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Homesteading and relying on what God made

jacobhaivri said:
We live in Arizona and do some urban homesteading. Goats are awesome! I also have a difficult time digesting cow milk. First milking purposes, Nubian goats are great. If it is for personal use rather than commercial, I suggest you get two or three goats as young as possible so you can bond with them as they bottle feed. If you treat them like pets from day 1, they will act like it. If you treat them like livestock, they will be less friendly. In any event, keep a male well away from them and they will all smell less goaty. Keep the male as far away as possible for your own sake. Bring him by when they are old enough to breed so you can get your milk.

In our current area, we can no longer have the nubian, but only the smaller breed goats. A close 2nd to the Nubian is the Nigerian Dwarf Goat, but you get a lot less milk.

Eventually, I would love to have some land. I think the Almighty may just answer that prayer. Time will tell.

He is a good Father to me. The best.
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I had goats most of my life and loved them. But now that I have switched to milking sheep I never want to go back to goats.
Here are a few reasons why.
Sheep milk is sweet and mild, even when they graze on strong flavored forage. It never tastes goaty. Only 4 of 12 goats gave sweet drinkable milk on the weeds that grow here.
Rams have a musky scent, but it is nothing like a buck.
Rams don't spray themselves with urine. A lot of sheep breeds are hornless, all ewes are hornless, so no disbudding needed, except on ram lambs kept for breeding that grow horns that are more like scurs then real serious horns.
Sheep are also far less dominating of each other. The ewes rarely butt heads.
Sheep are grazers (goats are browsers) and prefer to eat grass and ground growing plants.....and they thrive on it. Goats in my experience do not do well on pasture.
Finally sheep meat has a texture that is more like chicken or pork. Goat meat is stringy like beef. Now I like the flavor of both, but find the lamb easier to eat.
The sheep I have are mostly hair sheep and don't require shearing. I have some 50% dairy sheep that have wool, and need to be sheared, but I am breeding that out as fast as I can.

Hubby is currently shopping for goats again. He wants pack animals and goats are allowed out in the forest areas.
 
Joleneakamama said:
I had goats most of my life and loved them. But now that I have switched to milking sheep I never want to go back to goats.
Here are a few reasons why.
Sheep milk is sweet and mild, even when they graze on strong flavored forage. It never tastes goaty. Only 4 of 12 goats gave sweet drinkable milk on the weeds that grow here.
Rams have a musky scent, but it is nothing like a buck.
Rams don't spray themselves with urine. A lot of sheep breeds are hornless, all ewes are hornless, so no disbudding needed, except on ram lambs kept for breeding that grow horns that are more like scurs then real serious horns.
Sheep are also far less dominating of each other. The ewes rarely butt heads.
Sheep are grazers (goats are browsers) and prefer to eat grass and ground growing plants.....and they thrive on it. Goats in my experience do not do well on pasture.
Finally sheep meat has a texture that is more like chicken or pork. Goat meat is stringy like beef. Now I like the flavor of both, but find the lamb easier to eat.
The sheep I have are mostly hair sheep and don't require shearing. I have some 50% dairy sheep that have wool, and need to be sheared, but I am breeding that out as fast as I can.

Hubby is currently shopping for goats again. He wants pack animals and goats are allowed out in the forest areas.
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Wow, that’s really interesting. I will have to look into sheep. Out pasture should support most anything.

I am really leaning toward a cow.
Currently I am getting ready to fence and need to get a well drilled but they are $$$.
 
David D said:
Wow, that’s really interesting. I will have to look into sheep. Out pasture should support most anything.

I am really leaning toward a cow.
Currently I am getting ready to fence and need to get a well drilled but they are $$$.
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Everything costs and you gotta do first things first.
I think every creature has its place. My hubby and oldest daughter both want a cow, and I can understand the why.
If we "shared" a bit of cow's milk with the neighbors in exchange for hay, we could probably enjoy better butter for the work of caring for bossy.
We use a lot of butter!

One of the downsides to sheep is they have zero defenses against predators. This year we lost one lamb, and had two ewes injured (one seriously and she almost died) by a neighbor's German Shepherd.
Cattle are less vulnerable to such beasts.
Goats with horns are less vulnerable to predation IF they know how to use those weapons on their heads.
Some places in Texas raising Spanish goats suffer huge losses in their herds to coyotes.
 
Joleneakamama said:
Everything costs and you gotta do first things first.
I think every creature has its place. My hubby and oldest daughter both want a cow, and I can understand the why.
If we "shared" a bit of cow's milk with the neighbors in exchange for hay, we could probably enjoy better butter for the work of caring for bossy.
We use a lot of butter!

One of the downsides to sheep is they have zero defenses against predators. This year we lost one lamb, and had two ewes injured (one seriously and she almost died) by a neighbor's German Shepherd.
Cattle are less vulnerable to such beasts.
Goats with horns are less vulnerable to predation IF they know how to use those weapons on their heads.
Some places in Texas raising Spanish goats suffer huge losses in their herds to coyotes.
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Yes butter would be awesome!!! I really do want a cow!! I hope to get an gaurdian dog like an Anatolian to watch after the fields. You would really enjoy talking to my wife as I think she would enjoy the same, I will try to see if she will join BF. She is really looking to learn more about fruit trees as well
 
@David D Skipley Farms in Washington would be a good place to ask about varieties that perform well in that climate.
I believe they graft and sell trees too!
 
David D said:
I was thinking 6x6 posts and hi-tensile field fencing.
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Hi-tensile wire works well for cows. I highly suggest electrifying it; saves a lot of work on repairing fence from cattle pressure and you only need 1/2" - 1 1/2" line posts. And look into poly-composite posts for line, boss and corner posts. It'll cost more but you'll thank me 10 years from now as it will save you a lot of work in tracking down shorts.

But if you are thinking goats you'll need woven or welded wire field fencing. That is usually true for sheep as well but it is possible to train them to 2 wife electric fence.
 
rockfox said:
Hi-tensile wire works well for cows. I highly suggest electrifying it; saves a lot of work on repairing fence from cattle pressure and you only need 1/2" - 1 1/2" line posts. And look into poly-composite posts for line, boss and corner posts. It'll cost more but you'll thank me 10 years from now as it will save you a lot of work in tracking down shorts.

But if you are thinking goats you'll need woven or welded wire field fencing. That is usually true for sheep as well but it is possible to train them to 2 wife electric fence.
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“2 wife electric fence” Is that ok? I thought they would just stick around.

I will have to look into the posts .
 
David D said:
“2 wife electric fence” Is that ok? I thought they would just stick around.
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:eek: if only electric fence worked on wives...

Now for sheep, 2 wire fence is pretty advance stockmanship, you may not be able to pull it off. Some can even rotationally graze sheep with 1 wire. But for property perimeter fence more than 2 is best. For cows I use 1 wire for daily grass breaks (polly), 1-3 wires for major pasture subdivisions (poly or high tensile), and 2-5 wires for property perimeter fencing. But that has more to do with risk management than what it takes to keep them in. 1 wire is almost always enough for cows and 2 for calves.

Just don't forget to check your state's fencing laws; that will govern what you must have on the perimeter.
 
David D said:
We just cooked our first dinner on the cookstove!! Really seems like a great way to go!
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That is awesome! You guys are doing exactly what I want to do just things haven't lined up quite yet. I might have missed it earlier in the thread but are you guys off grid or working to get off grid?
 
My man. That is awesome. You'll have to start a YouTube channel like guildbrook farms and weed 'm and reap. That way you can make some extra cash and keep everyone up with your progress .
 
Woo hoo!
Congrats on using that new stove!


I like the weed em n reap channel. Found them comparing cow, goat and sheep milk.
Love a wood cook stove too. Fixed many a meal on ours. Using one is not a "lost art" but you do have to learn by practice to be the thermostat and the timer that considers everything effecting the temp combined.
 
Soldier's Psalm said:
My man. That is awesome. You'll have to start a YouTube channel like guildbrook farms and weed 'm and reap. That way you can make some extra cash and keep everyone up with your progress .
Click to expand...
We do have one, “Journey acres” we haven’t posted in a while because we have been in survival mode and just haven’t had time! My wife and I really want to get back on it.
 
Joleneakamama said:
Woo hoo!
Congrats on using that new stove!


I like the weed em n reap channel. Found them comparing cow, goat and sheep milk.
Love a wood cook stove too. Fixed many a meal on ours. Using one is not a "lost art" but you do have to learn by practice to be the thermostat and the timer that considers everything effecting the temp combined.
Click to expand...
@Joleneakamama, yes it appears there is a learning curve but so far so good. God is good and he is giving us an amazing opportunity to live the way we have always dreamed of. We feel really blessed!
 
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