About to get a Pygmy Goat

[jeremy]

I recently acquired a full grown female pygmy goat, I was wondering if anybody else here on the forum has some of these little goats and what advice you would give to a first time goat owner?

What's the best way to house them? What's the best food for the goat? How much milk can I expect her to produce?

I'm sorry if this post shows a bit of my ignorance towards the subject, but I've been doing some research and am getting ready to take in this wonderful creature! I'd just like to get some primary source responses, any help that y'all can give would be great.

 

[savingdogs]

We are new to goats too, ours are nubian/nigerian mixes that are about seven months old.

We feed ours hay free choice because we don't have much growing on the area their pen is on. We feed a blend of alfalfa/timothy that we buy locally, but we have also fed them other hay.
We offer loose minerals (from the feed store) designed for goats and baking soda.
At night, we give the females just a little grain from the feed store (again designed for goats) to coax them into the shelter. We give the little male we have raisins because they can't have too much grain. We heard animal crackers, saltines, make good snacks too (just a little).
Ours get to browse in the forest alot as well, especially in summer, but in winter we have to feed more hay. When they are browsing, they pretty much know what is good for them but don't let them eat very many of your garden plants, some of them are poisonous like rhododendrons and azaleas. Mine went right for those, too.

We had an existing chain link fence, four feet high, with gates and a lean-to attached to a shed on our property, actually for the former owner's large dog. Our dogs live in the house!
We had to change it a little. Goats kick over their water bucket so they have these buckets you can attach to the wall which are great for them. Also better to put their hay up high because they won't eat from the ground and waste alot. You can just let the fallen hay become their bedding. We have a dirt floor in our lean to, but the sides are well insulated. We close them in at night but this is because we have coyotes we think might be tempted to breach the fence if the goats were accessible.

If I was going to buy something I'd buy something portable so you could have them clear out different areas for you.

I have heard of alot of different ways to feed goats, some times it is what people do locally that you should check out.

Good luck, goats are fun

 

[jeremy]

Thanks so much for your reply! I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to place the feeder in the pen that we've put up for her. It's a approx. 16'X16' with 1 solid wall. The others are all fencing. The lean to we've constructed is up against the back wall, so I'm thinking about putting her water and food source somewhere close by.

Do you know what "treats" goats can and cannot have? Is there a list somewhere? I've heard goats will eat anything, but it's not necessarily best for them of course!

 

[Epona142]

I think the first thing you should do is find another goat.

Goats are herd animals and being left alone is stressful and will lead to a goat who is determined on getting out of her pen.

Please check out fiascofarms.com and thegoatspot.net

Oh and as to milk, Pygmies are notorious for being difficult to milk due to their squat size and tiny teats. You can do it, but chances are you won't get much. There are members on thegoatspot who milk their Pygmies, you would probably get more information there.

 

[jeremy]

As it turns out the seller was less than honest when he told me some specifics about the goat!

Imagine that.

She's never had kids- so no milk production. And as far as health concerns (I'm not sure how big of an issue it is, but it didn't seem very hygienic.) her hooves hadn't been cared for in what seemed like years. They were long and crusty and in dire need of a trim.

I guess that is why you always go and check out whatever it is you're buying from craigslist before you take the plunge...

Thanks for everyones comments/concerns!!

 

[hensplease]

were in the city here is best hint get 2 goats or else they will be ear piecing loud we learned the hard way

heres our goat lily

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
Where did you get your goats from? I'm still interested in having some.

 

[hensplease]

do you know where peris california is (riverside area by lake elsenor) theres a very friendly breeder she also breed phoeonix pm me if u want her phone #

 

[Soccer Mom]

If you want a small goat with excellent milking capability, try researching Dwarf Nigerians. It is a true dairy goat in a small package. And definitely two.

 

[savingdogs]

We had really good luck finding goats from a 4H family. They were raising dairy goats for milk so they were just selling the babies, but they were nice and very helpful. They really wanted someone to continue their good care so took the time to train us how they had been cared for, including trimming goat's feet.

Personally I'd let a veterinarian or expert trim the feet the first time and show you how it is done so you can just keep them up.