Who Raises Goats?

Huntn

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You may find this to be a strange thread. šŸ˜

For a couple of years Iā€™ve been hinting that not only might we be happy not living in Texas, but getting out of a city of 6 million (Houston). For clarification, I think I could tolerate Texas better if we lived in a rural setting. Our neighborhood is very busy, but Iā€™m thankful we donā€™t live in the Woodlands (a large residential area) which driving there is really like going to the rat races as compared to our busy neighborhood.

At the very same time, I appreciate having 2 grocery stores within 1 mile, a Sonic (fast food) .5 miles, my gym and pool 2.5 miles. And our backyard with pool is small, but my wife has just about got it setup with plants thevway she wants it. It will be hard to duplicate the infrastructure convenience in a rural setting, especially the pool for swimming laps. I could easily see that 20 miles or more away. And the heat, I curse that 4 months out of the year, but weā€™ve got some plants we like that would not survive outside in colder climates, but that is not over controlling our decision making. Maybe a green house would be in our futureā€¦

So when asked by my spouse where else could we go that is as cheap to live? The States that donā€™t have state income tax comes to mind, Tennessee (Knoxville), South Dakota (Rapid City), and New Hampshire. The usual answer is no, no, no, that is until our Son decided that he had had enough of his poison-user wife, is filing for divorce, and casually suggested we go live near him on his, implying a jointly run goat farm, one likely location Knoxville, which I have always been attracted to because of itā€™s proximity to the Appalachian Mountains. ā€¦ and my Wife says ā€œsureā€! :unsure: And it will not be, or expected to be a primary source of income and it does not have to necessarily be a goat farm, it could be a hobby farm, or just a excuse to move to Tennessee. :D

Now this wonā€™t happen tomorrow. Our Son has 2-4 years left in the USAF stationed in the Midwest, but I thought Iā€™d ask does anyone raise goats for meat or dairy? If so Iā€™d like to hear about it. What I understand raising goats for dairy is a huge time commitment, as in milking goats twice a day, every day. This is anything would give me pause and I think it would give our Son pause. It takes 10 goats to equal a cow in milk production. Can you imagine milking 30 goats twice a day? Thatā€™s kind of like a Lol. :D
 

Herdfan

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Before we decided on Arizona, we had looked at a place just outside Chattanooga in Jasper. Nice thing about it was its proximity to a city, but also to Georgia. While it's true TN doesn't have income tax, their sales tax is pretty high. So being able to pop over to GA or even AL to grab large ticket items was a plus.

We usually hit Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg a couple of times a year. In fact, just went 2 weeks ago. We like to ride at the off-road parks just up 75 around Pioneer. Couple hundred thousand acres to ride, but we don't necessarily like to stay near the riding parks as most of them are really designed for a bunch of guys, not couples. So we stay in PF and drive the hour to the parks.

A friend from HS who worked in DC for 30 years is retiring to Lake Cherokee this summer. I like the area and would have been happy to retire there, but it still has humidity and mosquitoes, so the wife vetoed it. :)
 

Renzatic

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Before we decided on Arizona, we had looked at a place just outside Chattanooga in Jasper

It was in Jasper where I got a tour of the weirdest house I've ever seen in my life. It was this old farmhouse that had been in this family for generations, and it kept getting added on to, and added on to, and added onto again without any real rhyme or reason. There was a set of stairs that lead to two bedrooms on opposite sides of each other, with stairs leading back down from there that took you to another part of the house only accessible from there.

There was also a rec center like building that housed an indoor pool attached to the back of the house.

It was odd.
 

Yoused

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AAUI, goats get around to eating grass after they have eaten everything else (sheep are that way also). Bear that in mind when scoping out your spread. Also, if you are my age, one goat woud probably be way more milk than I and 4 more like me would ever even use, so you almost certainly would not need ten nannies.
 

Huntn

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Before we decided on Arizona, we had looked at a place just outside Chattanooga in Jasper. Nice thing about it was its proximity to a city, but also to Georgia. While it's true TN doesn't have income tax, their sales tax is pretty high. So being able to pop over to GA or even AL to grab large ticket items was a plus.

We usually hit Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg a couple of times a year. In fact, just went 2 weeks ago. We like to ride at the off-road parks just up 75 around Pioneer. Couple hundred thousand acres to ride, but we don't necessarily like to stay near the riding parks as most of them are really designed for a bunch of guys, not couples. So we stay in PF and drive the hour to the parks.

A friend from HS who worked in DC for 30 years is retiring to Lake Cherokee this summer. I like the area and would have been happy to retire there, but it still has humidity and mosquitoes, so the wife vetoed it. :)
I think it is 8 or 8.5 % here in Texas.
 

Eric

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In California they're used to clear fields of dry vegetation to reduce fire danger, they raise tens of thousands of them and you see them in fields everywhere.
 

Eric

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Funny we're talking about this, just around the corner they just placed a bunch of them to keep the vegetation down, and they'll take it all the way down to the dirt. Great for fire prevention. By the way, my big ass belly hit that white fence as I was snapping these and it turns out it IS electric, damn near zapped me off my feet.

goats.jpeg
 

gollum

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Hey, I saw this thread over at MacRumors - it didn't seem to get many responses :(

I tend to lurk there, the mods tend to be a bit hard-nosed.

I've known people who had goats and used them as nature's lawnmowers.
 
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