My husband surprised me and said I can get 2 goats (must be same sex). We have about and acre and a half for them with s shallow stream cutting through it. It also has a bit of a pond/marshy area. Used to be a pond but has filled in over the years with vegetation.

We mainly want the goats for the keeping the area well trimmed. So - what type should I get? And which sex? I need a good resource for what a goat needs as far as care, food, shelter.

I am excited because I have been begging for ducks, geese and chickens for years and all I get is NO! And then today I ask about goats and without even batting an eyelash I hear yes:lol:

I have an old mother news around here that had a great article about pack-goats.

Some of them were surprisingly compact and almost miniature in stature. I'll have to dig around for that issue and try to link you up. They were really neat. I could totally get into bringing a goat for a hiking companion.

I'm not up on goats at all, but I'm pretty sure you want all females. The billy goats are stinky and can be PITAs.

Well, I went to the google last night and I think you need a pair of dwarf nigerians. :p

Old Mountain Farm - Sales Page (http://www.oldmountainfarm.com/sales-wethers.htm)

I am trying to get the first two. Wethers don't stink because they have been castrated. When they want some "action" males smell so pretty from what I've heard :lol:

I have to call today but this place seems to be our best bet as it's on my way to family in Maine and they do this for a living and are willing to help new owners become experienced.

The neighbors across the street have 9 goats right now. I went and asked yesterday about them and they are so cute!

omgosh they're perfect. lol. They have 2 available, that young, right in your area? And your neighbor is raising dwarfs too?

Well, it turns out the first one is gone so we are getting the second one and the first one on the bucks page which they will wether for us. We should get them next Tuesday.
We are in CT and these are in Maine but right on the way home for me without too much effort. Tommorw I am going out to clean out the old chicken coop for them and see what we will need for fencing.

My husband has no idea I am buying them this soon. He was thinking July or August :lol:

They are so cute. I know nothing about goats, but I like them. :D

So cool!!! Congrats. Can't wait to hear about them!

** Update

we are getting number 1 and 5. maya is bent on getting number 1 and refuses any other (I wanted 3 or 4). We get them in a week!

My husband has no idea I am buying them this soon. He was thinking July or August :lol:

Happy father's day!!!

I just had to tel him. I think he'd have suspected something tomorrow after work if he came home to a fenced in area:lol:

I just love your choices. #1 is just as sweet as pie and the boots on #5 are the bomb.

You have to know that I broke it to MY dh that there may be a goat in the yard very soon. :happy: I just completed "the animal area" today and I think there's plenty of room for a little goat. yep.

There's a sucker born every minute - we are also getting number 3 :muaha:

I know only a bit about goats and yes, the bucks STINK!!!! Getting the wethers is a good choice for what you want them for.

There are LOTS of books at libraries about raising goats for all purposes!

But you know you want a milker! Maya would love to learn how to milk! My kids (who didn't even drink animal milk and never had, except mine LOL, at the time) wanted to learn how to milk when I went to help a friend on vacation with her goats!!

It sounds like you already have your goats arranged. But if you decide to add other animals in the future, I want to recommend Katahdin Hair Sheep. They are so much easier than goats. They don't escape fences and they don't kill trees. They are extremely hardy, very few parasite or foot problems, and they don't need to be shorn each year like wool-type sheep.

They get a wooly coat in winter, but it sheds each spring. It's easy to pluck off the sheep if you want to save it. I use it as a base for needle-felting or as stuffing for toys.

I have three of them, and think they are awesome. If anyone wants more info, I'll be happy to post more.

Also, there is a big argument for getting female animals that can be bred. Since we breed our sheep and sometimes sell the babies, my accountant has us listed as "sheep farmers" and it is advantageous on our taxes. :D

Shelly I'd love more information!

We actually don't have trees in the soon to be goat area. It was used for horses before we bought the house but we let it go wild once we moved in because we had no way to get oever the streams to mow it down.

awww they are so cute!! have fun with them! Our goats are so sweet, they're like spunky dogs. We have agouti pygmies.
but in the future if you are looking for animals, i would suggest craigslist or the newspaper classifieds. We found our goats on CL for $80 for the pair. i don't know if price is an issue for you guys but we always find cute animals on there for pretty cheap. Because you know, it will start with goats and then you'll love them so much you'll need a couple sheep and then a pig and then.....:lol:

I was lucky to get the goats. My husband has no interest in animals aside from dogs.

I looked on Craigslist for goats and in Uncle Henry's (a Maine swap and sell magazine) but honestly we thought we should start out with an animal we knew came from a reputable place.

Shelly, I'd love more info on the sheep! I think we're going to be getting some sheep next year. Right now we have 8 goats, but they do a *terrible* job at keeping the grass in the pasture short. They will eat anything and everything that they can before they'll eat grass. And a few of them are quite the escape artists which hasn't been good for our trees/gardens!

Shelly, I'd love more info on the sheep! I think we're going to be getting some sheep next year. Right now we have 8 goats, but they do a *terrible* job at keeping the grass in the pasture short. They will eat anything and everything that they can before they'll eat grass. And a few of them are quite the escape artists which hasn't been good for our trees/gardens!

that is exactly how our goats are! They are terribly picky about what they like, everything but grass, i guess. they love brambles (i think we are the only friggin yard in all of oregon that DOESN'T have any though!) and oak leaves (which i believe are somewhat poisonous, correct? but they get a taste every now and then when a few leaves blow onto their side of the yard) and other random plants. One day they decided that they absolutely loved the bark off of the trees in the back (don't know what kind of trees they are honestly) and within the span of about 3 days they stripped the bottom 4 feet of these poor trees! crazy buggers.