Goat Farming – Vital Tips For Beginners Before You Start
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The Cochran-Davenport House is a beautifully restored 1885 farmhouse in Dial, outside Blue Ridge, in Fannin County, Georgia. It is home to The Sustainable Arts Society and is situated on 16 acres along the banks of the Toccoa River. If you are lucky, you can also buy small quantities of freshly made goat cheese and other items from the farm.
According to its website, "the working farmstead includes an organic vegetable garden, native flower gardens and fruit trees. The historic Victorian farm house features a comfortable interior with 5 bedrooms and 3 1/2 baths, wrap around porches, 6 out buildings and barns, and 2 artist studios. Artists in residence are encouraged to participate in activities on the farm and to explore the surrounding area of river, lakes and forests."
Article by Ted Allen
These days, a lot more people are seeing the benefits and potential profits to be gained from goat farming. Goat farming is not an all new endeavor. This form of animal-raising has been practiced since time immemorial, and there are a lot of people from other parts of the globe who are making this their chief form of livelihood. But is this form of animal husbandry as easy as buying goats and crossing your fingers?
Well, not quite. Here are several tips you may want to consider if you are thinking about setting up a goat farm with no experience.
1. Decide what type of goat farming you would like to exercise. There are 4 kinds of goat farming. One is raising goats for the sole purpose of harvesting milk. Goat’s milk can be used as buttermilk, candy, cheese, cream cheese, ghee (clarified butterfat,) kefir (fermented alcoholic goat’s milk,) substitute for cow’s milk, and yogurt. You can likewise use goat’s milk to produce beauty care products such as lotions, skin creams, soaps and other milk-based specialty soaps.
The second type of goat farming is when you raise the aforementioned animals for meat. You have the option to sell the meat as fresh produce or to be used in sausages, salted meat, and smoked meat cuts.
The third type of farming is when you choose to raise goats for their fiber. Basically there are two breeds of goats that yield excellent fibers. That would be the cashmere goats (produce cashmere wool and the angora goats (produce mohair.) The hairs from both animals are prized for their softness and warmth; and merchandise prepared from these are normally pegged at very steep prices. Other breeds that are raised for their fibers are the nigora and the pygora; both of which produce medium class wool.
And lastly, you can also raise goats that are to be sold as pets – which is, by the way one of the emerging profitable businesses these days.
By deciding early on what kind of farming you would like to practice, you can choose what breed of goats, tools and machineries you ought to purchase as well.
2. Constantly hire the services of a veterinarian. A vet is a necessary partner in this kind of endeavor, and you would need to consult him or her for almost every aspect of raising goats. From choosing what feeds or supplements you can give to the animals, to setting up housing and more importantly, to providing you documentation (to be presented to the local government) that you are treating your animals well and that there are no issues on your farm that can constitute to animal cruelty or abuse.
