Chat
02-26-2014, 01:17 PM
Howdy all! I'm Teresa, I live in Missouri and I have a small herd of goats. It began with a couple pet goats just for fun, two Myotonic/Nubian crosses. Then my fiance bought 3 pygmy goats for me. 2 bucklings and a doeling. Mistake! The boys bred everybody and while the kids were fun, the bucks became VERY destructive. They were impossible to keep penned. When they couldn't escape they'd just bash their way out over time. They removed hinges and latches from my horse stalls and knocked the siding off my goat shed. I finally had to start tying them out... which was NOT an option I was comfortable with. I ended up finding them a home where they went to be brush munchers.
I found that the mixed breed kids we'd produced were easy to sell as pets, so I started thinking about getting a meatier buck so the girls could earn their keep. As I learned more about meat goats I decided to gradually grow my herd and start bringing in at least one better quality goat each year. I got a Boer cross buck the first year, the next I bought a very nice Boer/Savanna doeling who turned out amazing. So last year I bought a buck bred the same way... Boer/Savanna and he's turning out awesome so I'll be selling my original buck. He's actually a good natured guy and now that I'm writing this it occurs to me that he might be one to consider packing with!
At any rate, the reason I started thinking about pack goats is because I had 6 kids born in February and one is a buckling. He's by the Boer/Savanna buck and out of an Alpine/Nubian doe. He looks like a nice even mixture of the breeds. He's sturdier than the average dairy kid, but not so bulky as to be too heavy for jumping and climbing. In fact, if he gets any of his mother's athleticism he'll be unstoppable! She can clear pasture fences like a deer! He's absolutely in my pocket every time I go out there and couldn't care less about being touched everywhere, having his feet and legs handled or being restrained... so far I haven't found anything that upsets him.
I've just started doing research on the training of pack goats and realize that at 3 weeks old... it'll be a long time before he's ready to pack! But I want to learn everything I can before he gets too big so he doesn't miss the boat.
I don't recall where I found mention of this site whilst web surfing for info, but I'm glad I found it and I do hope to learn more by having actual people to talk with.
I look forward to getting to know you all.
Teresa :-)
I found that the mixed breed kids we'd produced were easy to sell as pets, so I started thinking about getting a meatier buck so the girls could earn their keep. As I learned more about meat goats I decided to gradually grow my herd and start bringing in at least one better quality goat each year. I got a Boer cross buck the first year, the next I bought a very nice Boer/Savanna doeling who turned out amazing. So last year I bought a buck bred the same way... Boer/Savanna and he's turning out awesome so I'll be selling my original buck. He's actually a good natured guy and now that I'm writing this it occurs to me that he might be one to consider packing with!
At any rate, the reason I started thinking about pack goats is because I had 6 kids born in February and one is a buckling. He's by the Boer/Savanna buck and out of an Alpine/Nubian doe. He looks like a nice even mixture of the breeds. He's sturdier than the average dairy kid, but not so bulky as to be too heavy for jumping and climbing. In fact, if he gets any of his mother's athleticism he'll be unstoppable! She can clear pasture fences like a deer! He's absolutely in my pocket every time I go out there and couldn't care less about being touched everywhere, having his feet and legs handled or being restrained... so far I haven't found anything that upsets him.
I've just started doing research on the training of pack goats and realize that at 3 weeks old... it'll be a long time before he's ready to pack! But I want to learn everything I can before he gets too big so he doesn't miss the boat.
I don't recall where I found mention of this site whilst web surfing for info, but I'm glad I found it and I do hope to learn more by having actual people to talk with.
I look forward to getting to know you all.
Teresa :-)