But, the best laid plans get changed when you have an opportunity you just cannot pass up.
A few months back, a sweet lady on one of the homestead pages posted that she was having to give up her goats due to life changes. I sure know about life changes, so I messaged her to offer her an encouraging word, and a few other groups that she might want to consider posting in. As is usually the case, we got to chatting, and On April 16th I became the proud owner of Bubba and Eli, both Nigerian Dwarf. Bubba is a buck, Eli a wether.
It's been fun getting to learn their personalities, and work with Bubba especially, so that he will come to us willingly, and eventually walk on a lead. Our plan since we got them has been to tether them out so that they can get the pasture they need/want, and we don't have the added expense of fencing for the moment.
One piece of advice I will give...if you think something should be done a certain way, and you decide to take a cheaper route due to money....DON'T. I was trying to save a few dollars, and after a dog collar and a dog harness, we now have halters on both boys and they are working out fabulously. Had I spent the extra $2 each to begin with, we would have saved ourselves a lot of grief.
Then this past week I was speaking with the same woman again, and just catching up. Seems her buyer for her two Nigerian Dwarf/Pygmy cross does had fallen through. Well, as luck would have it, she was more than willing for me to have them, because then the herd would be together again.
Meet Izzy and Buttercup
One piece of advice I will give...if you think something should be done a certain way, and you decide to take a cheaper route due to money....DON'T. I was trying to save a few dollars, and after a dog collar and a dog harness, we now have halters on both boys and they are working out fabulously. Had I spent the extra $2 each to begin with, we would have saved ourselves a lot of grief.
Then this past week I was speaking with the same woman again, and just catching up. Seems her buyer for her two Nigerian Dwarf/Pygmy cross does had fallen through. Well, as luck would have it, she was more than willing for me to have them, because then the herd would be together again.
Meet Izzy and Buttercup
I grew up on a small homestead, but we never had goats. We had everything but that. So I am learning as I go, and they are all very patient with me. I have a few good people with experience that are my backup for advice when I can't find an answer on my own.
The girls were in milk before we got them, but because they had back to back pregnancies, and I want to breed them in the fall, I am just going to wait on milking until the kids come in the spring. That gives me plenty of time to get comfortable with the girls, and them with me.
So the next thing on the agenda is building them all a proper goat barn. The chickens and turkeys will wait until fall, which is ok since it will be cooler to process then.
The girls were in milk before we got them, but because they had back to back pregnancies, and I want to breed them in the fall, I am just going to wait on milking until the kids come in the spring. That gives me plenty of time to get comfortable with the girls, and them with me.
So the next thing on the agenda is building them all a proper goat barn. The chickens and turkeys will wait until fall, which is ok since it will be cooler to process then.