If you want to raise your own food, pay for nothing but salt, coffee, and property taxes, and work for yourself, you must be a homesteader at heart. Having a small allotment of land and making it produce all the food you and your family need is a dream - but it can come true. Many achieve sustainability using goats as one of their domestic animals.
These long domesticated animals have many good points. They produce delicious and nutritious milk. You can eat them. They are easy to handle, even for the inexperienced, and their pasture and shelter can be modest. They don't require much feed. Two good milkers can give all the milk a family needs.
Cows need ample pasture, but a goat actually prefers weeds and brush. These browsing animals like to take a mouthful here and another one there, trying almost every green thing it finds. They can be kept on hay, but this is more expensive than letting them eat the weeds that are free. Letting them tidy up fencerows and roadsides saves manpower, too. Why mow or weed-eat when the goat will do it?
They will need hay during the winter but not nearly as much as a cow. You need to feed them grain if you want to get a lot of milk. Again, they need a lot less grain than a cow will. Goat's milk doesn't make butter, since it has little cream, but that's about the only drawback to not having a cow. Making cottage cheese and wonderful soft cheeses is easy with goatsmilk.
You can use a goat to clear out an overgrown fence line or lot. Throw up a temporary electric fence around an area that needs to be cleared, or tie the goat on a rope. Be careful not to leave it in the hot sun; these animals are susceptible to sunstroke. Goats need both shade and water when they're tied out.
Of course, you don't have to milk goats. Many raise them for meat or purely for clearing. There isn't a lot of meat on a goat, but it tastes great and doesn't cost much in terms of feed. Often a small family can't use all the meat from a cow and will do better with a few goats and a few chickens in the freezer.
Goats are like sheep in that they often have twins, so it's pretty easy to get a herd going. You also don't have to breed a goat every year. Unlike a cow, a good milking goat can go for two years or more before needing to be bred back. Many health authorities say that goatsmilk is more digestible than cowsmilk, and it doesn't need to be pasteurized since tuberculosis is almost unknown in goats. Many cultures have used raw goatsmilk as a wound dressing, and it's considered excellent for infants, the sick, and the elderly.
It's fun to raise goats, too. They can be as affectionate as dogs, and they love to go for a walk. A family with a small herd of goats, a few chickens, a vegetable garden, an orchard, a berry patch, and a beehive will really have all it needs.
These long domesticated animals have many good points. They produce delicious and nutritious milk. You can eat them. They are easy to handle, even for the inexperienced, and their pasture and shelter can be modest. They don't require much feed. Two good milkers can give all the milk a family needs.
Cows need ample pasture, but a goat actually prefers weeds and brush. These browsing animals like to take a mouthful here and another one there, trying almost every green thing it finds. They can be kept on hay, but this is more expensive than letting them eat the weeds that are free. Letting them tidy up fencerows and roadsides saves manpower, too. Why mow or weed-eat when the goat will do it?
They will need hay during the winter but not nearly as much as a cow. You need to feed them grain if you want to get a lot of milk. Again, they need a lot less grain than a cow will. Goat's milk doesn't make butter, since it has little cream, but that's about the only drawback to not having a cow. Making cottage cheese and wonderful soft cheeses is easy with goatsmilk.
You can use a goat to clear out an overgrown fence line or lot. Throw up a temporary electric fence around an area that needs to be cleared, or tie the goat on a rope. Be careful not to leave it in the hot sun; these animals are susceptible to sunstroke. Goats need both shade and water when they're tied out.
Of course, you don't have to milk goats. Many raise them for meat or purely for clearing. There isn't a lot of meat on a goat, but it tastes great and doesn't cost much in terms of feed. Often a small family can't use all the meat from a cow and will do better with a few goats and a few chickens in the freezer.
Goats are like sheep in that they often have twins, so it's pretty easy to get a herd going. You also don't have to breed a goat every year. Unlike a cow, a good milking goat can go for two years or more before needing to be bred back. Many health authorities say that goatsmilk is more digestible than cowsmilk, and it doesn't need to be pasteurized since tuberculosis is almost unknown in goats. Many cultures have used raw goatsmilk as a wound dressing, and it's considered excellent for infants, the sick, and the elderly.
It's fun to raise goats, too. They can be as affectionate as dogs, and they love to go for a walk. A family with a small herd of goats, a few chickens, a vegetable garden, an orchard, a berry patch, and a beehive will really have all it needs.
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