GOATS!

[thistlebloom]

Beautiful pic Thistle! But I have to ask...is everyone peeing over the hill?

Well, YEAH!

No, actually, no body is relieving themselves!
The goats were looking over the precipice as though considering a death defying leap, and DH was keeping an eye on the two knuckleheads.

journey, I don't know if Nigerians tend to be jumpers as a breed or if that is more of an individual thing. The couple instances I heard about were Nigerians, so it might be a consideration. Although if yours was a Boer/Nubian...heavier breeds...it sounds like an individual thing.

With the full size Nubians, and Saanens we never had a jumper. And my little guys are Nub/Nig crosses and they don't jump. You could always run a hot wire, even temporarily along the top of the fence to discourage any monkey business from the get go.

 

[897tgigvib]

I once did that off the edge of the Grand Canyon back in 1972.

It might have reached the bottom by now. Wow it was a long ways down!

 

[rebbetzin]

OK Journey, what does goat milk taste like? I have had a goat cheese and it was nasty. I have also eaten goat, also nasty.

FRESH goat milk tastes very much the same as cow milk. And goat cheese, made from FRESH goat milk, is very nice. Goat milk and cheese when they get OLD have a "musky" goat flavor. I HATE that flavor!! I make my own cheese, and it takes about three weeks to a month in the fridge for it to go "goatie" Milk takes about a week, for it to go goatie, unless you freeze it.

To me all commerical goat cheese is goatie tasting. And years ago, I got some goat milk at the health food store that tasted like it had been too close to a male goat! It made me afraid to try goat milk for years!

But, now that I milk goats, and am able to make my own cheeses I LOVE goat milk and cheese.

 

[journey11]

With the full size Nubians, and Saanens we never had a jumper. And my little guys are Nub/Nig crosses and they don't jump. You could always run a hot wire, even temporarily along the top of the fence to discourage any monkey business from the get go.

That is reassuring!

Monty, there's a lot of things that could cause it to taste funny, so it's hard to tell. Something they've eaten, being too near a buck, or maybe the milk wasn't chilled promptly after milking? It's supposed to taste very similar to cow milk. Rebbetzin can certainly vouch for that.

 

[Southern Gardener]

Beautiful pic Thistle! But I have to ask...is everyone peeing over the hill?

Hate to admit, but that's what I first thought!!

Really tho - that is cool to have pet goats - I'd love to have a couple.

 

[curly_kate]

Thistle - I'm glad to hear about the cattle panels! I was looking at those online, and they seem affordable enough and easy enough to move on a regular basis. We definitely can not afford to do chain link or any permanent type fencing on our land. DH still keeps insisting that we can put them on a picket, but I really don't like that idea. I work from home, so I can kinda keep an eye on them, but I do need to actually get work done, not constantly be out there untangling the goats. I was considering wethers, but once the new house is built and I actually have some space, I'd consider milking them. Goaty or not, I LOVE goat cheese! I'm leaning towards Saanens or Alpines, but we'll see. I read that Nubians can be high-strung. Is that accurate?

 

[thistlebloom]

Nubians high strung? I don't know, we had Nubs and Saanens and the Nubs were my favorite by far. The Saanens were boring to me, but I'm sure they have personalities too! The Nubians were just so much more fun.

Maybe Rebbetzin will chime in, she milks Nubians. They are noisier comparatively.

I'm sure I've told this story here before somewhere, so excuse me for repeating it, but when I was a teen I kept one of our wethers for a pet. He was a huge Nubian. My friend had a brindle Great Dane and we would walk the two of them into town and go to Dairy Queen.

My goat would eat the nuts off the top of my sundae.... fun times.

 

[Nyboy]

Curly kate I got my father a used chainlink dog run off craigslist for under $100. They are chainlink panels that are 6 feet high that bolt togather ez to move.

 

[lesa]

Oh, thistle! What a wonderful story! I can just about see the scene, in my mind... I need to taste fresh goats milk. I would love to have some goats for milking. That is about the only reason I "need" to go to the grocery store. I would have everything I need!

 

[canesisters]

Who doesn't love a happy goat?