On Your Homestead, Goats vs Cows: Production

This article explains the production on your homestead, goats vs cows. If you read our last article On Your Homestead, Goats vs Cows: Cost, thank you, and welcome to part two.

Deciding whether you want to produce milk, grow your own meat, learn which personalities fit best on your homestead, or if the desire of having pack goats sounds intriguing, you have come to the right blog. Here at packgoats.com our mission is to become a leading resource on all things for owning your goats. In addition, help you feel confident about the information and be successful in caring for your goats.

Benefits of Producing Milk Goats vs Cows

Milk does a body good. It’s the Superfood to give you the many nutrients and minerals your body needs to function. Both goat and cows milk offers so many valuable benefits. Ask yourself,  “do I have enough space, time to give milking, and caring for goats?”  Decide what your goals are if you want to produce gallons of milk, or just enough to have a delicious glass of milk with breakfast every day.

Cows milk is full of cream. The taste is not the same as store-bought, it is more delicious. Loaded with lactose, high in calcium, and protein components A1 (higher lactose means more allergies: inflammatory, acne, eczema, and autoimmune disease) and A2 (lower lactose component better to digest) makes you allergic or intolerant of the lactose (milk sugars). If you are not allergic, then cows milk will better serve your family’s needs. Cows produce an abundance of milk, 4-5 gallons depending on breed, and how well grained. No needed tools except for a milk bucket and maybe a hay or grain bucket. Be mindful that cows are a lot more to handle. Be careful of getting kicked, manure during the process and your hard-earned bucket knocked over.

Goats milk is a protein close to humans, the next best thing to breastmilk. The fat globules are smaller making the milk less lactose (milk sugars) and easier to digest. The A2 protein component is loaded with fatty acids, triglycerides, and vitamin A. The high levels of zinc and selenium are all key factors to improve your overall health. For example, brighten skin tone, fight acne, and also prevents neurodegenerative disease and bone demineralization. Although you may only get a half-gallon per goat, the benefits are too great to not take advantage of for your family.

Processing Milk On Your Homestead With Less Stress

Producing on your homestead, goats vs cows, cows are much stronger and more work, as goats are easy-going and hardly any stress.  There is a process of milking. With the right tools, it can be an enjoyable happy everyday task. New to the goat world? Get a baby goat, and learn how to raise a baby goat. Get the hands-on experience to care for, feed properly, and know their needs before taking on the duty of milking. We recommend our horned goat stanchion to make your daily duties of milking and trimming hooves a breeze, save on your back, and accommodate all sizes of your herd.  If you need to get finer points to make your life easier to quickly learn more tips, check out how to milk a goat course and start your production of milk, cheese, soap, lotions, yogurt, and ice cream. Best of all your lactose-intolerant family can enjoy it too!

Grow Your Own Meat

There is no greater joy of delicious homegrown meat that tastes good and is healthy with no antibiotics. Knowing that your goat or cow has been loved and cared for on your homestead, sure beats store-bought which who knows how long it has been on the shelf for. Thinking about making an income raising meat to sell, know the risks, be prepared, and be ready to work.

Cows need a large pasture to graze and grow. They produce a large amount of meat, for example, a 1000lb cow makes about 400lbs of meat. In fact, there is so much that there is enough to keep for yourself and then make an income on the side. Cows can be intimidating by their size, very critical to spend lots of time with them so they will later be easy to handle when it comes time to transport and be taken to the butcher. It helps being educated and prepared for breeding and calving so it isn’t overwhelming and stressful.

Goats only need a small space to live and browse. They produce small amounts and are butchered anywhere from 6 to 18 months old. They eat less, poop less, cost less to buy. Goats can have multiple births and are easier than cows. The gestational days are 150 days to kid. The meat is lean and high in protein. Goats love to be with you making them easy to handle and transport when it comes time to butcher.

Personality On Your Homestead Goats vs Cows

Enjoying your time on your homestead is just as important as it is getting milk or meat to provide for your family. Knowing that when you step foot in the pasture you have sweet cute critters running to greet you.

Cows with their dreamy big beautiful eyes, some are kind and gentle. But don’t let their huge size, bellows, snorts, cranky stares, or swishing tails keep you from appreciating who they can potentially become. Spending more time with them makes a closer bond.

Goats, on the other hand, are like a man’s best friend. They want your love. Their fun, jumping, playing, and loud bleats make everyone smile. They will follow you around and eat out of your hand. You will find yourself just sitting and watching them climb with their instincts of agility and cool maneuvers.

Thinking About Taking On Adventures With Pack Goats

Goats are like pets, they want to be with you and they are a herd animal and will follow you. Why not put pack saddles on them and take them on an adventure. There are so many reasons why goats should be your go-to pack animal. They are smaller and can go through more terrain than horses and llamas. Feel safer with goats, less intimidating, cost less, and finally, they are the coolest animal to hang out with. If you want to know more on how to train your pack goats check it out here.

The Pack Goat 101 explains every topic on packing with goats from the most basic to advanced packing tips, tricks, strategies, and preparation. This course is the ultimate tool to propel you into a successful pack goat owner. Don’t go through the stress, pain, or expense of wading into the world of goat packing without setting yourself up for success. Remember November is the best time to buy your baby goat. Don’t risk it, purchase with packgoats.com and have the built-in support of that kid, in information on how to raise, train, and gear up your packer for his entire lifetime.

Overview

Production on your homestead with goats vs cows will, either way, will be a success. Hope that these articles helped you decide and know the benefits of owning goats. Not only raising meat, producing milk but also having joy watching them play and taking them with you on your adventures.