Comments | naturalliving: First post.

socialisthobo in naturalliving

First post.

Jul 13, 2008 16:30

Hi everyone-I just joined, and had been looking for a place to write shop with others about organic farming, and settled here since I do winter over in cities, but hopefully not for long!

Do any of you have experience with dairy goats? Here are four of ours:

( Read more... )

livestock

Comments 41

blueyz72 July 13 2008, 21:39:51 UTC

I have no personal experience, but what beautiful animals!!

Goats! socialisthobo July 13 2008, 23:51:07 UTC

Yeah they are!

alathia July 13 2008, 21:49:31 UTC

there is an organic_garden community that might be useful for you as well!

Organic garden socialisthobo July 13 2008, 23:46:45 UTC

I haven't seen that one yet, thank you very much!

morgan303 July 13 2008, 22:02:42 UTC

I work on a largely-organic farm (the green produce is organic, the animals aren't, although aren't fed anything like hormones, steroids, etc., just good quality, non-organic food) that has gorgeous Anglo-Nubians like these ones! I love them *so* much; they're full of personality and their milk is the nicest milk I've ever had. We milk them by hand (it's a small farm), but there are goat farms that I know that do have 'professional' milking arrangements; they use Saanens though rather than Anglos. Apparently they're quieter and less excitable.:)

This is my first time working with dairy goats but I've wanted Anglos ever since I was a kid, so it's wonderful, and the learning curve over the last year has been immense!

Are these your goats? The kid in the foreground is such a cutie.:)

socialisthobo July 13 2008, 23:50:17 UTC

Our farms sound very similar; the cracked corn we buy for the livestock isn't organic, and sometimes my bosses apply an oil based coating to the fruit trees in our orchard, but the rest of the fruit, and all of our vegies are organic, and our livestock are free range, goats also milked by hand, etc.

They aren't mine, I just work here, but they are my bosses'. Personally, I like the black one the most because all the kids they've had any time I've been here have been brown, but they're all cute, for sure!

morgan303 July 15 2008, 13:36:48 UTC

It's a nice way to live, innit? Even if the farm belongs to someone else, there's nothing like actually producing your own food.

We have the opposite colour thing going with our goats; heaps of ours are black, so the brown ones stand out. My favourite is a little tawny-coloured one that looks like a small deer; she's gorgeous! I'll see if I can find the photos I took of her.

Back to the land! socialisthobo July 15 2008, 17:03:35 UTC

Yes it is!

wildcherrywine July 13 2008, 22:08:34 UTC

I have experience with milking goats. Lovely nubians, btw. (:

Goats! socialisthobo July 13 2008, 23:52:17 UTC

Thanks! Do you have any right now? Would they be a part of your dream farm?

emraldfire July 13 2008, 22:37:34 UTC

I have a question, and I know it might sound stupid, but I'm going to ask it anyway. To get milk from a dairy goat, do you have to get the goat preganant and have it give birth like how you do with a cow? I think the answer is yes, but I was not sure, hahaha :)

Goats! socialisthobo July 13 2008, 23:45:05 UTC

Yes. If it makes you feel any better, before I came here the first time, when I was 25, I thought goats were male sheep and I was kind of freaking out wondering what exactly goat cheese was made out of. :)

Re: Goats! morgan303 July 15 2008, 13:25:51 UTC

Lots of people who visit the farm I work on look at us milking our dairy cows and ask "How often do you have to milk him?"
:)