Goats!?!?!

[chickenpredatorkiller]

So recently my parents announced that we are getting goats. I was skeptical then, and I still am for these reasons. For one, they didn't even really think about it. From what they have told us, they talked to some friends who had them, saw some pictures, and decided to get them. This is a problem in my opinion because they aren't weighing the good with the bad. The reason they say they want them is to eat leaves, branches, ect. in the woods so they will look better, and also "just because" I know close to nothing about goats but I'm pretty sure they can't eat dead leaves and branches and the occasional table scraps and be healthy can they? Wouldn't they need supplementary feed like chickens do? I tried explaining this to my parents but they won't listen. Also, we live on 1.3 acres and they are planning on having them in a crecent moon shaped fence (on the outside of the chicken run) which they say will help keep predators away from the chickens... The area can't be more than 100 sq. feet. (they also want to move them around... on a leash... so that they can eat leaves and sticks in other places) They are planning on getting two "female pygmie goats" Sorry about this load of information but I really don't think it is a good idea even though I would like to have goats. can somebody explain what I should do?

 

[tadpole98]

So recently my parents announced that we are getting goats. I was skeptical then, and I still am for these reasons. For one, they didn't even really think about it. From what they have told us, they talked to some friends who had them, saw some pictures, and decided to get them. This is a problem in my opinion because they aren't weighing the good with the bad. The reason they say they want them is to eat leaves, branches, ect. in the woods so they will look better, and also "just because" I know close to nothing about goats but I'm pretty sure they can't eat dead leaves and branches and the occasional table scraps and be healthy can they? Wouldn't they need supplementary feed like chickens do? I tried explaining this to my parents but they won't listen. Also, we live on 1.3 acres and they are planning on having them in a crecent moon shaped fence (on the outside of the chicken run) which they say will help keep predators away from the chickens... The area can't be more than 100 sq. feet. (they also want to move them around... on a leash... so that they can eat leaves and sticks in other places) They are planning on getting two "female pygmie goats" Sorry about this load of information but I really don't think it is a good idea even though I would like to have goats. can somebody explain what I should do?

alright, i have a bunch of goats and its never a good idea to just 'look at photos and get them'. im sure they will do some research and decide they do/dont want goats.

first thing is first, they require fencing. special fencing. do it up right the first time and you should only have a few problems. they do under the fence...





If you want goats to live off the land you have to provide enough acreage with enough trees, grass, weeds ect. we have our 18 goats (23 if you count kids!!) 80 acres of land. the only time they need supplements is during winter when you feed them hay. they, of course, do appreciate the occasional sweet feed! (they dont eat table scraps btw

)

1.3 acreage should be okay.. just bare in mind, they will have that down to nothing in a matter of weeks. when we just had two goats, we tied them to bricks and they ate their surrounding areas food.

I also wouldnt plan on getting pygmy goats. they are cute, good little milkers but they have very hard time with kidding. Research the breeds more before purchasing. i love my lamanchas and nubians. But i think saneens are great too!

You will learn, most likely the hard way. we used the same gloves to get a dead baby goat out of the area to move pheobes kids back into her pen. one got rejected. we get to bottle feed her along with the two others that got rejected from other mothers.

 

[Duckchick2011]

Your situation sounds a lot like how my family got into goats, don't worry it will all figure it's self out in the end. Right now your family is just probably excited about getting into something new, and trust me, Goats are exciting.

They will keep you on your toes to say the least.

My best advice to you would be to make sure your fencing is all good and secure...also, barb wire fence will not hold a goat, they go through it like water...just thought I would mention that

. Just make sure to do you research and plenty of it. Backyard herds is a lovely place to start. Also goats will teach you a lot about laughter and heartache as well. One of the best critters around in my opinnion...but then that's just an opinnion.

 

[chickenpredatorkiller]

Thanks guys for the imput. tadpole98 Would the goats stay healthy if all they ate was dead leaves and branches and the occasional weed? if not, how much hay/feed do we need to give them and how much might it cost? (planning on getting two pygmies like I said) also they are both females and do they have to have a kid to start having milk?

 

[Duckchick2011]

Thanks guys for the imput. tadpole98 Would the goats stay healthy if all they ate was dead leaves and branches and the occasional weed? if not, how much hay/feed do we need to give them and how much might it cost? (planning on getting two pygmies like I said) also they are both females and do they have to have a kid to start having milk?

not to answer tadpole's question but, While goats can live off straight forage they need plenty of it, just dead leaves and branches isn't ideal, they need living green stuff. When your land doesn't have good forage you need to feed your goats about a cup of feed a day with hay to supplement. (feed can cost between $10-$15 a bag) Goats also need regular worming and hoof care to keep them in shape, a wormy goat can be hard to keep weight on no matter how much you feed.

And yes, a Doe needs to be bred and deliver a kid before she can be used for milk. I would suggest Nigerian Dwarf instead of pygmy if you intend to use them for milk. ND's are a lot like pygmies only they look more like miniature dairy goats instead of little (adorable) walking barrels.

 

[tadpole98]

Thanks guys for the imput. tadpole98 Would the goats stay healthy if all they ate was dead leaves and branches and the occasional weed? if not, how much hay/feed do we need to give them and how much might it cost? (planning on getting two pygmies like I said) also they are both females and do they have to have a kid to start having milk?

that would be more like filler. and like Duckchick said, they need supplements. You should have free hay when the grass/weeds arent enough (about $75 a bale. but prices got to $150 last year because of the drought. yuck!!), free choice minerals (ALWAYS have copper for them), and a cup a day for the grain.

I would do a rent a buck, some people rent their bucks out for you to use to breed your does. You cant milk a doe if she doesnt have a kid, takes 5 months in pregnancy. will you be dam raising or bottle raising? I personally prefer the dam raised kids, but only let her have 2. I heard pygmies have a lot of babies when they kid, so you will most likely end up bottle raising all but the two. its not uncommon for them to have quads, this past week 3 of our does had triplets, and yesterday jane had only twins. But pygmies have quads alot.

 

[SteelMagnolia]

I am going to second tadpole here. I had pygmy goats as well and they are not good with their kids most of the time. We had about 10-15 goats on 40 acres and I remember many a night helping deliver triplets in the pouring rain and then she didn't want to feed them. Goats are a lot of work. They will require special fencing as tadpole said because they will get through everything else. To me, they are worth the work. I absolutely loved our goats but between injuries and trouble in labor and bottle feeding often...they are not something to jump into. With 1.5 acres you would only need probably two goats and I would suggest another breed. They are good at clearing land but what are they going to do with them after the land is cleared? They also will need feed year around as 1.5 acres is not enough to keep them satisfied after they clear it. I hope your parents will reconsider or think on it more.

 

[Skipspin]

If you don't care about or want the trouble of milking and kidding wethers (castrated males) are usually inexpensive and can live off much less feed that pregnant and lactating does once they are grown. You can't show them in 4H (except maybe as young market goats one year if they aren't a mini breed), and you won't have kids to sell or milk, but it would be much better for someone that just wants cute goats and land cleared. You can get really nice quality wethers from registered stock for $75 or less a goat, many times much less. We have a full size wether and 2-3 acres (with 3 does as well) and he doesn't need anything besides supplements, really. If we lived where there was a cold winter he'd probably need hay in the winter. He gets less than 1/4c grain a day just because all the does get some. Yes, you still have to manage worm load and they can always do silly things to necessitate a vet visit, but it's less that keeping does for beeding and milk.

You could always get one of each too- that's how we started. One full size registered dairy goat and one mixed full size wether.

 

[pogmobum]

I have two sannens they are described as giant marshmallows because they are soooo nice. I bought mine at 7months old from someone who said they were like pets and he was right they follow me when i call and are easy to move to different areas with a leash on them. I agree with the others fencing is very important with goats its amazing what they can get out of. Ours was a quick not very thought out decision to get them they were in a large area with our two remaining chickens (after a bad fox attack) which was fenced using chicken wire. We put them out on grass during the day they get some feed in the morning and evening. In winter we have hay. And a year later haven't had any more fox problems which we used to have a lot of and now have a stronger wire mesh fence as we had to keep doing repair jobs on the chicken wire because of the goats ours are just pets really haven't bred them to use for milking yet might in the future though. Try to get some that were dehorned at birth aswell ours weren't and you can do it when there older but i think its a bit traumatic so i couldn't bring myself to do it means you always have to be careful around them though they wouldn't hurt us on purpose but there have been a few close calls when they were just simply lifting there heads and someone was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

[crittermomma78]

My best advice to you would be to make sure your fencing is all good and secure...also, barb wire fence will not hold a goat, they go through it like water...just thought I would mention that

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ok, that really made me giggle. probably because it's so true!