Thinking of getting a goat

[MaryP]

There is a goat available for adoption at our local HS. I've been wanting a goat for awhile, but I'm not entirely sure what I'd be getting myself into. I would like a goat to help with veg management. We have a lot of "trashy" vegetation at our new place and I was hoping that a goat might help get rid of some of it (instead of using chemicals). Is that practical? Also, are goats usually friendly towards dogs? I wouldn't want to turn a goat lose on our property if it is going to be aggressive towards the dogs. I know my dogs would probably be a bit freaked out by a goat initially, since they've never really been around any. But, I think they'd get over it once the newness wore off.

[terrecar]

I'm glad you asked this question. I have an interest in the answers as well, as I've decided on Nigerian Dwarf goats from a breeder here in Maryland. I hope you get good answers to your question.

[juliepoudrier]

Goats are generally good brush eaters. If the dogs leave the goat alone, it's not likely to bother them either, and as a prey species is just as likely to be freaked out as the dogs are. But you should be able to get them all to co-exist peacefully with consistent training. I just wouldn't let the dogs get in the habit of messing with the goat at all.

 

Is the area fenced? Goats are notorious for getting out, but then you'll also see lots of brush goats tied out to clear out areas. I'm not opposed to tying a goat, as long as it's in an area where it can't be attacked by something while tied out.

 

Depending on whether it was a pet, goats can also be pretty loud. Just something to consider. It may spend time "talking" to you, especially if it was a pet and is lonely.

 

J.

[OurBoys]

A goat forum I found was Nigerian Dwarf Goats. I know it's in regards to Nigerian Dwarf goats but it should still answer some/most of your questions for goats in general.

 

And from what I understand, Julie is right about a single goat being loud. Goats don't flock per se but they don't like being by themselves. It's always a good idea to have more than one so they can keep each other company. You might be able to find a wether relatively cheap.

 

ETA: terrecar, you might also enjoy the ND forum too.

[The Good Shepherd]

I fully agree, Goats should be in pairs, or if you have a horse or donkey that would work. I know that at racetracks the sometimes have a goat as a "pet" for a racehorse

As far as Goats eating weeds and brush, you could not ask for a better "Lawnmower "

[MaryP]

Thanks for the replies. Julie, the property is fenced - five-foot, fixed-knot fencing. So, I thinks it's pretty goat-proof. I never though of a goat being loud. My neighbor has one (just one) and I don't think I've ever heard it. But, I can definitely see that a goat might want a companion. I would just love to see a goat take care of some of this brushy vegetation.

[nancy]

My grandmother - who moved to the US from Lithuania in 1913 - always wanted to have one little dairy goat. My mother always regretted that they couldn't do that for her. Of course, the family lived n the top floor of a 3-decker in Massachusetts - then in the upstairs of my parents' house where livestock was banned.

 

I don't think that Mama told my mother (and her sisters) that one little dairy goat would be rather useless for milk and cheese without one little billy goat.

[terrecar]

Mary, I don't know if you got a chance to look at the Nigerian Dwarf board link, but it is very helpful. Thank you Brenda!

[geonni banner]

Thanks for the replies. Julie, the property is fenced - five-foot, fixed-knot fencing. So, I thinks it's pretty goat-proof. I never though of a goat being loud. My neighbor has one (just one) and I don't think I've ever heard it. But, I can definitely see that a goat might want a companion. I would just love to see a goat take care of some of this brushy vegetation.

Since the goat is a neighbor, how about seeing if you could "lease" it on alternate months or something like that. Sort of like the way people "sponsor" horses. You could split the bills on whatever the goat needs.

 

I don't know anything about goats, so it may be that a goat would be unhappy with such an arrangement. But I know of lots of people who do it with horses, and the horses seem fine with it. And it saves money for both parties.

[SouthOfSouth]

This site http://fiascofarm.com is a very useful source of information about goats.

[SouthOfSouth]

When I first saw this, http://fiascofarm.com/goats/chicken_coop_raid.htm , I was amazed. Now, I've owned goats for a few years and it does not seem even slightly surprising.

[OurBoys]

When I first saw this, http://fiascofarm.com/goats/chicken_coop_raid.htm , I was amazed. Now, I've owned goats for a few years and it does not seem even slightly surprising.

DH & I ventured out yesterday. Our route took us past a goat farm. One of them had poked their head thru the fence to graze on the other side. I made a note to myself when we get our acreage to not fence it in with 4 x 4 wire fencing.

 

The goat hadn't been debudded. Now I'm wondering if/how s/he made it back thru.

[Eileen Stein]

Since the goat is a neighbor, how about seeing if you could "lease" it on alternate months or something like that. Sort of like the way people "sponsor" horses. You could split the bills on whatever the goat needs.

 

I understand that the farmers around here used to own a small flock of goats in common, and they circulated among the farms. Whenever someone needed an overgrown area cleared, they would borrow the goats for a while. Unfortunately, that was before my time -- I would love to have had a share in that.

[juliepoudrier]

DH & I ventured out yesterday. Our route took us past a goat farm. One of them had poked their head thru the fence to graze on the other side. I made a note to myself when we get our acreage to not fence it in with 4 x 4 wire fencing.

 

The goat hadn't been debudded. Now I'm wondering if/how s/he made it back thru.

Unfortunately this is an issue for both horned sheep and goats. The horns are curved in a way that makes it easy for the goat to push its head forward through the fence, but not easy to pull it back out.

 

I talked to a Scottish blackface breeder once (bought sheep from him) and he said that even though they check their fences regularly, they still occasionally lose sheep that get hung in the fences.

 

I remember one time running into a situation like you described, except that the goat that had its head stuck was being severely battered by a much larger goat in the pasture. I stopped and tried to get the goat unstuck. When I was unsuccessful, I turned around and drove to the property owner's house, but no one was home. The next-door neighbor wasn't home either. I ended up cutting one strand in that 4 x 4 wire to release the goat. I didn't make that decision lightly, as damaging someone's fence isn't a good thing to do. If the larger goat hadn't been repeatedly slamming the stuck goat, I probably would have just left it alone. But I did what I thought was right.

 

Anyway, if you're going to have horned livestock, their getting stuck in fences and feeders and the like is a very real possibility, and one that should be considered and planned for.

 

J.

[bcnewe2]

I've never owned horned livestock except for the occasional bud.

I had a few sheep over the years still manage to get themselves stuck in fencing.

 

This fall I had a little ram lamb (well not that little) somehow get stuck in the electric fence wire. (think doG is was off) and by the time I found him you'd think he'd of been dancing with the darn wire.

The poor guy, by the time I found him, everytime he even moved he was pulling the wire tighter around his neck and stomach. It was twisted around each limb and a couple times around his waist.

 

I managed to free him before he died and for days he walked around with wire dents in him. He was thristy, nervous and I'm sure in pain but I never found any damage other than that.

 

Cattle panel is the worst for head sticking.

 

It amazes me what they can get into and live through and the other way around, what can kill them that you didn't even think of.

 

Good luck with your goat, I think I'll stick to sheep, they take lots of fencing but not nearly as bad as "goat fencing". I'd be way to nervous about tying something up around here, to many neighborhood dogs cruise by.

[Liz P]

When I lived in IL I was constantly rescuing my neighbor's goats from the fence. I was also constantly rounding them up from the soy bean fields and taking them home. They do escape a lot, but I enjoy working the dogs on them. Because they flock less well they keep a dog honest.

[juliepoudrier]

I do like the goat sharing idea, though I think it would be nice if you got a goat and then you and your neighbor shared the pair of them so that they have each other's company.

 

OH, there are things people do to prevent horned critters from getting stuck. It involves things like taping PVC pipe across the horns so that it sticks out past the horns on either side. This prevents the goat from being able to put its head through the fence.

 

Here is an example of the PVC idea, though this person used a handy stick. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the picture.

 

Here is another example of a solution someone came up with:

Mother Earth News.

 

J.

[terrecar]

I like the stick or PVC idea. It looks a bit more comfortable to the goat than the other, more elaborate one.

 

However, it looks like the farm from where I plan to get my goats routinely disbuds them. My friend's goats have horns, and I've been around them. They are very sweet, and seem to get along with each other.

 

I'm not sure about the disbudding thing. Any advice?

 

I plan to get either two does or a doe and a wether.

 

 

 

[juliepoudrier]

This is from the Maryland Small Ruminant page (pertaining to the management of meat goats):

 

Disbudding is usually done with a hot iron and is done when the kids are very young, as soon as the horn bud is visible. Polled (naturally hornless) goats should not be kept for breeding. The polled trait is genetically linked to an intersex (both sex organs present) condition in goats.

 

There is a lot of good information on the site, although it also appears that at least some of the links are broken.

 

J.

[Tea]

I have goats.

 

 

 

Most of my dairy does are disbudded, with hot method.

 

(Done before I got them.)

 

I am sorry....I don't like this. I outcross to horned goats that have horns that lie low and curl down so as not to cause trouble. (Boers)

You can also use weights to shape them like how they shape oxen horns. But you got to do it as they are growning and have someone show you how.

 

 

My goats have lifted latches and undone snaps.

 

 

 

They are lucky they are such good milkers.

 

 

 

Nubians are very loud! Ask Ben!

 

 

 

My Saanans and alpines are very quiet.

 

 

 

I do have a loud Boer buckling. But he is lonely.

 

 

 

I will try to film Flora letting herself through the perimeter gate. It is amazing!

[NorthfieldNick]

Yes, Nubians are loud! Comically so, but if you have neighbors who may complain, don't fall for the floppy ears.

 

I prefer dehorned goats. We have a vet do our kids, under anesthetic. He waits until the kids are about 3 wks old. It only costs us $40- we transport to him. It's worth it to us to avoid the noise and trauma. Our older goats who were dis udder without anesthetic never seemed to hold it against us, though.

[Tea]

You know I forgot to mention

 

 

 

I had one doe that milked through, three years running without being bred! They can milk through without being bred, Some of them. They just go way down in production then climb back up in the spring as if they had kidded.

 

 

 

Ben, thats the only way I would disbud.

 

How was your vacation?

[DebnKirk]

Last summer I added two 1/2 Kiko does to my brush-eating sheep flock. Kiko goats are parasite resistant like my Katahdin sheep. They were raised on a dairy goat farm so they are very socialized and have been taught to keep their horns off people. They're in electronet with the sheep, and they're silly, funny, comics who eat pretty much anything up to 5' high. They're easy to handle and tie when I want to hold them aside and work the sheep, etc. I can also tie them up in brushy areas to eat while I'm working on the property. When you drive up, they do start bleating, also when they hear noises like car doors, so they make pretty good alarms. They can be loud!

 

On the downside, because of their upbringing they totally blow off the dogs and refuse to be rounded up with the sheep. They will headbutt the dogs, and push the sheep out of their grain (which is why I tie them with their own pan of feed.) They are not easy keepers - two 50# does are eating almost 3# of goat feed a day and they're still thin. Since they need copper, I built a creep feeder 'hut' in the middle of my paddock so they can get in to their mineral, as well as get out of the rain (I have no building for the sheep -- just windbreaks. The goats know when the electric fence is off, and if you untie the fence instead of climbing over and re-hooking the electric, they'll be out of there. I've shocked myself numerous times when I've forgotten I've hooked the electric back up after climbing into the pen.

 

Debbie

[Tea]

Hum< maybe get someone with a powerful, fair cattle working border collie to help get your goats organized.