# 2017 Goals: what are yours?



## Cedar Point Kikos (Oct 16, 2013)

So, as this year comes to a close, what do you all want to do next year?
What are your goat goals? Goat business goals? Showing?

Would love to hear them!


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## JK_Farms (Nov 12, 2016)

Well I'll have kids in 2017 so hopefully all girls! And easy sells


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## Cedar Point Kikos (Oct 16, 2013)

Lol, all girls  That's my secret goal too! I only want one buck...and from a certain doe too. Likelihood of that happening? Pretty low, I'd think


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Well, my breeding program got totally derailed by wonky test results. So my first goal is to manage to get all 4 does bred before January is over. Next goal, to find 3-4 consistent milk or cheese customers. Final goal to sell those babies. Dream goal, to talk the hubby into keeping 2 bucks on our property. (We'll see how THAT goes...)


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

Oh gosh! My goals are so different from usual. 
I only have 4 goats right now. Three bred ladies and a buck from last year. My other ladies and buck have been moved to my son's 22 acres in Nor Cal. My goal is to have no goats by late spring so that hubby and I will be free to travel for a year or two. I am also hoping for bucklings as we plan to butcher this year's kids. 
My biggest dilemma is that Star, one of my senior does who has already been moved, is not adjusting as I hoped she would to mountain life. My does were all born here and whereas we felt they would be happier in the mountains; they seem to like their life of limited pasture and having hay brought to them.
So I have got to decide what to do with my other two older does. We do not feel we can eat them but we do not want to let someone else have them and have them be unhappy. They have never known anywhere but here nor anyone but us. We will see how kidding goes in February and then make the ultimate decision. We may move up to the mountains with them for a few months to see if they adjust better if we are there with them.
:scratch::hair::shrug::scratch::hair::shrug::hair::shrug:


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Sell off all the remaining kids from this year.

Succeed in milking through a year.

Show for the first time.


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

We will be having 40-50 does kid in 2017 compared to our last few years of 5-15 so my goal is to have all the does kid and be happy and healthy. 
Be able to sell most of the kids and only keep a few does and maybe 1 buck. 
Hope that the sales from the kids actually cover the costs of keeping the goats or come close to it. 
Finish fencing the property for the goats and build the new pig paddock also. 
Attend the shows again and hoping to be successful with my own breeding more than the goats I have brought over the few years (really hoping for a best in show with one of my own breeding) 
Do well in my studying that I am starting in 2017. 
Breed good quality in my chicken lines and successfully breed my ducks! 

Maybe too long of a list?? Haha the big one is become better off financially than we have finished this year :/


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

Figure out how to get another goat!


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

All my wethers show well this year including the ones my niece is showing for me.
Maybe make a profit.
Buy a really nice doe
Keep everyone happy and healthy.


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## margaret (Aug 30, 2013)

Successful show season- at least 5 or 6 shows. Get some legs on the younger does. Make it to Nationals, and get a few good placings there.


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## margaret (Aug 30, 2013)

Getting all the extra kids and millers sold early is another one, way easier to keep everybody happy and healthy and manage shows without a ton of extra goats to feed and care for.

And finish fencing our new 6 acre pasture


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

Try to find someone who will be a host herd close to me for LA.
Go to some ADGA sanctioned shows.
Make some hard decisions as to who to keep and who to sell - who brings the most to the herd, not who I love the most.
Sell the kids I don't keep to good people.
Continue working with the 4H kids.
Keep up with herd health - and hopefully make a small profit again.
Would love some new pens, but we'll see how that goes.


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

Our goal is to run in (and hopefully win!) the goat chariot race at the International Goat Days Festival in Tennessee. We have till September to train. So excited!

Practicing at our state fair last September...


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## Ranger1 (Sep 1, 2014)

Eradicate CAE
&
Get on milk test


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## billiejw89 (May 7, 2014)

catharina said:


> Figure out how to get another goat!


That's my goal as well! I already found the doe I want. Now to convince my husband that we really need her!


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## IHEARTGOATS (Jun 14, 2016)

We are first on the reservation list for a buckling from this doe.
Our goal for 2017 is for her to have a buckling. 

http://www.sweetgardengoats.com/Fairlea_Elise.html


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## billiejw89 (May 7, 2014)

She is lovely


IHEARTGOATS said:


> We are first on the reservation list for a buckling from this doe.
> Our goal for 2017 is for her to have a buckling.
> 
> http://www.sweetgardengoats.com/Fairlea_Elise.html


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## Cedar Point Kikos (Oct 16, 2013)

I second that!


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

Oh My goodness!!!! Chariot races? We used to breed and hitch Clydesdales, maybe I should branch out. Looks like such fun!!!!! Is there are video on this Damfino???


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

Hehehe:evil: Deposit put for my long awaited Hoanbu doeling to add to my Lakeshore/Kastedmur/Iron Owl does.......I hope she kids pink!


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Damfino said:


> Our goal is to run in (and hopefully win!) the goat chariot race at the International Goat Days Festival in Tennessee. We have till September to train. So excited!
> 
> Practicing at our state fair last September...


I didn't know there was such a thing!! This is awesome and the idea will not come up in front of my daughter 
Ok so I have a long list of things but sure it won't all happen but the first two things on my list!
Get some semen collected on my buck! 
AI some goats 
NOT buy another buck 
To have everyone happy and healthy

I have a bunch of plans for the set up but will probably not all get done if any lol money sucks!
Make a loading chute so I don't have to keep picking goats up to put in the back of people's trucks 
Make a laneway for my tilt table
Buy some more shelter logics, 3 and turn it into a getto barn that will hold 30 kidding stalls (totally thought of that last night!
Simply make more small pens
Have another laneway that goes to my scale
Make a feeder.....I have the idea in my head hard to explain but it's going to be a huge one lol 
I know there is more just can't think of them


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

Would love to see your ghetto barn when you get it built!!! Stop giving me ideas!


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

1 replant 30 acers of pasture
2 set the new irrigation pump and assemble the k-line irrigation to water the new pastures
3 have a successful running of the lambs farm tour
4 have another good year on the weed grazing project


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## CrazyDogLady (Aug 9, 2014)

I want easy kiddings on all of my bred does (9). I so hope I get lots of doelings, but one buckling out of my bred Dill's doe would be fantastic, I want a Two-Step son. Milk testing. I don't think I'll do LA this year. I have 2 or 3 shows I want to do this year. Hoping not too difficult to sell doelings that I don't keep.


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

goatblessings said:


> Oh My goodness!!!! Chariot races? We used to breed and hitch Clydesdales, maybe I should branch out. Looks like such fun!!!!! Is there are video on this Damfino???


I don't have a video of us in chariots (we've done very little single driving because our goats are only two and not yet old enough to pull solo for more than a short jaunt). But we did train our goats to drive as a team last summer and I have a thread about it here.


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

billiejw89 said:


> That's my goal as well! I already found the doe I want. Now to convince my husband that we really need her!


Let me know if you come up with something that works!!

I'm thinking of just telling him she's only visiting & belongs to someone else. Except the only thing I've ever lied to him about in 30 years is electrolysis.


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## Cedar Point Kikos (Oct 16, 2013)

This is great! Love reading everyone's goals  so, what is the overall goal that you are working towards? For me it is to have the best Kikos in Ontario


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## margaret (Aug 30, 2013)

Homebred ADGA National Champion Alpine & Best Udder
Ultimate goal that I will probably never achieve and if I did would take me many years-Breed a doe that appraises a 95EEEE


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

My overall goal is to breed big, strong, beautifully colored working goats with nice personalities, suitable for packing or pulling. My other goal is to have loads of fun doing it.

Less goal and more dream: Turn goat chariot racing into a widely recognized national sport and get it into the Olympics.


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## nicolemackenzie (Dec 27, 2014)

I want a chariot goat too!

My goal though is a bigger barn and larger fenced in area for my little herd.


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## BrokenArrowRanch (Jun 6, 2013)

Replace fencing for goats. 
Purchase buck 
Breed. Because I really miss having babies around
Maybe purchase a bred Doe so I can have babies


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## Exponentialdolphin (Nov 16, 2015)

Breed my Boer doe, and maybe my Nigerian too, purchase a couple of myotonics (my true love), and get another Boer doe for FFA


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## HobbyFarm (Oct 13, 2016)

Get my barn and fencing built
Decide on what goats I want and bring them home
Have a healthy new Grandaughter


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

My most important goat goal for 2017 is to train all my keeper does (14 currently) to be tied at individual stations for grain/alfalfa pellet feeding (during late pregnancy & lactation). So far, I have the clips, plastic chain, and feed buckets... but these are not all tame animals - they will all take treats from my hand but a few are very hand shy other than that. 

Other goals are: 

-soil test the pastures (add lime or manure as needed, seed if needed)

-overdose my goats on selenium (joking, obviously, but last kidding season was made immensely more stressful due to selenium deficiency - the first time in 6 years I lost newborn kids...I hope to have a better kidding season this year and to figure out which mineral supplements are best for my herd)


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## lilaalil (Sep 5, 2014)

My goals are pretty simple. I just want lots of fresh, raw, organic milk for my family so we can go back to drinking all we want, plus making nice kefir and yogurt from it. 

Would love it if the goats started paying their own way again in milk, and I think now that I am down to 2 adult does, and no pure "pets" this is very possible, even if only one freshens, but I am hoping that both will turn up pregnant. Half a gallon a day keeps me feeling very rich in milk, but with these being FF, who will be raising their own kids, and with one of the two not showing any signs of being bred, we shall see. 

I'm also hoping for doelings, of course. Hoping for some polled kids (used a polled buck). Any polled doelings I will keep, and eventually phase out one of my adult does, who has a bit of an attitude problem. 

Ongoing goals for the future: keep my numbers down to what I can easily manage without breaking the bank (2 is good for me, 4 is doable under the right circumstances), milk through when possible to avoid unnecessary breeding (I see too many goats around here in crappy homes), try not to become a goat-collector (hard for me, especially when I see so many that I would consider rescues), arrange my facilities and routines in such a way that I can continue to milk year-round, or close to it, without getting stressed out.


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## JK_Farms (Nov 12, 2016)

SalteyLove said:


> My most important goat goal for 2017 is to train all my keeper does (14 currently) to be tied at individual stations for grain/alfalfa pellet feeding (during late pregnancy & lactation). So far, I have the clips, plastic chain, and feed buckets... but these are not all tame animals - they will all take treats from my hand but a few are very hand shy other than that.
> 
> Other goals are:
> 
> ...


I buy a horse salt block for my goats and haven't had any problems yet! I've had my goats for 6 years going on 7!


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

My goals for this year are:

Get my meat herd started
Get regular clientele for my meat

Continue selling my soaps and try to expand it

Get licensed to sell raw milk

And sell all of my less quality producers and replace with good ones

Nice thing is, I was handed my meat goat herd to me on a silver platter today. Best part I can raise them from newborn, disbud them, and have socialized Boer does instead of skittish ones


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Hmm, the goats are more on the back burner until 2018 really :lol:
Waiting for my maybe more improved buck to be born out of one of my girls. He should have even more height, keeping a deep body and still keeping those powerhouse milking genetics I demand. 
I am keeping a maximum of 3 doe kids in 2017, simply because I need more milkers as my other projects grow. Also because I have learned that people in this same friggin town sell their milk for $12-14 a gallon! That would be great for times I have zero need for it, since my girls milk 2.5-3 gallons a day each--granted, I only kept 4, but still! That'd be $130-150 for a days worth of milk that I'd have no need for, and at that price a days worth of milk money would feed them for almost a month :lol: 
But I'm happy with the 4 girls I kept, they were my favorites, and its so much more manageable than 20+ were. 

The main "not goat project" is my ACD's. I just got two new show girl pups, I might be getting two more in the spring or fall 2017, and getting a new red male at some point, then importing a new blue male. The blue male import will probably be a 2018 goal. 
But I want to put up a 20×24 or so, indoor outdoor kennel for the dogs and pups. That would give me way more house space and a place the pups can go. 
I also want to build a real agility course for them, and get myself back in the swing of things with training like I used to. Not many things make you feel as good as watching your dog(s) take off in a field and take people down to the ground :lol:


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## Goatzrule (Feb 7, 2013)

My goal is to (over the next couple years) Working towards my own goat creamery. Expand my lamancha herd. Raise a couple meat goats. Go to eastern states with my herd. Retire my oldest and first show goat :tears: and hopefully be able to go on some sort of adventure.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Longterm goals - 

build a barn 
start selling milk 
redo the fencing 
make it to a show 
get blood testing done for CAE, CL and Johnne's
start fecal testing


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## IHEARTGOATS (Jun 14, 2016)

Suzanne_Tyler said:


> Longterm goals -
> 
> build a barn
> start selling milk
> ...


Are you in Piedmont Dairy Goat Breeders Association?
They have a FB page
They have a show the first weekend in June
It's normally in Shelby but is going to be in Salisbury this year

NCDGBA has a show Memorial Day Weekend in
Rocky Mount


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## MoonShadow (Mar 1, 2015)

2017 goals...hmm well now that I'm planning on moving to a new state in 2017 my plans have changed quite a bit, here's what I have for now.

-Get all the rest of the blood testing done
-have a easy kidding season
-Participate In LA and find someone who will be a host herd where ever I live.
- Possibly get a new buckling and possibly one or two more doeling
- train all my keeper goats(mainly does) to be tied at individual stations for grain feeding.
- Try a new deworming regiment with essential oils


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## margaret (Aug 30, 2013)

IHEARTGOATS said:


> Are you in Piedmont Dairy Goat Breeders Association?
> They have a FB page
> They have a show the first weekend in June
> It's normally in Shelby but is going to be in Salisbury this year
> ...


They might come with us to Rocky Mt. I've been try to get her to come show with me for a while!


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## IHEARTGOATS (Jun 14, 2016)

IHEARTGOATS said:


> We are first on the reservation list for a buckling from this doe.
> Our goal for 2017 is for her to have a buckling.
> 
> http://www.sweetgardengoats.com/Fairlea_Elise.html


She had one


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## margaret (Aug 30, 2013)

Cool! Pics?


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## IHEARTGOATS (Jun 14, 2016)

margaret said:


> Cool! Pics?


There is a pic in her FB page
Sweet Garden Nigerian Dwarfs
Buckling is the light buck skin


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## Steampunked (Mar 23, 2015)

My goals are pathetic compared to everyone else's, but just tonight we scored about 100+ meters of cyclone mesh and poles and joins for $300, so we have jumped ahead - we can now fence the goat yard and hopefully sell the left over mesh for the same as the total cost us if we are very lucky.

In addition tonight someone local is regretfully giving away their 18 month mini doe to anyone who will let them inspect the goat yard and quiz owners to ensure it's a suitable home - it's not ideal, but at that budget, well...it's been a tough last 12 months financially so I am hoping that she can be a companion for one REALLY good doe I spend the fencing cash and my own savings on.

I can understand if they don't agree given the substandard fence area we have RIGHT now, though.


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## CrazyDogLady (Aug 9, 2014)

I did get my Dill's buckling, a pair of them and a doeling. Now I have to choose which one to keep, when I like them both.


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

Bree_6293 said:


> We will be having 40-50 does kid in 2017 compared to our last few years of 5-15 so my goal is to have all the does kid and be happy and healthy.
> Be able to sell most of the kids and only keep a few does and maybe 1 buck.
> Hope that the sales from the kids actually cover the costs of keeping the goats or come close to it.
> Finish fencing the property for the goats and build the new pig paddock also.
> ...


Making our way through the list! Finished fencing 4 acres and nearly another 6 acres (1 fence to go!) and within 3 months we will have 12 acres fencing and only 10 to go but that wasn't even originally going to be fenced and we are just hoping to have that done within 18 months. 
The pig paddock has been started as well! 
We have attended our first show which went quite well. Won a few champions.
Also have a fair few people on our waiting list for kids!


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Suzanne_Tyler said:


> Longterm goals -
> 
> build a barn
> start selling milk
> ...


Ok, let's see.

Haven't done a barn.

Have one buyer already lined up to buy milk :leap:

Fencing is still a huge work in progress.

Haven't made it to a show.

Blood for testing goes out tomorrow.

I have started fecal testing.

I think I'm doing pretty well


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Suzanne_Tyler said:


> Sell off all the remaining kids from this year.
> 
> Succeed in milking through a year.
> 
> Show for the first time.


Sold the kids a week after I posted this. Now for this year's kids 

We're going strong on the milking through front - one week in on Pinky and the other two haven't even kidded :lol:

Haven't shown yet. Not sure why that was down twice.


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