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  • FrankT

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    If I could get them free or cheap I would put them out on the lease and after they cleared it off I would hunt them!
     

    HughJoergan

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    Anyone have any experience with Dorper sheep? Seems like an interesting breed.

    Can't believe there hasn't been any stump jokes yet.......
     
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    I had a Dorper cross ram. Katahdin x Dorper. Hair sheep is the only way to go in this climate. Made some nice thick lambs. Pure strains of goats and sheep can be a headache, unless sticking to a strict management procedure.
     

    HughJoergan

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    Yeah had heard Dorper was a great "meat" sheep. Was supposed to go check out a buddies place that raised them in TX, but never got around to it.
     

    Daezee

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    I'll try to more info from my perspective and experience.

    1) If you plan on milking, a bigger dairy goat such as a nubian will give more milk than the smaller pygmy. To milk a "wild", not conditioned to milking or handling or trained to be milked goat that you've simply kept in a fenced area to control weeds/brush would be difficult at least as first. For example: My wife and I had 2 of our does bred so we could go through the kidding and raising kids experience. To make sure milk could flow through their teats for their newborns I tested each teat. Boy did those goats jump and try to get away...what the hell was I trying to do to them seemed to go through their mild, let alone they'd not been trained to a milking stanchion.

    2) If you say you might eat a goat, some breeders will not sell you any from their herd...they see goats more for non-eating purposes.

    3) I would not leave goats alone for extended period of time (days). One might get caught in the fence or be otherwise injured. Of course, mine are pets and get looked at every day. If one doesn't come to the fence to see me, I will find it and figure out what's wrong/monitor that goat. For example: 2 days ago Blueberry didn't eat any of the raw peanuts (like candy to my goats) I threw out for them. I figured she was off a little from having eaten worm medicine the day before; sure enough, a half day later she was back to her hungry usual. That's also how I found that Dega had suffered a wound in his side.

    4) Always have fresh water on hand (I fill up their 3 water containers every day). They will need shelter...I use large dog houses. They do not share a dog house (other than a mother still nursing her kid(s)).

    5) Goat will have intestinal worms. I give worm medicine about 2 times per year. About once a year I'll collect some fresh goat droppings and take to my large animal vet to check the worm load. I also, throughout the year, will take a goat, pull down the lower eye lid and look to see if pink. If white (that's never happened to my goats) that indicates too many worms taking the goat's blood, and it's anemic, meaning a life threatening condition. One of the best ways to limit worms is to have the goats eating from different or larger areas. Worm eggs are in the goat droppings. They hatch and climb up vegetation of few inches. Goats come along and eat the vegetation, thus getting more worms themselves. If goats don't eat the vegetation, that stops the worm life cycle.

    6) Goats are really pretty hardy animals. Other than getting injured or a heavy worm load, they keep going and going with a life span of 12-14 years. Some owners give injections every year, including tetanus, some don't. Mine get shots if treated for injuries. In my 9 years of owning goats, 2 have needed injections...Dega when he had a hole in his side got penicillin, pain meds, and tetanus injections and antibiotic ointment in the injury site. He's a very tame goat, so he'd just hold still for his medicines. I think his vet bill and medications totaled about $100, but he's a pet, and I spent the money with no hesitation. Jill was attacked by a dog and needed antibiotic injections and tetanus. Vet office showed me where and how to give injections. Some I'd do and some my nurse wife would do.

    7) We've lost two male goats due to urinary stones blocking their urinary tract. In each case they were awesome tame goats. What I now do to prevent blockage is to make sure they have salt which leads to them drinking more water which leads to flushing the urinary tract with more peeing. On any newer males that I've had neutered, I waited longer than the typical few weeks old neutering to about 3 months to give their urinary tract time to grow larger to hopefully allow a bigger tract for stones to pass through. I also add apple juice vinegar to their water to make it acidic to reduce stone formation. Goats are used to the taste and slightly acidic water prevents algae growth in the water containers. No more lost goats in several years now.

    8) They need their hooves trimmed now and then. It helps keep their hooves worn down that mine walk more since they go to other properties to browse. Goats are the symbol for Navy Chief Petty Officers. I've had Chiefs going through initiation come to the farm to help trim goat hooves to earn money for their initiation. One of my adult children now come over and help hold goats while I trim, about once a year. If you come for a visit, wear clothes you can get dirty, and we'll trim up a goat's hooves.

    9) Goats can be hard on fences, out of proportion to their size. They like to scratch by rubbing alone the fence. My earliest fence was a "field fence". Goat were rough on it. When I bought 2.5 more acres from a neighbor, a professional farm fence company fenced it in with "goat fence". Goats can't get stuck in it, and it looks good as new after several years. All my goats have horns; goats like to grab the fence with their horns and pull on it. A goat I lost to urinary stones learned to open the gate latch...a lock stopped that. Used to let them in the backyard until they figured out the doggie door and came in the house.

    10) Intact male goats will spray urine on themselves in the fall to be more attractive to females. Stink. All my males have been neutered; no stink. Other than that, goats don't smell. None of mine are mean to people, but they wack horns with each other to maintain their pecking order. I let the grandkids with the goats with no fear the grandkids would be hurt, other than when there was a mother goat with kids there.

    11) They have a Very Intense herd instinct. A lone goat will be unhappy without a herd (the "herd" could be a horse or donkey or burrow), so at least 2 goats are needed normally. The herd instinct is what allows me to take goats to unfenced areas. They follow me. They may spread out to eat, but they are aware of where the other goats are. The lead goat of a herd is called the Queen and is a female. She can eat from the bowl she wants, leads the goats out to eat in the pasture and brings them back, stops goat fights if she feels it's gone on long enough and generally keeps a lookout for danger. The 3 Queens I've had were all nice; some Queens can be mean to other goats.

    12) My first goats came via a Craigslist ad. Later I became friends with a goat breeder in Holt, Fl. She had a big mean old male goat with real big horns that she warned me about to keep a watch on. I brought him some treats...he was not mean to me and liked me to scratch his back, neck, and chest.
     
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    FrankT

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    Great info Daezee. I used to run 150 head of Spanish in Texas and they were fun to watch but pretty wild and since they ran wild were hard to handle. If left alone they can kill your trees by stripping the bark so after they cleared out the woods we had to pasture them and use supplemental feed.
     

    Daezee

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    Yep. Mine cleaned my pasture, then killed some pine trees. They do eat pine needles, and if I take down a pine tree or a neighbor takes down a tree, the goats run right over for their share. I give them some hay in the morning and if possible take them to neighbor's property in the afternoon. If not taken to the neighbors, they get some goat chow late afternoon. We save banana peels for them and bananas and grapes that have gotten too old to eat. Many of mine are rather plump looking. After a rain storm they go in the woods and eat the fresh leaves that have been blown down.
     

    Django

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    Great info Daezee! Thank you for taking the time to share your insights and experiences. I will definitely take you up on the offer to come visit when things are calmed down Im not afraid to get dirty, dirt can usually be found under my nails.
     
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    Django

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    I dont forsee actually eating the goats. Besides, my 10 year old daughter would not allow it.
     

    Daezee

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    Has anyone mentioned azalea bushes yet?

    Anyone owning goats needs to go online and view the list of plants poisonous to goats. I'm not a great Plant Person, so I simply do not allow the goats to eat any ornamental plants nor my neighbors to feed any such plants to the goats.
     

    3rdown110yds2go

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    Anyone have any experience with Dorper sheep? Seems like an interesting breed.

    Can't believe there hasn't been any stump jokes yet.......

    This Forum has lost it's sense of humor....Fupagunt's used goat joke flopped ( I thought it was funny ).....No Stump Broken Goat jokes......And......

    And I kept waiting....But No Muslim jokes either !!!
     

    Django

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    With a goat thread, its a given that there will be some beastiality innuendo.
     
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