My wife's Boer Goats started to hatch yesterday. Twins to start off with and we will see what we get. Always been a cow man myself but them little bleaters are kind of cute.

not many things cuter than a baby goat.....

no goats here, but we have a few hair sheep. Lambing is same as done here.

We raised Nubians for a number of years. Afterum is right, cutest things on earth when they are young!

Been fooling with goats for the last 5 years last year I bought 10 alpine does for $50 each and bought a toggenberg buck for $75 lost one older doe during the summer the rest waited until we had a foot of snow on the ground and temps hovering around zero to kid all had twins one nanny had slipped on ice and couldnt stand her first kid was breach and to big to pull ended up shooting her and cutting out the other one out and bottle feeding it ended up selling all but two I can make more money selling the hay I feed them.

another pair of twins this morning

They make good tacos...

and good BBQ

We raise meat goats. One of the things I like most about raising goats is the rapid reproductive rate...get to see new little ones all the time.

Yes you do, and you do not need to feed them for 2 years like a calf. The little jumpers are going strong and the best part is having the little kids out to play with them.

Just curious, how long does it take for them to reach butchering size and how much meat do you typically get from one?

Don't bend over to work on anything while a Buck is around.

The Walmart "Bighorn Sheep"...

A few years ago my Wife and I went to Walmart and as we were parking I noticed about six young Walmart employees pointing and commenting towards a beat up old Van. Out of curiosity I had to go see what they were so captivated about concerning this vehicle.

As I walked up I was hearing comments about how "Bighorn Sheep are protected" and it was illegal to have one in a van let alone possess one. These young employees had called the Police to report the "Bighorn Sheep" locked in a van in the parking lot.

So I went up and looked in the windshield to see this Bighorn for myself. In the back of a stripped out van was a long haired gray Buck Goat. All I could do was shake my head and wonder about the education our kids are getting these days.

As I was walking away a motorcycle officer pulled up and asked me if the van was mine. I smiled and told him "No...but I really wish it was!...This whole mess could be a lot of fun to expose!". He looked at me funny so I shook my head again and told him "It's just a Goat" and laughed as I continued on my way.

I hope I was able to help the Goat owner out a bit because I'm not even sure this "City Officer" would have assessed the true situation as it should have been assessed. There are no Az laws against having "Livestock" in your vehicle. I was once again reminded of how irrational this country is truly getting because of inadequate education.

depends on what you want but typically 6 months to 1 1/2 years, carcass weight is about 1/2 of live weight

I have a herd of Nubian/Spanish cross about 25 last count. I've had 10 kids with 8 surviving this spring and one more momma to go. I'm working on a dairy herd for cheese, soap and milk. I've had mine for about 5 years now. I started with 3 Spanish goats to clear a field and got hooked!

My hat is off to you raising and milking goats, I do not want to milk cows anymore. Cute little springers though

It's just a hobby farm at this point - if I could just retire and be a full-time goat farmer - I'd be a happy girl! I've decided I'm using this time to work the kinks out- LOL!

I'm growing some veggies and herbs too. It's just keeping the goats and the garden away from each other!

My hat is off to you too! 25 is a good start to a serious Hobby!

Some Goat and Sheep owners make fair money around here renting them out to clear Fields.

May I suggest making up a "It's just a Goat!" sign to put in your windshield in case you need to stop by Walmart on the way to or from the Vet with any in the future? lol

I love it!,! My best transport story is bringing home one of my first adolescent goat in the backseat of my Mustang! I still have the goat but not the Mustang!

I'm gonna hafta check on this goat thread more often, ya'll are funny!

Geno

I usually come check the Rural section for new posts first thing. A priority "Close to Home" topic for me.

I'll bet there are a whole lot of funny stories about livestock out there just waiting to be told. I have always enjoyed these! lol

Another one...

We adopted Gus as a Kid for two reasons, to eat Weeds in the yard and to end up as Tacos when he was ripe. But as Gus grew he became a member of the Family. He actually turned out to be pretty smart in a lot of ways.

He would mind like a dog most of the time and even ended up having access in the house when he wanted to come in and coax the Girls out to play with him. He was well House Trained and never did mess inside.

He would mind very well when asked to go outside and respected indoors as a place to come only when invited. He respected and compromised with the Dogs and Emus and they all got along together very well.

As he got older he minded so well that we even gave him unrestricted "open gate" access to the public side of our Business and Shop. he ended up being the highlight of the trip for many of our Customers. Kind of like a Petting Zoo/Tire Shop type situation.

But as Gus came into puberty he started getting rambunctious and committing disrespectful acts of Rebellion and insubordination. Unfortunately, even though I was displeased with his displays my Customers got an absolute kick out of them and couldn't get enough of it.

He started mounting the Back of parked Motorcycles with the owners saying "Make him do it again so I can get a picture". He started trying to mount me from behind when I was bending over to work on Tires..."Make him do it again!" (NO!). Then he started bounding across the top of my Customers Cars from front to rear scratching the hell out of them..."Make him do it again!" was the reaction each time.

Well one day Sam, my 120lb German Police, did not think being mounted was quite as funny as my Customers did and put an end to all that fun. Goes to show you that sometimes an animal can have more common sense than a human.

Here's another unusual goat love story... I had a sickly young buckling that wasn't quite sick enough to shoot but was getting the snot beat out of him by the other adult males. As a last ditch effort to save him I put him in the pen with my young hog, who had just lost his brother and was looking kinda lost. I noticed after a couple weeks the goat was putting on a little weight and in the morning the two would come out of their house together.

Fast forward several months down the road, the goat is looking good and the hog is happy. I'm working in the garden and notice that the goat is trying to mount the hog! The hog is squealing for all he is worth. I realized it is time to release him to the herd. If he was well enough to defile the hog he could hold his own with the group.

Currently, the goat is thriving. What else could I expect from a goat named Valentino!

There is a great a follow-up story here with the hog but I will save it for a hog thread!

He just needed a Boyfriend???

Thank you for sharing this!...Animals do the funniest things sometimes.

We raised Emus for awhile and these critters were hilarious!

Time for a fun story thread!