www. citycottage. co. uk
“ If you are prepared to wait for a couple of years to get milking, then a pair of female kids would be a great introduction to goat keeping.”
Remember a goat does need to breed in order to be in milk but it doesn’ t have to breed every year. Most goats will stay in milk for up to 3 years although the amount of milk will drop with the passing of time.
At this time of the year most goat owners will be kidding their goats-in other words now is the time that goat kids are born.
Assuming a goat has kidded in March, a potential goat for re-homing would come available in April or May, with or without her kid. Most goat owners will only sell 2 goats together but this is not always the case.
There are a variety of possibilities as to how you can get 2 goats to live together and be good companions for one another. These are as follows:
• You may buying an in milk female of 2 or 3 years old and a castrated( wethered) male kid as a companion.
• A dairy female with a kid at foot. The mother and or the kid can actually be a cross bred animal by the way.
• A dairy female with a goatling( yearling) at foot A dairy female from one source and perhaps a smaller goat such as a Pygmy from another source. The Pygmy will only be a companion animal though but it will only take up a small space.
• A dairy female and a fibre goat such as an Angora. This is a good combination as you will have an animal for spinning fleece as well if you are interested in this aspect of self sufficiency.
If you are prepared to wait for a couple of years to get milking, then a pair of female kids or one female and one wether would also be a great introduction to goat keeping and you would have the fun of hand rearing them. They do need very regular bottle feeding though for up to 6 months even though they will be eating standard goat feed and herbage by the time they are four weeks old. Most breeders will not sell kids until they are at this semi weaned stage.
Finally, there is always the exception to the rule and someone out there may have a single dairy goat to pass on. My first goat in the 1970’ s was a single one and she was always totally happy in our garden and enjoyed the company of our children. Later we kept one of her own kids as a companion which I’ m sure was appreciated but she still followed the humans around!
Anglo Nubian Cross
Potential Costs of Purchase
In milk dairy goat- between £ 180- £ 200 depending on breed and whether or not it is a registered animal. Unless you are wanting to show your goats an unregistered and subsequently cheaper animal is perfectly alright.
Goatling- £ 120 Kids- £ 50- £ 100 each
Pygmy Goat- from £ 50 to £ 150 depending on age and sex-a wether will always be cheaper
Angora- £ 150- £ 250 depending on age and sex.
Again wether will be cheaper especially if it is over 2 years old as the fleece becomes less saleable commercially from this time but is still very suitable for home spinning.