Are there any goats that do well alone?

[Joecola123]

Hi i am thinking of getting a goat but my family would only tolerate one. is there any breed that does well alone?

 

[Epona142]

Nope, goats are herd animals, regardless of breed.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Very tough on them to be alone. Just like chickens they are much, much happier with others of their kind.

 

[CaGoatLady]

I've got 8 goats and some of them will go off on their own or go back into their barn and all of a sudden find themselves "alone" and start screaming like they've been abandoned, so I'd have to say they definitely need company and that's how I ended up with 8...there was always one that needed his own buddy, in fact, my latest little guy, a La Mancha, is a loner and will need a buddy of his own now.

 

[mandelyn]

Being herd animals, they need others to bond to. If other goats are not around, they will bond to you (meaning if you leave their sight they'll cry, and it's really quite sad!). Goats have been used to keep lone horses company, but that's not ideal for either species.

Besides, two goats are just so fun to watch! They play, a lot, and it's like a comedy show!

 

[Camelot Farms]

Nope....gotta have at least a pair.

As a matter of fact, I sold my Billy this summer and when the guy mentioned that he would be an 'only' goat, I refused the sale until we made a deal for him to take a whether too.

No lonely goats!

 

[Chickens in Elmwood]

Someone who lives right beside our church is keeping a little pygmy doe by herself...tethered. At least I think it's a doe, since you can't smell her. She cries A LOT and it is sad. You can tell that she really wants us to come over and when you talk to her, she talks back.

I think she's lonely.

That little pygmy is no larger than a cockerspaniel. Maybe you could get two little ones?

 

[ametauss]

I hate to go against the flow.... Alone as in the only animal then yes I agree a goat will NOT do well....

We raised a VERY HAPPY can't say well adjusted but he was loved and adored by all goat that thought he was a dog....

We raised him from 6wks old with our dog in our back yard in Suburbia and one neighbor thought he was a doberman he was that well behaved...

He would shake hands, walk on his hind legs, and do a twisty dance for a dog treat.... he even learned how to open our sliding glass door to come in the house to butt at the cabinet where the doggy treats were kept....

What a goat.... sadly he was not to smart when it came to eating things he wasn't suppose to and died from eating hemlock....

A neighbor now has a wether in with about 6 horses and he loves it... I secretly think he believes he's a horse since he really belongs to the neighbor's sister but won't stay at her house which is only next door but prefers to "run" with the horses...

 

[Whispering Winds]

Quote:

I can just see and hear that!!

 

[protodon]

Once you go through all the setting up and gathering supplies to keep one kind of animal adding a 2nd or 3rd or 10th is a piece of cake...unfortunately.