Lets talk about goats!

[H Diamond]

If you are planning to hay your goats, not require them to get all their roughage from your yard, you do not need as much space or a rotation. Threw problem is going to come if you're keeping them on grass. You really need either a dry lot area, then just turn them or into the grass when you can, or you need a much bigger pen, lol. I would day minimum pen size for 2 minis besides their barn would be around 250 sq ft.

 

[CrazyChickGirl]

Thank you. The area where the run would be is very dry, no grass and mostly shaded from a giant pine tree. I think we could keep it dry and clean. The tree also keeps that area dry during the winter, rain hardly touches that area. The rest of the yard has grass.

We have one bush/ tree that would need to go. I also would like to plant more trees in our yard. Would tree guards help protect young trees from minis?

 

[sandesnow]

Housing: Dog house works well. Goats are known to feed and crawl on their knees, so doing so to get into a house isn't an issue. All you are needing to provide is shelter from any weather elements for when being out either when tethered or in a run.

We always built our own and gave one per goat. (We had a double house once, and it was a pain to clean out without crawling inside.) This also provides something for them to climb or stand on. More often than not, we built a one side slanted roof, to what degree is up to you as they do like to lay on things as well.









For tethering: We used spools for ease of moving, as you can just tip them over and roll them where you want them. They have flat ends that the goats love to get up on. Good quality rope with a swivel type latch hook of decent quality that attaches to a good quality dog collar. (Nylon and metal over nylon and plastic) Around the spool, you want to attach your rope to a good quality chain.. Not dog chain, but link chain, because you want it to have the ability to easily move from side to side or more-so spin. Don't tie the rope to the spool, or you will be out there unwinding your goat all day. You don't want anything plastic for clasps and such. Goats are strong. For tethering you also want to make sure that the collar isn't too tight or too loose, and yes, the hair can wear down where the collar is if you choose this method, that is a normal occurrence. So always keep an eye out for sores from the collar rubbing.(Usually there isn't any issues with this unless there is a problem that is out of the norm. We always collard our goats.)

The house we always placed at or near almost the end of the tether length (give about 3-5 feet extra, checking that the won't get caught up on the far side of the house, (5 gallon bucket of fresh water sitting next to it) because I have had goats nearly strangulate themselves by jumping off of the wrong side.) Same goes for brush and low hanging cedar branches and such. Had one get her tether over the top of about a 6 foot cedar tree branch and she yo-yo'd herself, boing'ing up and down because she had been standing on her back feet reaching the branches and somehow got her tether over the top of it.



This pic shows kinda the sizes you need the spools to be per size of the goats, in this case, bigger is always better. lol Also you can see the dog house in the back ground and a lean-to for where the feed seems to be.

EDIT to add:

This type of hook-



This type of chain if you use chain (or use chain with rope.. over all chain is best.)


Fixed loop:For creating a stationary loop that will move around the spool, do something similar to this. Make the loop and secure it through the links at the desired spot.




One inch nylon collar with metal buckles. No plastic.

 

[ChickyChickens]

Hey... I have a herd of 14 goats, 2 males and 12 females! 3 of the females are still young. The males are just becoming adults. I have 2 questions!

#1 Three of our Boer Goats are pregnant and are supposed to be due on the 29th of July ( when I saw 1 of them being mated I counted 5 months!) But today I noticed that one of them is starting to ooze a clear liquid out of her vulva! Is she giving birth or what?

#2 Our goats don't have many play things! I need ideas for cheap and easy to make toy
Please HELP!!

 

[sandesnow]

Also.. heh, to add to this, how much length would you need for a normal browsing area?

Personally we went with about 18-20 feet total length of tether. (deducting about 3 feet for going around the spool) gives about 15-17 feet of length


Using formulation Area = (pi)r² This will give about 95-105sqft browsing area per tether.

As with anything, there are always risks. This is what worked well for us. Tethering has risks, so does other forms. It is all about what works best for you that matters.

 

[Rhandi74]

Can some of you post pics of your housing? Tethering them etc...? We have 1 acre surrounded by heavy brush yes, I'm interested to see how other ppl keep their goat's. Thanks

Here is our goat house.


inside is sectioned into 2 areas and we have climbing structures and houses on either side.

We have since enclosed the top also.



The heat lamp was not being used, it was just there in case one of my does kidded and we needed extra heat for the newborn.

 

[farm n louisana]

Is there anyway to tell when she is gonna kid

She was ith my male on jan 24 until may I knw her milk bag is un even but I caught her self sucking n another goat sucking on her I tape her tears n took the other goat out of the pen wit her

 

[Stacykins]

Is there anyway to tell when she is gonna kid

She was ith my male on jan 24 until may I knw her milk bag is un even but I caught her self sucking n another goat sucking on her I tape her tears n took the other goat out of the pen wit her

She isn't going to kid. She is definitely not bred.

Edit:

I read your post a little too quickly. I read that she was in with the buck on the 24th of January. But because she was in until May...well, she might be bred. But she does not look due anytime soon.

You seem like you need to do a lot of research regarding goat care and health. You toss a lot of does in with bucks, but don't seem to take the time to notice if they are bred, signs and symptoms of being bred, etc. If you truly want to know IF she is bred, send in a blood sample to biotracking. Even if it does show that she is bred, there is no chance you can know the due date until kids are on the ground. If you want to know a specific due date...ONLY put the doe in with the buck on the day she is in heat.

 

[farm n louisana]

I can feel a kid moving n she just got small she was big a few weeks ago

 

[H Diamond]

I can feel a kid moving n she just got small she was big a few weeks ago

So since you've taped the teats, has her udder gotten any bigger?
Are you sure you feel a kid moving? Which side of the belly do you feel movement?
What breed is this goat and what age?