But if you have the pasture for a cow you get beef, milk, butter, cream, and potentially draft animals that can pull a cart or plow.

Plus any loose dogs in your area are a threat to goats.

The Brown Swiss cow breed was bred to give lots of cream on sparse alpine pastures then pull the family cart to market. And the boys mostly were eaten as beef. Castrated boys make strong draft animals, but a small farm can get by having the cow trained for light pulling and any females are good trade animals since purebred they are good milk cows. Brown Swiss do not produce as much cream as Jerseys, but they give a big beefy calf. And they do not give the watery milk of Holsteins. It is a nice rich milk. They were intended for the small farm, like the German Shepherd was intended as a multi use dog. Not the best at anything, but good at both guarding and herding. Heavy bodied hens like the black australorpe are also that kind of compromise. You have to feed them slightly more than scrawny leghorns, but they give lots of eggs and a nice plump chicken for the pot. Factory farms like watery Holstein milk (bought by the gallon, not by nutritional content) and birds that eat the least possible per egg. Not good on a family farm.

Re: What is a good little milk goat to have for 4 people?
 

I don't know about the milk of goats but I do know about keeping them. They are tough and persistent. We've had females jump out of fences and males just wear down fence areas with their body and horns until they get out. I hated having to keep them as a kid and the memory is still negative to this very day. Males are mean and will hurt you given half a chance.

Re: What is a good little milk goat to have for 4 people?
 

AM makes lots of good points, though. You can feed a goat almost anything.

Re: What is a good little milk goat to have for 4 people?
 

Goats were in big demand for meat 2 yrs ago. All the Immigrants and such. US was importing 5000 goats a week to meet demand.

For around the home milk seems like a small cow would be better. Dexter cattle are small and genital. 2 gallons a day in milk so there not a lot of waste.

friendly but Bull will be Bulls.

Picture for size idea;[IMG]http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9gnMiB4N2JFIQcAjhSjzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTA4NDgyNWN 0BHNlYwNwcm9m/SIG=11pl97jul/EXP=1164151032/**http%3a//www.dex-info.net/Red_small.jpg[/IMG]

Electric-Amish

Re: What is a good little milk goat to have for 4 people?
 

That is a great story, gasilat. Goats have often reminded me of dogs. Some are loyal and friendly like dogs.

I looked up a bit more about my favorite family farm cow, in case others are mulling what animals they might want.

Brown Swiss cattle, one of the oldest breeds of cattle, originating in Switzerland where the cows were used as triple-purpose animals (dairy, beef, and draft).

They were bred to give good service in milk, cream, cheese, beef, and draft on grass and hay alone, no grain. (Not that grain is not nice.) They withstand both cold and heat well, and being selected for draft over centuries gave them their strong legs and feet. They are not as disease prone as most breeds either. Plus they are known for gentle dispositions.

For many years they had competitions in how much butterfat each cow produced on alpine pasture and how much she could pull and so good production on grass alone plus good draft work got points as a good animal in the bloodline. For the bulls it was the milk and butter output of his daughters, plus draft work of his sons and daughters.

Today they are praised for being healthy in many climate extremes, giving a lot of high protein milk, being good beef cattle as well, having longer working and breeding lives than most breeds, and being 'thrifty', which is doing more with less feed. I would probably feed a treat of some kind during milking, probably a little grain, if I could. It makes milking be looked forward to.

They produce way more milk than you could drink, but they are the preferred cheese makers breed and so there is something good to do with the extra.

IMO they are the ideal family cow. Jersy milk is richer, but they need much better feed, climate, and care, plus though Jersey meat has good flavor, they are the bovine equivalent of leghorn chickens - scrawny. Everything goes into the milk and nothing into the meat.

If you opt not to make cheese, or just not all you could, piglets fatten well on extra milk, and hens will gladly devour cottage cheese or clabbered milk, which is more good stuff to be getting from grass and hay. But only if you have enough grass and hay to support a cow.

These are the kind of cows that become family members like the family dog or horse or mule. They live symbiotically with you and can turn grass into protein and fat, plus help pull stumps, plow, drag logs... good productive members of the farm. A cow cannot pull like an ox, but 1500 pounds on sturdy legs can pull a lot more than you can.


Some Brown Swiss links

http://www.brownswissusa.com/history.htm

http://www.gatewaybbs.com.au/Brownsw/About.htm

http://brownswiss.org.nz/whybrownswiss.htm

For me, goats are too much trouble! But they may be the size animal you want. Or suit your pasture.

Re: What is a good little milk goat to have for 4 people?
 

I recognize the many positive aspects to goats, I like the meat fine but I could never get into the milk and cheese. Sheep milk and cheese is very similar but slightly more tasty to me, it's still kind of musky and bitter but the cheese is great on salad for those reasons... kinda like feta.

I've been giving a lot of thought to the dexters due to their small size. I have very fertile soil with lots of water and a great growing season, but not a lot of it. I could support maybe three of a fullsize breed without having to add hay from off site. I could squeeze in a couple more with dexters.

I'm also considering cracker cattle as they are a heritage breed in my state and adapted to our conditions. I don't know much about their meat or milk quality because they're rather rare.