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Originally Posted by Vidaloco I'm thinking about getting a goat to save the environment  *hidden meaning...no grass to mow*
I have been thinking of either a Nubian or a small Nigerian. My question is, since those are both dairy breeds do you have to milk them? If so how often, is it like a dairy cow that needs milked day and night? |
Goats are horrible grazers, just so you know; they prefer browsing...trees, and other foliage are more 'their thing'...they do eat grass and hay of course, but one simply won't keep your lawn mowed...you're horses would do a better job of it! LoL!
At any rate, to your other questions, unless you breed her, you will not have to milk her. And if you do breed her, you can let her raise her kids, and let her decide when to wean, and thus dry up.
If you did decide to milk, you could do once or twice a day...the disadvantage to once a day is that you wouldn't get as much, but you also wouldn't be tied to such a schedule. But again, you don't have to milk her.
As far as dogs are concerned, yes, alot of goats will try to defend themselves, but there are more dogs who won't back down, so keeping the goat properly penned is really a must, for her own protection. And no goat stands a chance against more than one dog, which can be prevalent in towns or small farm communities, where people just let their dogs roam; and the dogs wind up forming packs.
