A Quick Guide to Milking Goats

If you are thinking about getting some milking goats, you are not alone. Each year, more and more people are choosing to have a few goats around for milk production for their families. Goats are very intelligent and friendly creatures who can be not only good milk producers but also fun and entertaining to have around. They weigh much less than milk cows, so are easier to care for and move around.

There are six breeds of milking goats that are recognized by the American Dairy Goat Association. These are the American LaMancha, Alpine, Saanen, Nubian, Toggenburg, and the Oberhasi. The Saanen, Alpine and Toggenburg are all considered to be Swiss breeds, having their origins in the French and Swiss Alps. If you don't know what kind of goat to start out with, you can get information on each breed from its breed association. It is a good idea to visit a few goat farms which raise some different breeds as well.

Alpine, LaMancha and Nubian are the most popular of the various goat breeds in the United States. They are all considered to be medium to large in size. Alpines are bred in almost every color and color combination: black, red buff, gray, fawn and brown. Most are from the French Alps.

The LaMancha, on the other hand, was bred in the United States. They are known for their very short and sometimes almost non-existent ears. Two-inch ears are known as "elf ears," while one-inch are called "gopher ears." In order to register a male LaMancha, the gopher ears must be present. In the females, it doesn't matter what type of ears she has. Nubians are probably the most popular of the milking goats around the world. They are large, with long ears. They are excellent milkers, and their percentage of milk fat is very high.

Saanens, Toggenburgs, and Oberhasis are all good selections but relatively scarce in the U.S. compared to other breeds. If you are going to develop a herd for milk production, you will need to decide which of the milking goats will provide the most advantages. For instance, if you wanted to sell milk commercially you might choose breeds that give higher quantity, while if you wanted to make cheese or other milk products, you would want quality milk with a higher fat content. Much to many people's surprise, goat's milk tastes just the same as cow's milk.

Some herds of milking goats produce as much as 3,000 pounds of milk per day. Just like cows, goats need to be milked every day. Most dry out for a couple months in the winter before they have kids in the spring. A visit to a commercial goat farm can be very helpful if you wish to produce milk to sell and not just for family use. Most goat owners are happy to answer any questions you may have.

Raising Goats - 5 Steps to Success

Raising goats for profit is one of the most up and coming businesses of today. Everywhere you look there seems to be an increasing demand for many goat-related products. Apart from the meat itself, there is goat's milk which can be consumed as-is, or used in the production everything from artisan cheeses and yogurts to soaps and lotions! The goat fiber, also known as mohair or cashmere, is a very profitable renewable crop. To someone looking for a profitable business venture with a very low initial investment, raising goats for profit is one of the best options available.

Step 1: Decide which type of production goat you are interested in: meat, fiber, dairy, or pet goats. Once you decide on the type of product you want to create a supply for, the next step is to decide on a breed that best suits your needs.

Step 2: Evaluate the goat breed best suited to your operation. While there are dozens of different breeds suitable for each production type, here is a list of a few of the most common breeds in each category:

Meat goats: Boer, Spanish and Kiko goat.

Dairy goats: Alpine, LaMancha, Nigerian Darwf (or Nigerian goat ), Toggenburg and Oberhasli.

Fiber goats: Angora, Cashmere and Nigora goats.

Pets: The Australian Miniature, the Nigerian goat and the Pygmy.

Step 3: Educate yourself. This is the most important and most affordable step, yet surprisingly, so many people leave it out or only learn part of what they need to know. There are complete courses available that teach you everything you need to know about raising goats. Knowledge is power.

Step 4: Find a local veterinarian that includes goats in his practice. While goats are typically healthy and low maintenance, it is always good to have a vet on call for emergencies.

Step 5: Begin building housing for your goats. Housing is to provide shelter from outdoor weather and protection from predators, wild or otherwise. Another function of housing can be to hold feed and other supplies as well as a head chute for milking and/or administering medicines and other maintenance tasks.

I hope you have learned more about raising goats from this short article. To learn more, take advantage of the very affordable complete learning courses available online.

A Quick Guide to Goat Breeds

Altogether there are over three hundred different goat breeds and the history of goats goes back to 10,000 years ago. Goats are one of the most versatile of all animals when it comes to use by humans. We use goats for milk, meat, fiber, as pack animals, to clear our lawns, and many people keep goats as pets.

Like cows, goats are ruminants--they eat vegetation and chew a cud. While many people think that a ruminant has four stomachs, that is not really true. They have one stomach that is divided into four compartments. Goats and other ruminants tend to eat grass and weeds that would be left untouched by other animals.

Let's take a look at the most popular goat breeds that are used for dairy, meat and fiber production:

The most popular dairy goat is the Nubian. It is a large goat with long ears that originated in England. They produce on average three thousand pounds of milk each year and it has a butterfat content of 4.8 percent. They have short, lustrous coats that can come in any pattern or color.

The LaMancha is a dairy goat that had its origins in the United States. They also have a short, sleek coat that can be any color or pattern. Small ears are the rule among LaManchas, with two-inch ears known as elf ears, or tinier ones, less than an inch, known as gopher ears. Of the milk goat breeds, the LaMancha are among those of variable milk production, anywhere from one to three thousand pounds a year. Their butter fat content averages around four percent.

Among the classic meat goat breeds is the Boer. They can be recognized by their colors, red, black and white. Most are white with either a red or black head. They are quite muscular, and the bucks can have loose rolls of skin. They tend to be long-eared and are both strong and friendly. The Boer originated in South Africa, although "Boer" means "farmer" in Dutch.

Another, and one of the most interesting meat goat breeds is the Tennessee Fainting Goat. These goats have a genetic condition known as "myotonia congenital," and when they are surprised or frightened, their muscles lock up, which causes them to fall onto the ground. That's where the allusion to fainting comes in. They can be white, tan, brown, red or black and have varying sizes and types of ears.

Angoras are the most well known of all the fiber goat breeds. They originated in Turkey, though they are now popular throughout the United States and in South Africa. They are a small, white goat with an incredibly wooly coat. The coat, which is known as mohair, grows up to six to seven inches long. One Angora goat can produce as much as twelve pounds of mohair each year.