# Am i the only one that milks my goats?



## The goat girl (Feb 13, 2019)

I've never raised meat goats, I've always stuck to the milk. How many of y'all milk your goats?


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

Let's see... when am I ever NOT milking a goat? ;-)


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Yep I do some milking here. Saving up for a simple pulse.


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

Define milking. I use my goats as surrogate mothers for bum kids and lambs. i have had as many as 50 bums fed by surrogate mothers in one lambing season.


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## Island Milker (Dec 11, 2018)

Twice a day!


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## WhiteFeatherFarms (Jun 29, 2017)

I do!!!


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Ehhhh lol I will milk colostrum from does with singles and will milk the dairy girls at first and when they wean kids till they dry up if that counts lol I do have a jersey cow that I milk 2X a day if that counts lol


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

At this time of year we are focused on kidding. a little later in the year you will see lots more questions on milking next fall you will see breeding questions. just wait you will see.


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## ReNat (Jan 20, 2019)

I'm milking it, it's a man's job.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Here, the tradition is milk. Very few people know what a delicacy goat meat is. To have a goat farm = make a living from making goat cheese. You need some 50 goats to be able to live on them. These people very seldom answer letters, for they simply have no time!

Personally, I let the kids take their choice first, and milked in the summer. When autumn came, I slaughtered and put in the freezer. When having only goat meat for dinners, I got rather tired of the taste. Most milk farm owners kill the kids at birth, having no market for the meat. 

Those who have only one or two goats, have them as pets and very seldom eat them.

In older times, (before I was born!) we had a tradition here that milk was very female. For a man to milk a cow was totally out of the question! (You can read about it in Moberg's "The Emigrants", which I refer to now and then.) Even handling the milk was a female thing, which enabled women to make a living by making cheese.

Eating cheese and drinking milk was okay for a man.

I am glad that such traditions of gender roles are now mainly history. I liked it to handle the butchering, that was a breaking of tradition even when I began to do it.

Once I heard our "King of Goat Veterinary Science", Karl-Erik Hammarberg, say that some people actually had begun to breed goats for meat. It did not occur to me that people abroad have done so for centuries.


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## Nigerian dwarf goat (Sep 25, 2017)

I milk goaties!


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## Old Post Farm (Nov 15, 2017)

i milk everyday 2 or 3 times


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

I milk too! But for a change, I dried everyone off and I took a short vacation from milking. I've milked the last 3 years straight. No vacation from goats, however!


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## wifeof1 (Mar 18, 2016)

I milk also.


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## singinggoatgirl (Apr 13, 2016)

I milk my goats! That's why they're here.


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## The goat girl (Feb 13, 2019)

Jessica84 said:


> Ehhhh lol I will milk colostrum from does with singles and will milk the dairy girls at first and when they wean kids till they dry up if that counts lol I do have a jersey cow that I milk 2X a day if that counts lol


Sure it does!


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## The goat girl (Feb 13, 2019)

ReNat said:


> I'm milking it, it's a man's job.


Milking is not necessary a mans job, but it certainly can be.


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## The goat girl (Feb 13, 2019)

Goats Rock said:


> I milk too! But for a change, I dried everyone off and I took a short vacation from milking. I've milked the last 3 years straight. No vacation from goats, however!


That's kinda what we did, but we are starting back up!


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## The goat girl (Feb 13, 2019)

Damfino said:


> Let's see... when am I ever NOT milking a goat? ;-)


LOL


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## The goat girl (Feb 13, 2019)

Trollmor said:


> Here, the tradition is milk. Very few people know what a delicacy goat meat is. To have a goat farm = make a living from making goat cheese. You need some 50 goats to be able to live on them. These people very seldom answer letters, for they simply have no time!
> 
> Personally, I let the kids take their choice first, and milked in the summer. When autumn came, I slaughtered and put in the freezer. When having only goat meat for dinners, I got rather tired of the taste. Most milk farm owners kill the kids at birth, having no market for the meat.
> 
> ...


WOW how interesting!


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

I usually milk my goats 10 months out of the year. For the first 4-6 months it's 2x a day, then we go down to 1x a day.
The other 2 months of the year, the does are dried off in preparation for kidding. I really love milking though, so I wouldn't mind staggering out the kiddings so that we have milk year round. But I definitely like having all the goat kids born around the same time, so no staggering of kiddings if I can help it.


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

Been raising/milking dairy goats since the early 1980's.


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## Mom_of_8 (Mar 10, 2018)

We got our two does specifically to have milk for our family. Cute kids, brush control and chevron in our freezer are nice side benefits.


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## Jubillee (Dec 22, 2017)

We milk ours, and make cheese and soap with it. We also breed to improve and show them as well.


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## cristina-sorina (May 4, 2018)

We milk our does. Right now the milk is all for the babies but in a couple of weeks we will also be getting the milk First couple of months we do twice day and then cut back to once a day.


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## dreamacresfarm2 (May 10, 2014)

Yes i milk my goats, afterall most of them are dairy. can not eat the rescues. I do have 1 boer but she is a rescue.


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## Goat Whisperer (Dec 3, 2018)

I milk my goats! Usually we milk 10 months out of the year, but I am milking some does through and now others just freshened.


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## The goat girl (Feb 13, 2019)

WOW! and I thought I was one of the only ones that milked! Thank you all for responding!


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## The goat girl (Feb 13, 2019)

Goat Whisperer said:


> I milk my goats! Usually we milk 10 months out of the year, but I am milking some does through and now others just freshened.


LOVE the profile name! I bet it fits you!


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## Sophie123 (Feb 18, 2019)

We only have 2 milk goats, a Lamancha and a Nubian, the rest are meat goats. I do milk those 2, but last year I used most of the milk for the extra goat kids the others had. I do make cheese, and sell some milk occasionally ( well, for pet use only of course


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## The goat girl (Feb 13, 2019)

I think right now The Nubians, are my favorite breed.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

The goat girl said:


> WOW! and I thought I was one of the only ones that milked!


I'm a little bit curious, Why would you think that? I'm seriously curious, not critical at all.


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## Becky Carlson (May 4, 2018)

I milk, I give the babies 2 weeks to drink off momma, then I milk once a day for couple months, then when mom starts to wean I go to twice a day.. My Doe Ruth ( or baby Ruth) gives us plenty , I hand milk, I used hand pump last year... really didn't like it & I don't think she did either.. onder: she would look at 2 me as if I was nuts when I pulled out of bucket. to attach... so back to hand milking this year.


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## The goat girl (Feb 13, 2019)

Becky Carlson said:


> I milk, I give the babies 2 weeks to drink off momma, then I milk once a day for couple months, then when mom starts to wean I go to twice a day.. My Doe Ruth ( or baby Ruth) gives us plenty , I hand milk, I used hand pump last year... really didn't like it & I don't think she did either.. onder: she would look at 2 me as if I was nuts when I pulled out of bucket. to attach... so back to hand milking this year.


Good idea, I would think that hand milking would be easer. But I don't know!


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Don't forget the job to wash the milking pump! And when hand milking, you feel better when something starts to bother the udder. You can start treating a problem earlier. But, yes, it is harder on the hands, when there is much milk!


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

Our goats were originally for milk and clearing the pasture. I enjoyed the hand milking and felt it kept my hands in better shape. We used the milk mostly for drinking and cheese. When we got a real surplus we would separate some cream for butter and ice cream.
I usually milked about 10 months by which time I would have a winter supply in the freezer.
Having had close to 100 babies born here; meat became a wonderful by-product.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Mom_of_8 said:


> We got our two does specifically to have milk for our family. Cute kids, brush control and chevron in our freezer are nice side benefits.


Indeed very nice. But what is brush control? (The machine says 'borstkontroll' ...)


luvmyherd said:


> I enjoyed the hand milking


So did I, and I think I could still sit down to lift an udder and empty it, without large preparations.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Brush is like a stage between grass pasture and tree forest.

Shrubs, forbes, saplings, vines, brambles, unpretty coarse grasses...

Ideal goat and deer food.


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## Becky Carlson (May 4, 2018)

Trollmor said:


> Indeed very nice. But what is brush control? (The machine says 'borstkontroll' ...)


 Brush control, is when you use your goats to control the weeds & brush on your property, Ex. Black berry briars, some ferns.... poison oak... you need to be careful of the plants around though.. some can be dangerous to the goats...
we tie our goats out near black berries brush to keep it off the property line and fence lines...
hope this helps..
onder:
as for the Hand milking... Yes, the clean up was a pain.... we went away for a couple days & goat sitter did not know how to hand milk.. well Milk at all.. but willing to learn how to use hand pump.. grossed out by handling teats... lo, they feel differently now.. I really do prefer hand milking... I get closer to my girls.. a little extra TLC... relaxing.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

An example of brush


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

mariarose said:


> Brush is like a stage between grass pasture and tree forest.
> 
> Shrubs, forbes, saplings, vines, brambles, unpretty coarse grasses...
> 
> Ideal goat and deer food.


Aha, so it is not spelled 'bush' or 'bushes'? Yes, I usually get "hungry" when I see it!


Becky Carlson said:


> hope this helps..
> 
> I really do prefer hand milking... I get closer to my girls.. a little extra TLC... relaxing.


It certainly does! Thanks! And yes, closer, cosier!


mariarose said:


> An example of brush


Yum, yum!


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Trollmor said:


> Aha, so it is not spelled 'bush' or 'bushes'?


That is confusing, I agree. Very close, but not quite the same. You will usually find a bush or bushes in brush land.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Bush a single plant 
I planted a raspberry bush.

Bushes two or more familiar plants. 
The kids like to play in the elderberry bushes.
Or a familiar place. 
The kids play in the creek side bushes.

Brush wild untamed bushes. 
The pasture is overgrown with brush. 
The kids got lost in the brush.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

goathiker said:


> Bush a single plant
> I planted a raspberry bush.
> 
> Bushes two or more familiar plants.
> ...


And I use a brush to brush my hair or groom a horse. Which was what the translating machine believed! :roll:

But 'familiar' obviously means something more than 'well known' - "I am familiar with X".

Oi, OT, sorry!


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## dldolan (Jan 19, 2017)

So, in a twist, I milk my meat goats! I have two Boer females, and breed them to raise kids for local 4-H children to show, but I also keep at least one for freezer camp. Last year, once the kids hit a month old, I milked 1x per day, locking kids away at night, milking in the morning, then letting kids on them the rest of the day. No mastitis that way, either, as kids clean them out! Once the kids were weaned, they only stayed in milk about three weeks, unlike a dairy goat. 

They don't give a lot compared to a milk goat, but I got a little over a quart each morning. (Plenty of milk for me and hubby, and I made and froze lots of chevre (soft cheese) that I pulled out whenever I wanted! So yummy!) I was so happy with the milk & cheese I added in a 3/4 Nubian 1/4 Boer cross doe to my herd last summer! Buck is here now, so hoping for summer babies and fall milking!


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## camooweal (Jun 27, 2015)

Yes, we're among those who milk their goats (Anglo Nubians) 

camooweal


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## ReNat (Jan 20, 2019)

The goat girl said:


> Milking is not necessary a mans job, but it certainly can be.


To milk all the milk from goat to drop, you have to very carefully but at the same time gently massage the udder of the goat. I think it's hard work for a woman, although goats are easy to come across in milking milk, but such goats rarely came across to me.


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

@ReNat Hows the weather over there in Russia?


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## ReNat (Jan 20, 2019)

MadCatX said:


> @ReNat Hows the weather over there in Russia?


Hello, in our region the weather is cloudy + 1C. Today I took the goats to the forest, where they found twigs with buds, wild rose berries, dry grass, snow loose on the knee, it was very difficult for me and goats to walk.


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

How deep is the snow in your region? Are you near Siberia? Do your goats forage alot on wild plants and trees?


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## ReNat (Jan 20, 2019)

MadCatX said:


> How deep is the snow in your region? Are you near Siberia? Do your goats forage alot on wild plants and trees?


Western part of Russia, Kursk region. The depth of snow is 60-80 centimeters. We're surrounded by Federal land, and it's not allowed to walk livestock on it. My goats alone when I want to graze in the area, if you need to graze them in the woods, under my care, I with goats walk together in the woods.


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

Yeah, Federal land her is similar, they are particular about what you do on it. 

Gang here that is 2.5 feet of snow lol. I bet the goats are like dad, we need some stilts to walk on lol. Do the goats keep heavy coats in Russia?


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## ReNat (Jan 20, 2019)

MadCatX said:


> Yeah, Federal land her is similar, they are particular about what you do on it.
> 
> Gang here that is 2.5 feet of snow lol. I bet the goats are like dad, we need some stilts to walk on lol. Do the goats keep heavy coats in Russia?


Yes, it's funny to watch how the goats sink into the snow, on the same belly. Here is a typical Russian goat, but there are all sorts.


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## 21goaties (Mar 13, 2018)

ReNat said:


> Yes, it's funny to watch how the goats sink into the snow, on the same belly. Here is a typical Russian goat, but there are all sorts.


Wow!


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

thats a nice goat comrade


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

We milk our goaties. And ours HATE snow. They get very cranky when I make them walk with me on the snowshoe trail. But that's better then when they try to take shortcuts through snow that is over their heads (They are Nigerian Dwarfs).


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## LillyRoseGal (Jul 15, 2018)

Yep! I’m a milker too! Not right now though- everybody is dried off until the end of next month. Then back to the bucket! 

We don’t get much snow here- 3 inches is usually tops. None of my girls mind it except one, but she’s the Ultimate Princess! Lol


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

Bonnie hates wet anything. Clyde don't care lol..but like @groovyoldlady we'd lose clyde lol


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

We are in the middle of snowpocolypse for this area. I think there might be 2 inches out there lol


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

ReNat said:


> Yes, it's funny to watch how the goats sink into the snow, on the same belly. Here is a typical Russian goat, but there are all sorts.


A very nice picture! That goat would easily have fit into my group of Swedish rural goats. Size or weight?


groovyoldlady said:


> We milk our goaties. And ours HATE snow. They get very cranky when I make them walk with me on the snowshoe trail. But that's better then when they try to take shortcuts through snow that is over their heads (They are Nigerian Dwarfs).


More snow in Russia than in Nigeria?


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

nope lol Nigis are minis


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

What a nice avatar, MadCatX! Anyone more than me _hearing_ him say "F-l-f-l-f-f-f!!!" -?


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

Trollmor said:


> What a nice avatar, MadCatX! Anyone more than me _hearing_ him say "F-l-f-l-f-f-f!!!" -?


Lol Thanks. Clyde loves to blubber, my wife was trying to get him to smile for a picture, being the buck he is he blubbered so she took a pic..lol it's my favorite.


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## ReNat (Jan 20, 2019)

Trollmor said:


> A very nice picture! That goat would easily have fit into my group of Swedish rural goats. Size or weight?More snow in Russia than in Nigeria?


Goats similar to common European, since about 200 years ago the Russian Czar in Russia brought a lot Saanen goats, now a lot Saanen cross goats, goats girls weigh ~40 kg. Goats boys ~ 60kg.


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

sharp beard and nice looking horns. Awesome goat


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## ReNat (Jan 20, 2019)

MadCatX said:


> sharp beard and nice looking horns. Awesome goat


I have a small herd of 4 girls and 2 boys, the hierarchy in the herd clear, the Queen goat of 3 years, the other younger, horns goats wielded rarely, mostly scratching my back. The beard of the goat gives me a lot of trouble, because when the goats graze, the beard sticks a lot of burdock, in the summer I cut their beards.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

ReNat said:


> Goats similar to common European, since about 200 years ago the Russian Czar in Russia brought a lot Saanen goats, now a lot Saanen cross goats, goats girls weigh ~40 kg. Goats boys ~ 60kg.


Is this nice goat yours?

burdock - thanks for the word! I very much recognize that phenomenon!


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

Ha now a chance for you guys to explain something to me! What is burdock?


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

MadCatX said:


> Ha now a chance for you guys to explain something to me! What is burdock?


See if this helps:

https://se.dreamstime.com/royaltyfria-bilder-buske-för-burdock-2-image2985469

Imagine a billy-buck with big beard and plenty of beautiful hair on his neck - like yours - walking past a herb like this, that only longs for an animal to pass, for transporting those seeds. The beard ends up in a KNOT! :crazy:


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

AH yes! Sand Spurs are similiar to this we also have "hitchikers" which are similar. I can absolutely see now why they would wreak havoc...I could see Clyde getting matted down in that haha.


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## ReNat (Jan 20, 2019)

Trollmor said:


> Is this nice goat yours?


In the photo my goat rose, unfortunately she tragically died, she was goat daughter Aza.


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

Sorry for your loss but this is a beautiful goat. Aza is all white? Is this common in this breed?


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

ReNat said:


> In the photo my goat rose, unfortunately she tragically died, she was goat daughter Aza.


Very nice black strip on that horn!  Was Aza mother or daughter to Rose?


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

MadCatX said:


> Sorry for your loss but this is a beautiful goat. Aza is all white? Is this common in this breed?


In the Swedish rural breed it is common but not the only colour. I had several, who were all white - I thought! When they were dead, I discovered black spots on the _inside_ of the skin.


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

I just love looking at the breeds from different countries and such. I love the all white, that is awesome, I want an all black Nigi with blue eyes, but i have a couple of minis I may be interested in.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

MadCatX said:


> I just love looking at the breeds from different countries and such. I love the all white, that is awesome, I want an all black Nigi with blue eyes, but i have a couple of minis I may be interested in.


I am thinking of starting a thread asking people to tell us about having goats in different countries. But for the present time, I have not the energy.  If you start it, please show it to me, so that I can find it! (And maybe add something  )


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## Lindan (Aug 19, 2018)

Trollmor said:


> In the Swedish rural breed it is common but not the only colour. I had several, who were all white - I thought! When they were dead, I discovered black spots on the _inside_ of the skin.


Also common in the Danish rural breed, we have one that looks exactly like that:haha:.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Lindan said:


> Also common in the Danish rural breed, we have one that looks exactly like that:haha:.


An all white goat or a white goat that turns out to be spotty on the INSIDE of the skin?


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

Lindan where are you from?


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Lindan lives in Denmark, just south of Sweden.


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

Hey I just made our goats of the world thread get @Lindan on it, hes a Dane right?


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## Lindan (Aug 19, 2018)

MadCatX said:


> Hey I just made our goats of the world thread get @Lindan on it, hes a Dane right?


Yes she is


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

LMBO sorry Lindan for the assumption


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

MadCatX said:


> Ha now a chance for you guys to explain something to me! What is burdock?


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## ReNat (Jan 20, 2019)

Hey, guys. Maybe it makes sense to open thea branch or a topic of flooding, where you can get acquainted more closely, talk about this and that in a friendly conversation, call it a sandbox or a Smoking room (I do not smoke) figuratively...


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

I think we have one on the forum here its more for small talk and such, was that you mean?


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## ReNat (Jan 20, 2019)

MadCatX said:


> I think we have one on the forum here its more for small talk and such, was that you mean?


If you already have a theme, of course, more do not need to make a copy, I'm sorry yet I'm not well-versed on the website thegoatspot.


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

thats cool - Ill see if I can link it, the mods are pretty easy about us going into topics on our threads that may not be completely on topic. As long as we keep it clean no profanity.


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