Can you let a goat free range?

[chicken 86]

Beside the obvious reason to not let a goat free range(that being that it will eat your garden) is it okay? Mainly I want to know if it will get lost or follow the chickens to the goat house. The goat house is not the chicken coop but is close.

 

[carolinagirl58]

you mean no fence at all? No....not a good idea at all. They need to be fenced to protect them from predators and to keep them where you want them.

 

[lockedhearts]

Well, you can, but I can guarantee that they will not eat what you want them to eat and will eat everything else...... We turn ours loose occassionally when we are outside, they do good for oh 15-30 minutes, then they start to get in trouble

 

[bagendhens]

not only will they eat everything in your garden but onces theyve decinated all the yummies from yours they will happily head on over to your neighbors homes too, (no matter how many acres your on)
not to mention there at a great deal of risk from neighborhood stray dogs and vehicles...
so can you...
sure

should you? not if you want your goat to live very long or stay on frinedly terms with your neighbors.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

You can, but only one time

 

[turney31]

You can, if you want them on top of your car.....

 

[greymane]

Good advice, all, but I was going to ask can you every totally STOP them from free ranging??

My babies have been very well behaved (knock on wood), but it has been my experience that a truly motivated goat is a very hard animal to contain!!

 

[Kaitie09]

Mine get out 2-3 times a day. They are hopping a 5ft fence so I've given up and just let them do what they want. Luckily, where I live we can hardly keep a flower alive in the soil. I talked to my neighbor and he actually say he enjoys looking out his window and seeing 2-3 goats in his yard. My other neighbor loves that they "clear cut" her woods. I'm lucky that mine have 10 acres total that no one cares about, and we are a mile from a real road (private drive here). Also, although they have that much space, they never stray more than 100 yrds from the house. As soon as you walk out there and give them the "your in trouble" look, they automatically go back into their yard too.

 

[Orchid]

Quote:
That's exactly what I was going to say.

 

[terrilhb]

Quote:
X2 and