Man's Second Best Friend

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Goats are famous leapers and can survive perfectly well in the wild. So build your fences at least five feet high. Electric fences must be three strand affairs.

Purchasing a goat is far too complicated to go into here, so I'll just mention a few things. You had jolly well better be acquainted with this subject before you do any purchasing. The Oregon Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have pamphlets but you're better off buying a book written by some English author. They're the world's best farmers .and gardeners.

Fact. It is important that you understand four words. Thoroughbred, crossbred, grade and scrub. A thoroughbred goat, bottle-broke, i.e., a weaned animal, is a product of a registered dam (that's mom) and a registered sire (that's dad). And a thoroughbred can't be had for much less than $100. At least the buck should be thoroughbred, and should be the most expensive buck you can afford. Just be sure he's a milking buck, if you're interested in mil.

A crossbred is the product of a registered dam of one varie ty and a registered sire of another variety—a Toggenburg and a Saanen for example. These cost about $75—around in there—even bottle broke, and are often excellent choices for a family operation or for the rank and file of a milking or meat or fleece herd.

Scrubs are the product of an unregistered dam and an unregistered sire and come cheap—usually worth it, too. Say $5 for an unbroken kid and $25 for one that's bottle-broken. For a Mom and Pop operation—say a milking doe—for the backyard—you can get by with these, especially if the dam and sire had good records. But if you have to make money off scrubs, you'd better get a doe. Keep this tip in mind. For milkers, buy bone, good thick bones to hang heavy mammaries from. For meat animals, buy a sleek appearance.

How much milk can you expect from an average good doe? Six to eight quarts a day. A goat costs about a third of what a cow costs, about a sixth as much to feed and gives a third as much milk. Twice as much milk per poundage. And the milk is worth three times as much as cow's milk.

A word should be put in about the superiority of goat milk. As far as fats, milk sugars, proteins, calcium and other solids go, cow milk and goat milk are fairly close on a percentage basis . . . but goat's milk is far superior in Vitamins A, B, C, D and G. The fat globules of goat milk are smaller and the milk is more digestible. Goat proteins differ from cow proteins and goat's milk does not cause allergies.

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