Dairy goats or sheep

[Jaenelle]

My husband and I are wanting to get dairy goats or dairy sheep in the spring. We have absolutely no experience with either animal so I wanted to ask some advice.

1. In your opinion what one is easier to work with? It being our first attempt at livestock we would prefer one that is mild tempered and easy to milk.

2. Does the local vegetation that it eats effect the milk? We are on 10 acres up in northern MN and know we have plenty of poison ivy and who knows what else. We were planning on letting them graze freely but do not want to end up with sour milk.

We appreciate any feedback! Thanks!:D

Jaenelle

[gardengirl72]

The goats that you want to milk need to be nursing goats. They are great animals, but can be a little difficult to handle, but you'll get the hang of it. I haven't raised any sheep, so I can't help there, but what about a couple of both!

[James]

I know goats, can eat. posion ivy/oak, and sumac with no effects to them or the milk. just be sure to wear protective gear , And bathe them befor milking or the oils will get on you. And A positive benifit. Is you will have the property cleaned up. And if youdrink the milk you build antibodies to the posions. Of dairy sheep. I think that the cost per animal might be to high. but what about breeding up the sheep. buy commercial females. Then use A known breed of milk sheep Ram. then breed your herd /flock over A few years. That way the excess males can be sold/used for meat. Just my thoughts

[Jaenelle]

James,
That is very exciting to hear about the immunization benefits. I have had my first reaction this year, but I have family who may be drinking the milk who look the wrong way at poison ivy and they break out.

That is a great idea about breeding up the sheep. I would have never thought of it because this is my first experience with livestock. We had considered the sheep first and foremost because they have the ability to pull a triple duty. Meat, milk and wool. I will defiantly be working out the details of this in my long term goals.

[Lynn]

Hi Everyone,

I live on just over 1/2 acre of land so my space is limited. I garden in the area which has the most sun exposure.

We built a chicken coop (I call it the chicken barn ~ way too big) and have 7 Barred Rock chickens. We are talking about building an actual coop for the chickens and using the larger building for a barn to house a few small goats.

I've read a couple articles on the Kinder breed of goat. They sound awesome. Great for both milk and meat. They are small, being bred from Nubian and Pygmy breeds. I found a blog which talks about starting your own blood line of Kinder and from the sounds of it, it could take a long time to accomplish this. I'm wondering if you would have the same situation with breeding the sheep? I have the link to the information:

http://kgba.wordpress.com/

I do have a question regarding caring for these animals if you don't have the grazing land. We would want to keep maybe 3 at our place and sell the kids. We have an area that's around 20' X 30' for them to move around outside in but it doesn't seem like enough. I have read that each small goat only has shelter requirement of 10 square feet and outdoor requirement of 100 square feet ? Does anyone know for sure if this is enough? We have much more shelter space than that.

Also, if grazing isn't a possibility, how much would it cost to feed them?

[Kittikity]

I am also trying to do the kinder goats, although I'm having a hard time trying to find a registered pygmy buck in my area.. I know it will be a lot of work but I know it will be worth it.. I think kinders are just an awesome idea for the smaller properties that most people have.. I'm not sure about space requirements as I only currently have 3 nubians on almost 2 acres.. 3 small goats on a half an acre might actually be a pretty good match.. Right now I have mine fenced in about only half an acre of my yard and they have plenty of room.. For small goats, I've also read of people using the doggie igloos for their shelters.. But if you have cold winters, you'll want something warmer.. The building you speak of will probably make a very nice goat home..

As for grazing, goats aren't really grazers.. They're browsers.. They'd rather eat things with leaves (trees, bushes, your favorite flowers) then to eat grass.. They're even strip the bark off a tree.. Protect any trees you want to keep by wrapping the trunk with wire.. If you need grazers and browsers, I'd agree with a couple of each of goats and sheep..

I'm not sure exactly how much mine cost to feed.. I'm afraid to add it up.. lol But I do spoil my goats a bit too much.. But if you have a good variety of brush and such to munch on, that will help also.. You can also toss them branches from other trees and bushes you might not want them to have full time access to.. Make sure you research what they can and can't have before you do so though.. For instance, hydrangeas are poisonous to them, they love pine and oak.. I've heard both sides on oak, some say their goats eat it all the time, some say only in moderation..

Anyway, I don't know if I've helped or not.. Hope I did.. = )