The Benefits of Raising Goats on a Small Farm

What are goats for? What advantages do they provide? For small farmers, pastime farmers and family properties, goats can be an excellent choice of species. They are good for milk, meat, fibers and more.

What are goats for?

So what are the advantages of raising it from goats?

• Raise your own meat. Raising goats for meat can be an excellent thing to do for your own family, to meet your food needs, but it can also be a profitable small agricultural business, if you think carefully and with an eye on where you will market it.
• Produce milk. Dairy goats give large amounts of milk, generally more than a family cannot use. You can make goat cheese, goat yogurt and other dairy products that you can dream (goat kefir?). If you are a small farmer, goats can help you reach the goal of producing value -added products such as cheese and yogurt – or simply sell fresh goat milk. There is a cheap for that with people who cannot tolerate cow dairy products
• Soap. Goat milk makes a wonderful, soft and soft soap which is often used by people with sensitive skin.
• Produce fibers. Goats are good for producing fibers as well as milk and meat. They are so versatile. Angora and Pygora goats produce mohair, while cashmere goats produce cashmere. Again, you can take raw goat fibers and run it in wire and knit, weave or crochet it in any number of value added products.
• Terrace. Goats are great navigators And they like to eat weeds and blackberries. Pasta on everything you want to eliminate and let them act like living pigs.
• Use them as pack animals. Goats can be formed to transport your hiking equipment and are particularly suitable for rocky and rocky trails. They can easily transport 20 to 30% of their body weight, And they have a minimum environmental impact. They can eat what they find when they travel while browsing the trail, so you don’t have to pack food for them. Goats can also learn to pull carts.
• Use their manure as fuel. Many people around the world use a goat dung to fuel fires. It is certainly an option for those of us who are big on self -sufficiency.
• Use their skin and hide. Goat skin can be dried and tanned like leather and used in a number of products, including goat skin gloves. Goat skin (with always intact hair) are traditionally used in Africa to make drums. Goat mats can also be made.
• Easy to train and handle. Goats are social animals and they are easy to train. They are easy to manage, even by children. They are a good size compared to cows, and this size also makes them easier to manage.
• They are inexpensive to keep. Goats are not only useful, but they are also economical. Because they can travel and because they do not need too fancy shelter (just a very good fence), goats can be a very economical animal for the small farm
• They are versatile. Milk, meat, fibers, transport packs and even fuel of their dung? Goats are good for all these things.
• They make manure. Okay, any animal does it, but goat manure is ideal for fertilizing your fields. An average goat produces about 300 pounds of manure each year, And the excrement is in the form of pellets, which makes them easy to handle. Goat manure is a good source of potassium, potash and nitrogen, and perhaps other minerals as well.