Hi LSB members :)

Hi everyone - just introducing myself.

My partner and I are keen on getting our lifestyle plans/dreams underway. We are currently renovating to give ourselves the funds to purchase a lifestyle property in Otago (outskirts of Dunedin) - 40 acres plus would be what we are after at this stage. (however this may change depending on what we learn LOL) We are wanting to run pretty much off the grid - solar/wind turbines/gas. We would love to get into dairy goat farming however still know very little about this topic - hoping to pick up some handy information here!

Which brings me too - if anyone is in the Otago/even Canterbury/Southland area and has dairy goats - we would love to come and help out for a couple of days to learn a few things and see the life of a dairy goat farmer

Thanks very much and nice to met ya's,
Summer

Hi and welcome Kelpie, well you have come to the right place for research and opinions. And good on you for doing that 1st. Its a dream, costly but for some a dream worth the effort. We have only been at it 18 months and are loving it. We too are interested in the same ideas as you, but will take it slowly. As researching takes quite some time. All the best with your endeavour. Cheers from Dunsandel in Canterbury.

Welcome to lsb!

Goats are great [] just make sure your fences are good and you have some shelter for them.

Can't help you with the dairy goats even though we still have a couple of ancient calf club ones, ours are all Boers, but goats are goats so I'm sure we can all help you with something.

Welcome! And yea, another potential goat nut. We are in Oxford and breed dairy goats, so happy to help out. Not a lot going on in winter, really, spring is busiest with kidding and goats coming back into milk. I know it's late notice and a long way to come, but our dairy goat club is having a field day in West Melton on Saturday, with a rep from DeLaval, as a number of us are wanting to upgrade our milking parlours. You'd be quite welcome to come.

welcome and good luck with your venture.,,

andrea.. 'milking parlours'? sounds very posh...much better than a milking shed[]

Welcome Kelpie, good luck with your dream, It's good to have something to aim for we've found the more we read and research, the more our dreams shift and are frequently modified

Welcome Kelpie. This is certainly the forum for info and help, just ask whatever you want to know - remember, the only stupid question is the one you don't ask! I can't help with goats, only breed suri alpacas (but if you change your mind........).

Thanks everyone yes definitely have a lot of questions - i see a lot of land for sale that has a lot of native bush - without doing any research I would assume there is some sort of restrictions/consents in regards to getting rid of some - want to create a few paddocks? Can anyone please shed some light?

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With native, the law used to be that you could cut it down for your own use as firewood or something that is not going off the property, but you cannot sell the timber without the appropriate DOC consents. This might be a good question to ask in Your Place.

Kelpie44;493743 wrote: Thanks everyone yes definitely have a lot of questions - i see a lot of land for sale that has a lot of native bush - without doing any research I would assume there is some sort of restrictions/consents in regards to getting rid of some - want to create a few paddocks? Can anyone please shed some light?

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What you can/can't do and whether you need a resource consent or not to do it all depends on the land and the district and regional plans that the land is governed under. For example, a number of councils are restricting what you can do with vegetation based on the slope of the land - very steep slopes may not be able to be cleared, whereas other land on the same property may be able to be cleared. Some parcels of bush may have a QEII covenant on them, other parcels may not.

Best advice is to identify the land you are interested in and before even considering an offer - go to see both local councils (regional and district) and discuss the planning rules associated with the specific piece of land. Don't accept either the owner or the land agents advice. Very important you do the research yourself with the relevant local authorities.

Goats love native bush, of course - always good to have some to provide them with the variety they need.

Be extremely careful that you do not end up paying money for land that is totally worthless to you because you may not legally farm it. As Aria says do a thorough investigation before you even consider making an offer on a block. Anything with any sort of restrictive convenant should immediately flash a big warning that this one is a no go so keep looking.

Welcome along .. hope it all pans out great for you

Aria has some very good suggestions. It reminds me of a property we looked at that the land agent said had a really good building site. And the site was really, really good .... but the Council would not have allowed a building there.

There is a farmer in Australia, Pat Coleby, who wrote a few books on healthy farm animals (Healthy Cattle Naturally, and she also did one on sheep and one on goats).

The reason why I mention her is that she used to run a dairy goatherd for several years (I think more like decades!) in Melbourne. She knows a lot about what's involved, and by reading you will have more of an idea of what you want! Hopefully your local library has her books. She is also really amazing at soil analysis and organic land maintenance. I'm not sure if she still does the analysis (she's past her 80s now) but she was for Aus/NZ for some time.

Hope this helps!
PS do you own kelpies? My pup is a kelpie x and he LOVES to herd goats..! I found he is better with cows as he is very calm around them even when the mums chase him.. He has never been trained around livestock, just naturally knows what to do (and when to do it, unless they are baby goats)

Thanks everyone for the advice!! once we are closer to finish renovations (ah taking longer than I thought) we will def be getting in touch with local and regional councils in regards to the land. I just know that every morning I get up we are one step closer to our dreams. It's consistent on my mind! Thanks cowpowerfarm - will go and look that book up! Yes I do - she's a 5 yr old kelpie x blue heeler my pride and joy!!! She has been around cattle and sheep and def shows some interest - id like to get her trained up! To be honest I really need to be a lot tougher on her! She's such a wee shit! Does ur kelpie always need to be asked twice?? We also have a 15 month long haired collie - she's very interested in working - we have to get her into some soon. Thinking about leasing some land and starting some training. thanks everyone and will keep u updated! Any one interested in tiny house movement?

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