If you’re looking into starting a hobby farm or small-scale agg business, then goats are a great choice. Goats are easy to care for, efficient eaters, and not too hard to raise. They are ideal whether you have a little land or possibly even if you live in town, depending on local zoning laws. There are quite a few reasons why goats are ideal.

Sometimes people are deterred from farming because they don’t think they can afford to get into the agg industry. Goats are a great choice because the initial investment can be low. This depends on what breed of goat you choose to raise, whether purebred, and if they’re registered. You can raise goats for either meat or dairy, or even both. There are several breeds of both that you can look at.

Goats are great breeders. Even if you start small with just a few goats, you can easily build up a good-sized herd in just a couple years. Goats reach sexual maturity by the about a year of age. Pregnancy lasts about 5 months. Twins are very common, though first-time does will usually only have one. Triplets and quadruplets also sometimes occur. It’s your choice whether you keep a small hobby herd or a larger-scale agg farm.

Diary goats are a great choice if you want to produce your own milk, make cheese, or even just make soap. Does can start giving milk at around a year and a half of age. Obviously some of the milk will have to go to the kids, but diary breeds can provide quite a bit of milk each day. You can have a very successful agg farm just raising dairy goats. Goat milk can provide an alternative to cow milk for those that are lactose intolerant. It is much easier to digest due to smaller fat globules and it’s naturally homogenized. Depending on breed, the milk can contain a good deal of butterfat.

There are also several breeds of meat goats if that’s what you’re interested in. Goat meat, or chevon, is eaten in many different countries. It is very lean so is great for people with high cholesterol. Goat meat is sometimes preferred to mutton based on its chewability. If you want to get into the meat agg industry, then goats generally are more efficient to raise than beef cows.

Goats can be very economical to raise. You don’t require as much land for goats as you do for cows, sheep, or even horses. This is great considering how much agg land can cost. One acre of good pasture land can provide nutrition for up six to 10 goats. This will depend on what breed of goat you have and quality of your pasture. Hay will have to be provided during the winter. Grain is also recommended, along with good goat minerals.

Another option is to just raise goats to sell. Both male and female goats can have good value, especially if registered or raised for show. You have a lot of options with goats, whether you choose to own just a few or a lot. I hope that you will consider them for your agg project.