Anyone with Goats?

[Jay_Bunny]

My fiance and I went to the state fair on Friday and I absolutely fell in love with the goats. And not just the babies. I especially liked the Nubian and Nigerian dwarf goats.

I was wondering if anyone here has goats. If you do, I have a few questions.

1) What are some ups and downs of having goats?

2) What would be considered a small herd?

3) About how much does it cost to feed a small herd?

4) Housing requirements?

5) Food requirements?

6) Pictures?

I want to remind anyone that reads this or posts, that I have absolutely NO intention of getting goats for many years. My fiance said we could have goats after medical school and after we get a house, so this is just for informational purposes only. Kind of a "find out if its something I'm interested in doing" post.

[Shadowspider]

Goats
This is a good site with *lots* of info. on goats, how to raise them, what to look for, feeding, shelter, fencing, birthing, the dos and don'ts, etc.

[Kristy]

We had goats when I young. I love them, especially Nubians. We also had pygmy's and fainting goats. I had two orphaned goats that followed me everywhere. They are very comical. I go to the fair every year, and always have to stop by the goat barn.

Couldn't tell a thing about their care as I was a kid, but they were incredibly fun animals and I WILL have some again in the future.

[slartibartfast]

Pros:
They are smart, and inquisitive...they can learn almost anything.

They have relatively few medical problems, and with good care can live to 14 or 15 (we had two girls reach 16).

They are inexpensive and easy to feed - good quality second cutting hay and a little grain supplement for pregnant or lactating does. We fed 5 goats on the hay that would keep one horse.

With reasonable shelter, they can survive a wide variety of climates.

You get your own milk, and if you can stomach it, a great source of meat too. Even the dwarfs can provide enough for a small household.

Cons:

They are smart, and inquisitive...they can learn almost anything.

No fence is 100% escape-proof, and they -will- get out at some point (probably several points, each one different and challenging).

Any wire spacing greater than 6-8" is enough room for an adult to get through.

Any fence under 5' is jumpable by just about any goat. We had a doe who would get cranky on the weekends when we fed them an hour later, and even at full-term pregnancy she could easily clear an uphill jump on a 4' gate into the backyard, where she would peer into the windows and loudly demand breakfast. She looked like a blimp going over, but landed as daintily as you please.

Barbed wire fencing on its own will result in long jagged tears on udders, because sooner or later one of them will squeeze through and either her friends will follow and get torn up themselves, or they won't and she'll panic and squeeze back through to rejoin them.

Woven wire will snag horns and legs...can get pretty ugly (unless you electrify it).

Hotwire is your friend. We also put lightweight aluminum yokes on the sneakier girls...they are easy to make and very effective on goats who somehow manage to sneak through hotwire.

Did I mention they are hard to fence?

They are intensely social and cannot be kept alone..you need a minimum of two.

Bottle-raised goats tend to adapt poorly to herd life, unless weaned and foisted off an existing herd to learn manners. Kids who are raised too closely with people mature into 100lb porch-pooping car-stomping nuisances (seen this multiple times with kids we sold to people who just wanted pets and didn't teach them how to be goats). Our holdback doelings were all bottle-raised at first, but forced to move in with the herd once they were weaned. They hated it, but they matured into lovely graceful girls who functioned well with both humans and other goats.

Does are vicious bullies. They spend pretty much their whole lives jockeying for position, and you have to be herd alpha, or they'll include you in the fights. We had a particularly domineering girl actually kill a young doeling by slamming her against the wall. A lot of the housing and feeding has to be arranged to accomodate the weakest goat, even if the alpha tries to rule it all. The weakest goat would rather shiver in the rain outside the popular shed than take solitary shelter in a different shed. Bucks seem to be peacemakers in doe fights...we've observed several unrelated bucks physically place themselves between two girls who were going at it.

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head. Feel free to ask me anything...they are a bit of a favourite of mine.

[Shadowspider]

Hmm, sounds just like a capricorn!

*sneaks off and pretends she's not a capricorn*

[JLC]

Pros:
They are smart, and inquisitive...they can learn almost anything.

Cons:

They are smart, and inquisitive...they can learn almost anything.

Hehe....that's awesome! Goats are SO cool!

Is it common to neuter male goats? To avoid fights (and unwanted babies) would it be possible to keep a female and a neutered male together?

[slartibartfast]

Yup, castrated males are called "wethers" and it's typically done around two weeks of age.

Due to lack of testosterone, they grow up very tall...often much bigger than buck...but are much gentler. Wethers make great carting animals.

[JASBALLS]

Hehe....that's awesome! Goats are SO cool!

Is it common to neuter male goats? To avoid fights (and unwanted babies) would it be possible to keep a female and a neutered male together?

Its very common and wise to neuter male goats, If your not using them for breeding. You could keep the neutered male with a female.

[JLC]

Thanks Jess! I'll add them to my dream of our "forever home" with land and room for all sorts of fascinating critters!

(EDIT: And thanks, John! )

[JASBALLS]

No problem Judy!