Welcome to TheGoatGroup, an Internet chat list for small farmers of all kinds.

While the primary focus of this group will be goats and goat ranching, it's a group for ALL small farmers -- and "small" , in this context, means anything under 3,000 animals, anything under 3,000 acres (though we will make exceptions to anyone who asks nicely:>))) So anything at all that affects the small farmer, from finances to forage, is fair grist for the mill.

Ask for help when you need it; that's the basic purpose of this, or any list. But please don't ask others to be mind readers; give them all the information you can about your animal's condition ... temperature, respiration rate, appearance, behavior...anything and everything you think might help someone else help you. There is no such thing as a stupid question!

There will be very few rules, but they WILL be enforced. They are:

1. No flaming. Nothing can be said to attack another member, for ANY reason.

2. No discussion of religion, except to request prayers for someone who is hurting.

3. No discussion of politics that does not involve agriculture.

4. No breed , or species attacks. Every breed and every species is equal --and, in the eyes, of the person raising it, best.

TheGoatGroup will NOT be in competition with other lists ... not looking to steal members away from anyone. But we will welcome members of other lists to participate with us and will invite them to share any really important information we uncover with the members of other lists, though everything posted on our list will be covered by copyright law. Our goal, my goal, is to provide information that will help small farmers -- and that includes small farmers on other lists. To that end, I will be doing research whenever I can to put together articles on a variety of subjects, with the information coming from the top and most reputable sources I can reach.