Are there predators to goats?

[Farmerfro]

Will a mink,weasel or raccoon kill a goat?

 

[cassie]

I wouldn't think so. Never heard of a case. The worst goat predators are dogs and maybe coyotes.

 

[DutchBunny03]

Goats don't have many predators, unlike chickens, but even so, a guard dog would be a good investment.

 

[cassie]

Just a comment. Your goat pen needs to be secure enough to keep dogs out. Several months ago a friend of mine had a dog get in the goat pen one night and kill several fine purebred does. He started locking the goats in the barn at night but the other morning when he went to do chores he saw a dog leap out an open window. This window was over six feet up on the wall but a German Shepherd had managed to jump through it into the barn. When John went into the barn he saw blood and dead and dying doelings everywhere. He never thought a dog would go through that window but it did.

 

[SueT]

Wouldn't it help to have goats with horns? I read in The Pack Goat by John Myonczynski that one of his goats gored an attacking dog in the stomach and killed it. He never disbuds his kid goats. Do any of you have experience with horned goats protecting themselves successfully?

 

[lcertuche]

I have heard that cows or goats with horns will fight off predators but ones without will run. Now that said, when I brought my little Nigerean home my large and small dog thought it was great fun to run up at her, barking like crazy. She sent then literally flying with a head butt. They decided to let her be in peace. She did have horns and I was there to intervene if things got rough. Now my dog was a mutt but did have birddog in her(She pointed at everything, snakes, chickens, etc.). I think a viscous dog or even worse a couple of dogs working in a pack mentality would have been able to take her down easy enough.

Does in a barn a night would have been easy pickings with no way to get away and German Shepherds are very large dogs. A buck might have had a better chance to fight off a predator. I would be trying to find out whose dog that was. If it would attack livestock, who's to say it would go after your children or yourself. Most dogs don't kill for food but just for the sport of it. I don't now but have in the past shot at a couple of strays that killed most my free range chickens in just a few minutes time. I don't know if I hit them but they never returned. Goats are a huge investment for a small homestead!

I have always tried to secure my critters at night because of the predators in the area, bears, coyotes, cougars, raccoons, etc. Hardware wire on the windows. Some animals like a bear probably could go through this if they wanted but I think a 6 ft. high window with hardware wire or 2x4 fence (or both) wire would keep most things out.

 

[cassie]

Horns are not much of a defense against a dog or other predator. I once saw a pen full of horned goats cut to ribbons by dogs.

 

[ShrekDawg]

That GSD must have been either very hungry or very bored and it's really a shame the owners decided to just let it roam free and disrupt the neighbors rather than take the time to properly train and exercise it and give it the physical and mental stimulation it needs :/

 

[cassie]

Of the people I personally know who have lost goats and other livestock as a result of dog attacks, the usual culprits by far are GSD's followed closely by Malamutes and Huskies.

 

[dainerra]

Of the people I personally know who have lost goats and other livestock as a result of dog attacks, the usual culprits by far are GSD's followed closely by Malamutes and Huskies.

GSDs can be common culprits simply because "herding" is simply directed prey drive. If a dog is untrained and allowed to do as they wish, they make a game of chasing and grabbing. GSDs are a breed that is large enough to do damage.
Of course, a lot is also determined by what types of dogs are most common in your area. Here, there aren't a lot of GSDs left to roam so it's not common for them to be culprits. My house makes up almost 1/2 of the local population of the breed so I know they aren't out roaming lol