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["Marie McHarry" <mmcharry AT gmail.com>]

On 10/22/06, Clansgian AT wmconnect.com <Clansgian AT wmconnect.com> wrote:
>

> Obviously I have [done the experiment].  Not voluntarily prehaps but I've 
> done it
> several times and
> not just with goats. ....Several times over the past 25 years she
> has shown up at our farm with the goat that was going to be the salvation of 
> our
> herd, improve the blood line, with all goatiana bells and whistles going.  A
> goat that was giving eight pounds (yes, the everlasting 'pounds') of milk a
> day within a week would drop to two, then dry up, when it ceased to have the
> concentrated diet.

That was hardly a controlled experiment, James. A good way to dry any
milking animal off is to take her to a strange place and give her food
she's not used to. You've been raising animals a long time; surely
you've noticed that sudden changes in feed cause all kinds of upset in
an animal. Rob is taking a smarter approach in bringing in dry animals
that will have several months to adjust to his place and the feed
there before they kid and come into milk.

I'm not quite sure why you are so bent out of shape over pounds vs.
gallons. It doesn't really matter does it? I have an inexpensive dairy
scale that I use when I'm collecting milk for cheese, but so what?


Several of them sickened.  One great, wonderful bloodline
> billygoat starved itself to death when the rest of the goats would go off
> browsing and he'd stand there and baaa for the feed bucket.

Funny, I must have smarter goats. When they don't get hay in the
morning, they go out to the pasture.

> Oh, yes indeed, I've
> done the experiment and seen it done many more times by others.

Too bad for the animals that you seem to have no clue about how
animals adapt. Sounds like Cold Comfort Farm to me (read the book;
it's hilarious).

> It all depends on what the goal, principle, .... let's say paradigm of the
> homestead is.

Indeed it does. I think my advice was fine for a homesteader who wants
to keep 2 or 3 goats rather than 8 or more for milk and cheese. Not
everyone has the room for a small herd. And personally, I'd rather
milk a couple of goats than 8 so that I could have enough milk to make
cheese.

Marie