anyone have goats?

Well, the mister is not too crazy about the idea of getting them.. he pulled the whole "we have enough pets already" line. :) I do want some someday though; seems with the horses, cleaning up and feeding some tiny goats would be nothing, and his issues are, well, feeding and cleaning.. I love their antics; i watched my friends' herd of 5 yesterday climbing around on a few hay bales and it was hysterical.

Many stables will keep goats around to keep the horses calmer. The racing stables used to do this a lot.
Goats can be a challenge, and they do tend to do things like tear apart hay rolls, and wee and poo on them also. They can be remarkably hard-headed about doing things the shouldn't. I have a friend that raises meat goats, and they are almost all really nice animals. I still don't mind eating them too, but the are cute.
A friend of mine just got a teeny baby goat too, it's about twice as big as a cat, and she was gushing about it and asked me what I thought. Unfortunately for her, my mouth filter wasn't on(I'm not sure that the switch even works anymore) and I immediately said the first thing to come to mind.
"Well, he's small enough to fit right into the oven."
THAT didn't go over well. But I still think they are cool animals.
Wolfy

yeah i raise boer goats at my house they are meat goats and when i was younger my mom and i had pygmys too, from my preference goats are very fun animals to have.the little pygmys are very curious and sometimes fiesty but so little they cant really do anything.( as in they couldnt hurt you except maybe a bruise)

Well I had a big old white nanny goat years ago that I was determined to milk for the benefit of my firstborn child (having heard goat's milk is better for toddlers than cow's milk). Let me just say this...I will NEVER put my hands on that part of another female creatures anatomy at 6 in the morning BEFORE I've even had a coffee...EVER again! I swear the kid didn't even care so Dolly the goat went to a better home and I went back to the store for a jug of milk and a can of coffee!

But I really do want two pet pygmy goats...females...I want to call them Mrytle and Gertrude (Mert and Gert). Mike who grew up with pet goats and got the job of cleaning up after them is, shall we say, resistant to this idea. LOL

P.S. Back then I could have made Martha Stewart look like a lazy tramp. I'm much better now though! LOL

I don't think that anything could top the horses in the cleanup factor! :) Especially Cuesta; she likes to make a fun mixture of manure/bedding/food hay.. Emma just goes in one spot so she's easy to clean!

I have always said when I buy my next house with more land, I will get a goat. I love the white dairy goats. My girlfriend laughs at me because I spend more time with the goats at the zoo than anything else.

They are just so intelligent; and that lieele laughing sound they make has to be the cutest animal noise ever. :)

We had a trio of goats for milking when I was quite young; I'd agree with the fencing and chewing issue. Tree bark is YUMMY! =P

But yeah, cleaning up after them in a barn would be nothing compared to your horsies and I'd like goats and horses would get along great. I would think that if you like goat's milk, it might provide a better argument for getting them - I remember them being easy to milk. They do love to play and romp around, even with humans. =) Scritch my head!

Just no boy goats, at least not adults, unless you get them neutered. Adult male goats STINK TO HIGH HEAVEN. I mean paint melting stink...

And Male goats pee on their own beards too. It's really nasty.
Wolfy

about 2 years ago... i use to baby sit for a family that raised goats.... and they had me bottle feed a bunch.... @ one time i was bottle feeding 5 ... and i got to watch one goat have twins!! that was really cool