Any goat lovers out there?

[shemarie]

Oh....I love goats. I have 2 Dwarf Nigerian wethers and am getting a little doe in about 12 weeks. I have 3 chickens.....which I also love...but the goats...they are so much fun. I have a Sheltie and she likes them to. She will run them if we tell her to move them somewhere...but not very well...and sometimes she even tries to head butt them. Which is HILARIOUS. I highly recommend goats. They all get along wonderfully. Although you do have to be careful about goats eating chicken feed. It is really bad for them I 've been told. My boys still try to get a few nibbles though. Make sure you get more than 1 goat though or they will get lonely.

 

[SandraChick]

Hoping to get a couple meat goats this spring/summer! I think rebuilding the chicken coop has to come first though!

Sandra

 

[chickengirl]

I have pygmys and they are alot of fun i got a male and two females well the female had the other one last march and just this past month we had babies 3 but one did not make it the other two are girls we named them angel and star they are so lively and i love them to death

 

[ilroost]

my herd just increased by 6 i had 2 pygmies have babies today 1 had twins and 1 had 4 kids sure got my hands full now

 

[dragon]

we brought nazeem (alpine/nubian) with us from mn to nm. Our trip was fine......when he needed to "go" he would stand up and we would pull over *we were down there for a month or so*
but we cant have goats here.......need to get our own land freash goat milk.............yummy................

 

[Llysse]

CarriBrown, it really depends on the dog, but I wouldn't risk it. Most dogs will chase goats, especially those with herding instincts. If you happen to know your dog's not a chaser, you might be okay with dogs and goats together. However, keep in mind that if you have any landscaping in your backyard, your goat will eat it up like candy. They like to eat the bark and twigs of fruit trees especially. And yum--roses! Most people like to fence goats OUT of their backyards, LOL

!

 

[renae]

i have three nigerian and 1 pygmy right now 1 nigerian and my pygmy are in the chicken coop with the chickens.they get along just fine i have to put the chicken feed up high on the shelf for the chickens cause i too have heard of it not being good for the goats.they will eat anything they can get well almost.they do love to try to get a bite out of my just planted fruit trees which beleive it or not i planted for them so they can have lots of fruit here and there.i love my goats it took a long time but my two males are finally getting to the point that they walk right up to me one even rubs up against me and i can hand feed him and hug him the other male is comnig around letting me hand feed him but i can only pet his nose.he came from a farm and wsnt treated very well so he will take a little more work.now as far as keeping them with the chickens i myself havent had a problem with it except they may step on your eggs depending on where your chickens lay their eggs my chickens lay their eggs on a shelf that is high enough off the ground that the goats cant get on top of it so they cant step on the eggs but before i put the shelf in they did break eggsas for dogs and goats im not so sure about that i think you would really have to nkow your dogs personality very very well and know that even the best dog can just out of nature bite a goat.my dog does get along with my goat but even so i wouldnt leave them unattended for the simple reason like stated before goats are prey and dogs are predators its just nature.

 

[xrayman]

we're going to start a herd a meat goats this summer. Or once the horses are sold.

 

[4H kids and mom]

Ok, I'm glad I found this post. I'm thinking of getting a pair of pygmys for our yard. I have a small building that would be perfect as a night time stall/shelter, and could attach a pen to it, or just let them roam the fenced yard. We get very cold winters, would they need a heat source of some form in the winter like the chickens?

My chickens have a pen attached to their coop, so the goats wouldn't be able to get at their feed. If I were out in the yard, could the goats and chickens roam the yard together without problems? Is it hard to keep goats? Bedding for the stall...is straw alright? I saw bags of Goat Chow at the farm store, is that what they eat, or do they need additional supplements, calcium, salt, etc? Any other advice?

My yards not huge, but its plenty big enough for a pair of small goats, and the chickens to live comfortably. I already know how to trim their hooves because my neighbor (who breeds the goats) showed me. Is this something I could feasibly do? Anything I should know?

 

[Blondie]

I just got 2 pygmy/mutts a couple of weeks ago. I love them!! Their names are Billy Goat and Ginger Goat. Billy had his "boy things" banded off, so he is a wether. Since I didn't want dogs, (too much barking) these 4 month old goats are similar to dogs in their behavior - only funnier. They are very curious about the chickens and vice versa.

They are easy to take care of, too. PS> I like this message board better than the goat message board

Lounging in front of the chicken house: