Goats are easy! Right?

They just eat weeds and poison ivy. That sounds perfect! They can be so friendly and are very entertaining to watch. They don't eat as much as a cow and their cute. It sounds like the perfect animal to raise. So really, how hard can it be?

I wish we had someone that had experience with goats to talk to before we took the plunge and got goats. And someone that would have gone with us to look at the goats before purchasing them. Yes, we did some research online but sitting down and talking to someone or visiting them and seeing how they take care of their goats would have been nice. Just the ideas you can get from visiting someone else's farm is worth the time.

We got goats in the beginning of 2021. We got 8 does that were already bred and we experienced our first kidding in February. Since then, we have bought 11 Kiko goats and 5 Boars and have kept a few kids that were born. And over 10 have died over the years. I will say that none of the Kiko's have died. It has been mostly Boars and Boars crosses that have died. Some may have been because we were still fingering out what worked with deworming them and what minerals they needed and what plants are poisonous to them. So, learn from us (and others) things to do and things not to do in taking care of your goats. But keep in mind that each area is different in minerals and parasites/worms. Swamping areas (like we have) are more suitable for worms to keep living and enter back into the goat's system. Therefore, because Kiko goats are more resistance to parasites they are a great choice for us to raise on our land.

Don't let all this talk scare you into not getting goats... just do your research and reach out to other goat owners before making the decision. I think almost every goat owner has experience something a little different. Watch out of goat breeders that will sell you anything (sick goats). Go to a reputable source even if the goat is for your pet. You want a healthy pet. Right?

Here are a few things to consider when getting a goat.

1. You cannot just get one goat. They must have a buddy. Goats are a herd animal and need the companionship of other goats.

2. What breed of goat to get? We wanted meat goats, and the most common breed of meat goat is Boar. Our first goats were Boar/Spanish mix. Now we have moved on to Kiko goats. They are a dual-purpose goat, meat and milk which is great because we now make, use, and sell homemade goat milk soap. They are also more resistance to parasites.

3. Why do you want Goats? Like I stated we wanted meat goats to sell meat and also breed and sell the kids. This was the way that the goats would pay for themselves. If you just want weed eaters and pets that is fine. Goats make great pets. But for us our animals must pay for themselves and eventually give us a profit. We did not think about making goat milk soap when we first got goats but now that is another way that the goats pay for themselves.

4. Where to put them? We had some pasture, but it was set up for horses and goats do not respect a normal wood fence. So, we had to add wire with electric in-between the wood fence and then we redid our other pasture with goat fence. Some people keep their goats in a feed lot or paddock and feed hay year-round. Whichever way is fine, but do your research about both and learn the advantages and disadvantages of both. We do pasture until winter and kidding season then they are in the barn. With pasture you need to make sure that you have enough pasture to rotate. It is very important for dealing with parasites. Once we learned about rotation it was amazing how much rotation helped control parasites. This leads to the fifth thing to consider.

5. Do a "heath" check with your goats regularly. Goats are susceptible to parasites. We have lost a few goats to parasites because once they start to go downhill and you do not catch it quick it is very hard to get a goat back that is down with worms.

6. What to feed your goats. Our goats love bushes and tree branches. If you are keeping your goats on pasture and rotating them they should be fine in the months that things are growing. In the winter months you will probably have to supply hay. Goats eat any kind of hay. Right? No, goats will waste hay if they do not like it. You might have to try different types of hay and also different ways of feeding it to them. Just giving them a bale of hay on the ground will lead to more waste because they will step on it, poop on it, and use it as their bed. If you are feeding hay I highly recommend using some type of hay feeder that is safe for goats as it will help reduce the waste.

7. Goats need minerals. In our area we found out the hard way that we do not have much for copper and selenium in our soil. We now use copper boluses every few months and free-choice goat mineral that has the highest amount of selenium that we could find.

8. We are all still learning! We have made some mistakes but as long as we learn from our mistakes and do not repeat them it is okay. We are sharing them to help others not make the same mistakes. Remember to grow with each experience you face on your farm and learn what works best for you and your animals. The things that work for us may not work for you and the things that work for you may not work for us. But by sharing what works for us, we hope to help someone else in their experiences of farm life. We also hope you leave us a comment of some of the ways you raise your goats that works for you. Maybe it will help us or someone else.

Goats are a great animal for small farmers because they do not eat as much as a cow would. Depending on the breed of goat you could use it for milk or meat or both. They are less intimidating than cows. This is one reason that we when with goats at first instead of cows. We have cows now and our dairy cow is fairly friendly but if she accidently steps on your foot, it really hurts whereas if a goat steps on you it is not as bad. This is something to consider if you have younger children. But I do have to say some goats are just plain mean but if raised correctly goats can be loving farm/pet animals.