What combination of goats, sheep, or pigs is best to start with?

 

GETTING STARTED WITH SMALL BREED LIVESTOCK

Are you wondering what combination of goats, sheep, or pigs is best to start with?

The answer depends on what your goals are:

 

Barnyard Pets:  If you simply want some animals such as sheep, goats or pigs to enjoy, help with mowing and weeding, to encourage children toward responsibility/teach animal care, or even provide some fiber to "play with" each year, wethers (neutered males) are ideal! Males are typically more confident, so easily become friendly pets when given some attention. Their care is the most simple. Raising wethers is great for "testing the waters" and learning about raising goats, sheep, or pigs. If you ever decide to increase your flock or herd, wethers continue to be versatile. They can be housed with adult females or males. And, one other bonus is that they are the least expensive. 

 

If You're Planning to Produce Offspring:  Managing a breeding pair (or more) is more complicated. Here are some of the issues to consider:

• Timing the first birth, kidding or lambing: It is best to not let miniature livestock get bred until she is at least 1 year to 18 months old, so she ends up having babies for the first time when she is almost two years old. This is because it takes a Babydoll two full years to mature to adult size, and Nigerians often don't get to their full size until 3 years! Kune Kune pigs also don't reach full size until 2-3 years of age. If allowed to be bred before one year, she will not only need to provide nutrition for her developing babies, but also her own still-growing body.  She will give birth when she is not adult size herself, inviting complications during delivery. By waiting; the doe, ewe or sow will have a better chance for a long healthy life (probably including more offspring throughout her lifetime).  
• Housing/Companions:  If you get a breeding pair, who will each live with the first year while being kept separate from each other? Remember that they need a buddy to be well-adjusted and content. Female goats have been known to be fertile as young as four months of age, sheep, 6 months of age, and Kune Kune pigs 8 months of age. We make sure to remove any intact males before the females reach this age.
• Season for Kidding/Lambing: 
• Sheep: Around the beginning of August the ram should be separated from the ewe if you've kept them together earlier. We plan for lambing to start in the spring. To do this, the rams are put with the ewes usually around the beginning of October (March babies) or November (April Babies) (Gestation is about 145 days for Babydolls.) 
• Goats: bucks need to be separated from the females almost as soon as they are weaned, because bucks can become fertile as early as 2 months old. (Gestation is 145-150 days for NDG). Nigerian dwarf goats can come into heat year round. 
• Pigs: Kune Kune pigs can also come into heat year round, giving birth during any season. Best practice is to separate an intact boar from a gilt once they are 8 months old and then reunite once they are both over a year old, keeping in mind their gestation is 118 days, or "3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days." We usually try to breed pigs to give birth during the late spring or summer as it is much warmer for them and they don't have the wool or hair goats have to keep warm.

**Here are some different options to get started with a small herd or flock:

 

1. OPTION 1.) The first year, buy two unrelated does, ewes, or sows. The next year, buy two unrelated bucks, rams, or boars. (these males should be able to breed by fall, depending when born). Keep the females housed separately from the males except during breeding season when they would be paired up in order to breed.  Any female offspring could then be kept (if desired) and bred to the buck or ram or boar that was not her sire. (*this is the most common option)
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3. OPTION 2.) The first year, buy two females. The second year, buy one male, and let him live with the females at first. You can retain a male offspring and wether him to be friends with the mature male once you need to separate them.  The following year, let the two males live together separate from the females. You won't be able to retain any females for breeding from this option (as it would be related to her father) or:
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5. OPTION 3.) Buy an unrelated breeding pair (m/f), and two wethers. The first year, keep one wether with the doe or ewe, and one wether with the buck or ram, until they are old enough to breed. or:
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7. 4.) Buy two unrelated ADULTs (1 male/1 female) as the first pair, and then purchase more unrelated females (could be young) the following spring. If a male is born to the adult pair in the spring, he could be made a wether and be the companion for the ram or buck. The following fall, the older ewe or doe would be moved to the ram or buck and wether, while the younger ewes wait to be introduced till their second fall.  

 

**Please note: If an older buck, ram or boar could fit into your plans, let us know! We are  looking to sell 2 established adult males. It enables us to purchase another buck or ram with "new genes" so we can keep supplying unrelated offspring to repeat customers. The advantage for you is that you will know exactly what you are getting since the buck or ram is already mature, he's a proven sire, you can see pictures of his offspring and know a little bit about what to expect, and his personality is known. Also you don't have to wait for him to mature, he would be ready to breed right away. 

*At this time we have TWO rams and TWO bucks available. Moonspots anyone?? Ask me about them!