Post by milkmachine on Jul 2, 2021 18:17:38 GMT -5
I wanted to ask dairy goat owners but maybe especially dairy goat owners who also have had dairy cows how the two species compare. I know individual animals even in the same species & same breed can vary dramatically but with that in mind are there any thoughts anybody would like to share? Are goats more or less maintenance or is it, as I would guess, more maintenance here and less there to be the same but different from a cow? Do dairy goats tend to have the same frequency of the common dairy cow problems like mastitis, milk fever, ketosis? Is it easy to control parasites & still have drinkable milk? I know that goats are browsers not grazers but how does that actually translate in real life? I've read they prefer browse but will eat more typical pasture plants in the absence of browse. So, if grazing them on a standard pasture mix, how much of their diet can be pasture or how much hay do you feed in the winter vs the pasture months? When they are pastured, is it more for exercise, entertainment & selective nibbling and as a small supplement to their normal year round diet?
We have cows & sheep now but I am concerned about malignant catarrhal fever that cows can get from sheep so that is why I am considering dairy goats, to replace the cow's. We have had our fair share of issues with the cows that I figure are just part of raising livestock. But when I told a goat owner friend of mine about some issues we've dealt with he said that I should get goats. I guess he finds his goats pretty low maintenance & nearly problem free. Maybe he is just a better caretaker than I am or maybe he thinks my problems sound worse than they are and his problems fade in the background to him, which isn't to say they don't exist. I am looking to see if his opinion is common. Thanks
We have cows & sheep now but I am concerned about malignant catarrhal fever that cows can get from sheep so that is why I am considering dairy goats, to replace the cow's. We have had our fair share of issues with the cows that I figure are just part of raising livestock. But when I told a goat owner friend of mine about some issues we've dealt with he said that I should get goats. I guess he finds his goats pretty low maintenance & nearly problem free. Maybe he is just a better caretaker than I am or maybe he thinks my problems sound worse than they are and his problems fade in the background to him, which isn't to say they don't exist. I am looking to see if his opinion is common. Thanks