Quote: Lynne Peck

Barbara may I send you all my extra roosters?

Harvested, plucked and frozen please.

This is what our little farm was all about.
We have lots of practical experience on this stuff, and due to a friend just about begging us to....we are going to start producing some how to videos.

We butchered one of the pigs last weekend, and are going to do the last one this weekend.
I will be shooting a detailed how to video on the whole process, down to the rendering of the lard and sausage prep.
If anyone is interested in the final product, let me know in a PM.

We liked raising our own meat because we knew hoe the animals were treated during their lives, and even on the occasion they were taken to a butcher, we knew that their last moments were not lived in fear of mass processing plants.

I am really wrestling with the decision to keep or sell the last 3 goats we have...they are tipple registered Dwarf Nigerian dairy goats....realllly sustainable....
Feed to Milk conversion is great, and due to the small size they are really manageable....but with my legs....I just don't know.


Great list of books Will.
I will be checking those out!!!!!
More details on your rabbit operation?

HOW much work/care to those little goats honestly require? I keep reading about and hearing about them but have never had anything larger than Falcon with which to contend...

lol....Dwarf Nigerians are the size of a border collie, and I have a female out there that is about as big as a over large beagle..........

 Quote:

The Nigerian Dwarf Goat Association states does should ideally be 17 - 19 inches in height, with a maximum allowed height of 21 inches, and bucks should ideally be 19 - 21 inches, with a maximum allowed height of 21 inches.

I'm guessing they are much smaller than pretty boy there....
It's the twice daily milking commitment I am worried about....
But you are right, comparatively they are not so much work...I guess it depends on where we move......
And we could always share milk (let the kids nurse for one of the milkings and milk once a day.)......hmmmmmm

Edited by Willie Tilton (01/07/2011 08:09 AM)
Edit reason: added info

You da man, Will!

Willie, now I want goats! Garrett is going to ban me from this board soon if I keep talking about chickens, and now goats!

Thanks, Will!

 Quote: Willie Tilton

It's the twice daily milking commitment I am worried about....

Well there ya' go... two good reasons I probably won't get goats! It is hard enough to get out of town for my one week at the beach a year with the dogs and chickens... finding someone willing to MILK GOATS twice a day probably is low on the probability list. (Although, this might be a good part time job for me to consider... chicken and goat care for folks going out of town!)

 Quote: Willie Tilton

lol....Dwarf Nigerians are the size of a border collie, and I have a female out there that is about as big as a over large beagle..........

 Quote:

The Nigerian Dwarf Goat Association states does should ideally be 17 - 19 inches in height, with a maximum allowed height of 21 inches, and bucks should ideally be 19 - 21 inches, with a maximum allowed height of 21 inches.

I'm guessing they are much smaller than pretty boy there....
It's the twice daily milking commitment I am worried about....
But you are right, comparatively they are not so much work...I guess it depends on where we move......
And we could always share milk (let the kids nurse for one of the milkings and milk once a day.)......hmmmmmm

I milked my Alpine goats once a day and got along just fine.

And when milking the dwarf goats, do you use a cookie sheet for a milk pail?

Bwahhhaaahhhaaa Debbie!!!!
I had Alpines too...nice goats!
I'm going for cheese, so we don't need as much as when we were drinking it..and they can give as much as 8 lbs a day.....
but the average is 2 or 3 lbs....high butterfat though..5%!

That was awesome though.....too funny...cookie sheet.

Little goats take no special care unless you are milking them, them must be milked 2 x day when not nursing kids, also, or 1 x a day if kids. If you don;t breed the females, then no special care, just feed, water and clean up after the little rabbit doos. The pygmies are smaller than the nigerians and we don't milk them, so again just feed 2x day. Goats are so easy to care for! and fun