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I know it's REALLY off topic but this is the only forum I really frequent. I'm looking to buy land in the next year or so and I want to raise some livestock on it. I keep hearing that goats are really cheap and easy but then I'm told that in an area like East Texas they don't do so good because there is not enough rock in the ground and they have hoof problems. Is there any truth to this? I thought about maybe even bringing in rock to the area I would keep them and I would have some hard packed caliche roads.

Any ideas or web pages you can point me to? I'm not finding anything.

Why goats? I hear Alpaca are easy to raise and are in demand for their wool.

You might google for goat ranches in the Henderson area. If memory serves me, I think that there is a goat processing plant in that area. I am sure those folks would be glad to give you some pointers.

I have a friend in Hempstead that has a few dairy goats (she makes her own cheese) along with her sheep herd. She doesn't have any problems with hoof-rot (to my knowledge). I had goats at the zoo where I worked (west Houston) and I did have issues with hoof rot. I had some caliche rock brought in that I fed on and that helped somewhat. Call your local Ag extention office, they'd be the best source of info.

Tass

I dont have any, but the people who live at the end of my road have a pasture full of them (probably 15 or 20). I live just east of Houston. I dont know the people, so I've never had a conversation with them about their goats, but I've seen them every day for the last couple of years.

Mi Compadre has boar goats. He gets them little and sells them big. I'll ask him about the hoof issues tomorrow, but I haven't heard him speak of any before. He has said that they are mischievous little things and not that bright, although, if there ia a way to get over or through a fence they will find it. He has lost a few over the years from getting their heads through the fence and then getting the horns stuck and either strangling themselves or breaking their necks when they panicked.

Greg,

There is an Ag Ext. office in Bear Creek Park (I-10/Hwy. 6), that may be the closest one to you. http://harris-tx.tamu.edu/ Not sure who to tell you to ask for now.

Tass

Kythas wrote:Why goats? I hear Alpaca are easy to raise and are in demand for their wool.

I have a friend wanting to sell an Alpaca ranch in Oregon.

Here are my 2 cents. We have a small piece of property, and have 2 nigerian dwarf goat wethers (neutered males), as well as some other smaller livestock. We have raised meat goats for fairs for several years, and I have tried to do my homework on general goat care. If it were me just wanting to keep things grazed down a bit, I would NOT go with a wool breed unless I were wanting to get into "raising" goats. A wool breed - especially in texas would need to be sheared. Angoras get long silky hair, and it can be a hazard in the woods - it can trap them. Goats are pretty hardy - one of my favorite reference sites is http://www.fiascofarm.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. There is also a group on yahoo groups called Goats 101. It is an awesome group and helped me out a lot when we started. Your dairy and meat breeds are going to be easiest. Your biggest challenges will be fencing and protection from predators... if they know there is an easy meal.... the other challenge is parasites with our moist, humid weather, they must be wormed regularly.

We are in SE Tx and our little "pet goats" hooves do fairly well. I may trim once a year, but they keep them worn down, we do let them up front on the drive occasionally, but not enough that I would consider it beneficial for their hooves.

That being said, we also have a heritage breed of cattle I would recommend researching - they are small, dual purpose, (milk and meat) and if you get a wild hair - draft animal. They browse on many things I have seen commercial breed cattle turn their noses up at. They are easy going and you can graze more per acre than larger breeds. Check out Dexter cattle! Then you can have a nice supply of home grown grass fed beef should you so chose. http://www.dextercattle.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I may be partial but I LOVE Our little Irish cows!

JMPHO
DA

Divided Attention wrote:Your biggest challenges will be fencing and protection from predators... if they know there is an easy meal....

Strange as it sounds, donkeys make good guardians for the goats. I know, I called it bunk too. Couple of years ago I met a goat rancher at a feed store in Lampasas. He told me that donkeys are used because they are capable of killing a coyote and are natural herding animals. Since then, it seems every herd of goats I see has a donkey among them. I have only seen this in TX.

We have a few acres in TN and the property adjoining us has goats. We encourage the owners to allow them onto our property to keep the kudzu at bay. They love the stuff and even eat the roots (removing the roots is about the only way to get rid of the stuff). I asked him about the donkeys and he laughed so hard that I was going to need to give him CPR. Well, a few months later when we were there he came flying across the field to tell me that, yes, he had confirmed that donkeys do act as 'dog guards' to the goats.

Whoda thunk it..............

Thanks for all the info. Yeah we use donkeys to guard our cattle. They will stomp and kick the heck out of a coyote. They will also pick them up with their teeth and thrash them around.

I guess what I heard about goats may not have been accurate. I'm looking forward to getting the land and then some livestock on it.

I know that Great Pyrenees dogs are great with goats. In fact, they are perfectly happy living with the goats as if they were all one big happy family, and they will give up their life to protect their goats. Goat farmers have been putting these dogs with their goat herds for centuries.

Livestock Guardian Dogs are worth their weight in kibble! My friend has several and they do their jobs effectively. A couple are more perimeter dogs and the others tend to spend the day amongst the sheep. She has Pyrs and has had a few that were Pyr/Anatolian mixes. If you are looking for a LGD, let me know and I'll find out who she gets her dogs from (they come from working lines).

Pyrs are the BEST babysitters with toddlers! I've seen first-hand a Pyr standing patiently for a little person who was just learning to stand up. He would just stand there and let the kid pull herself up. She'd fall and he would just sit patiently until she started tugging on him...too cute!
Tass

Donkeys are herbivores, so that's an advantage if you don't plan to build a house and live on the property.

Our miniature donkey (Divided Attention is my better half) is kind of hit-or-miss on the protection front. In the last week or so, we have lost five or six laying hens out of his pasture due to coyotes that have come under or over the net wire fence surrounding it. Though we lose hens with some regularity, the nigerian dwarf wethers have never had a scratch from predators. Even so, the donkey has taken a plug out of them from time to time because he is being a "donkey". YDMV (Your Donkey May Vary), of course.