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.
The goat has many advantages. It's small and gentle enough for even inexperienced people to handle. It's pretty tough and can live many years with decent care. It doesn't need a large pasture, a large barn, or a large amount of expensive feed. Two of these hardy animals can provide 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?
Of course, you'll need to provide hay during the winter and grain if you expect to get a lot of milk. It's still true that a goat is much more economical then a cow. The only thing that you can't do with goat's milk is make butter; there's not a lot of cream in goat's milk and what cream there is doesn't separate out like the bovine kind.
If you need to clear out overgrown pastures, you can put up electric fence to keep the animals in. They'll do a great job on weeds and secondary growth. You can also tie them out and move them to a new area every day, as long as they are protected from hot sun and have water available.
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.
Goats can be very affectionate; you can take them for walks like a dog. They can browse along the side of the road or along a wooded path, and you've fed them for free. If you have a goat or two, a few chickens, a vegetable garden, a berry patch, and an orchard, you've got almost everything you need for the good life.
The goat has many advantages. It's small and gentle enough for even inexperienced people to handle. It's pretty tough and can live many years with decent care. It doesn't need a large pasture, a large barn, or a large amount of expensive feed. Two of these hardy animals can provide 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?
Of course, you'll need to provide hay during the winter and grain if you expect to get a lot of milk. It's still true that a goat is much more economical then a cow. The only thing that you can't do with goat's milk is make butter; there's not a lot of cream in goat's milk and what cream there is doesn't separate out like the bovine kind.
If you need to clear out overgrown pastures, you can put up electric fence to keep the animals in. They'll do a great job on weeds and secondary growth. You can also tie them out and move them to a new area every day, as long as they are protected from hot sun and have water available.
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.
Goats can be very affectionate; you can take them for walks like a dog. They can browse along the side of the road or along a wooded path, and you've fed them for free. If you have a goat or two, a few chickens, a vegetable garden, a berry patch, and an orchard, you've got almost everything you need for the good life.
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