Fence for goat, what size and other goat ?s

[nightshade]

Anyone who has goats please help....

How high does a fence need to be for a knee high mixed breed goat? I want to fence in a nice place for him cause right now he is kinda free ranging in my flowerbed

I was thinking 4 ft but I am not sure what kind to even get. And was told by a woman that raises goats that I should have 6ft. But he is only 2 foot tall why do I need 6ft if he has nothing ot get up on to jump the fence? Do I get the 4x4 inch squares or is that too big? is chain link a better size ? What all do you guys use?

Also what do you feed yours? I was told at the feed store to use horse feed and let him free rage. Only giving him a small scoop about 2 cups of the grain a day. But I was just told by a woman (same woman) who raises and breeds pigmys that I should not be feeding him any grain at all that it could kill him

So now I am all confused about it and scared something bad is going to happen, that I am feeding him things he should not have. He is my four year old son's pet and very dear to him. The last thing I want to do is accidently kill his pet.

Please anyone with goats that thinks they can clear this up for me I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[wendy]

My husband took care of goats on this place he rented when he was younger. He said they will climb out of fenced in areas. So the lady that said 6ft might be right.
I want some (2)goats but my husband thinks I am crazy!

 

[showme31]

I keep my momma pygmy goat and her 2 kids in combo panels (kinda like cattle panels with graduated openings). I use the combos because mine still have horns and the holes in the cattle panels allow them to put their heads thru but not back out easily. Trying to get a goats head outta that isn't easy as they tend to balk at the whole help thing. I have never had them go over and they are about 4' tall. I tried keeping them in chain link, but they love to run their bodies down the fencing and stretch it out. Giving the fence a "pot belly" look and weaking the ties along the bottom eventually the fence pulled loose. The other nice thing about the panels are with the steel fence posts they are easy to move. I made my goat house portable, so when area is bare a quick move fixes that. Goat will destroy landscaping if given the chance. My poor hubby has watched lots of his hard work become goatie dinner. LOL

My buck is kept tethered. I did this because I have seen him go over a fence that was close to 4' tall. He went over when we were loading momma and she was separated from her kids and was crying for them. I decided that tethering him for the safety of my kids was probably the best thing. One thing to remember with tethering is predators. Dogs and goats don't always mix well and we did lose a very sweet goat this way.

I don't add any grain to my bucks diet. In fact, unless I have kids on my mommas side I don't grain her either. I just watch body condition very closely. I keep mineral available to the at all times and plenty of forage is available.

Is this goat intact or has he been "fixed"? A wether is a much better pet especially for a child. Wethers are much sweeter and don't have the "goat odor" that a buck does.

Good luck with your goat
Smiles
Jul

 

[aran]

we pick up our two new baby goats in about 6 hours! We are getting angora cross 5month olds who were bottle raised. I have put up a 6 foot chainlink fenced enclosure ( about 1000sq feet or there abouts) which they will be in for the next few weeks until the field is finished being fenced.

hope this all goes well...everyone thinks im crazy too! hehehe

 

[wendy]

My buck is kept tethered.


What exactly did you use to tether your goat? In case I can talk my hubby into us getting one or two! He works offshore and the weedeating does not get done like it should around trees and we have 13 acres. I can't get to it, I have two small children to take care of and he has the heavy duty model with all these attachements. It is to heavy for me to use!

 

[lacyloo]

if your goat is still intact u will need goat feed because of the amonium cloride in it helps them from gitting urinary blocks called (calculi) you can buy it normally at a feed store but most the time its already in the goat feed,

 

[howlingwoodsfarm]

we have 4 nigerian dwarf goats. they are SUPER tiny. about a foot or so tall now. will get maybe 2-3 ft tall. Ours are all wethers(neutered males) We were told that wethers NEED no grain atall due to urinary calculi(stones) which can form and kill the goat. They said I can give them a hand ful a day of the feed with ammonium chloride which there was only one which had it in it, so don't assume all do, I would ask specifically for which goat food has ammonium chloride if you want to grain them. otherwise there is no need to and good quality hay is all you need along with letting them forage. Also goats are foragers, they are not grazers, a field of lush grass can cause bloat, which is not harmful. they will just look pregnant If available have trees and brush enclosed into their field, along with the grass. they love to stand on their back legs to get to branches. About the fence. we were told 4 ft might work. we went with woven wire field fence, which has smaller holes (2'X4') at bottom and bigger holes on top(4'x4') well our little guys who came not much bigger then cats, walked right through that, and they don't grow quickly so we had to bite the bullet and buy more fencing to line the bottom 2 ft of our current fencing. SO lesson learned, chain link will get pushed out by their bellies as they rub and yes it does eventually loosen the brackets on the bottom, but good ol zip ties(cable ties) fix that problem in about 10 seconds. If I were to do again, I would have gone with chain link. Kept previous goats we had in for 14 years with no problem. Also put an appropriate fitting dog collar on him and put a small livestock bell on him, always helps incase they get out, then you can attach leash and bring home and can hear where they are by the bell. and most goats like veggie and fruit and bread scraps from the kitchen.. IN MODERATION.. not more then a handful of this stuff a day. Hope this helped some and good luck.

 

[aran]

this is all good info...we picked up our lil boy and girl today...angora nubian crosses. VERY CUTE!

The boy just wants to be cuddled the whole time...baaas at you when you leave the enclosure. The area they are in is about 1000sq feet with a 6 foot chainlink fence around it. They will be in if for about 2 months until the fencing is finished in the main field. I had planned on getting them collars and tethering them with long dog chains for an hour or so at a time in different locations so they can "forage" and clean up the weeds!!!

Is grain feeding essential or can they get enough goodness from grass etc. Am i supposed to worm these goats?

 

[4H kids and mom]

I have 2 goats as well. I have an angora cross (like yours) and a Boer cross. Both are does (girls). Both are fed DuMor Goat Formula which is very HIGHLY recommended. I feed them each 2 cups of the DuMor one 1/2 cup of organic Sweet Feed (corn, oats, wheat, and molasses) in the morning before letting them out to free range our yard all day, and then another equal mix each at night when I put them back in their pen. They have mineral and fresh hay available at all times free choice. My girls are 6 months (Angora) and 7 months (Boer) old. Both have nice firm little pellet poo so I know I'm doing something right!

Note: Do NOT let your little ones out to range all day right away! They are not used to grass and can get scours from over eating it. Scours is nasty runny poo that burns and irritates their tender skin. It can lead to dehydration, open painful sores, matting hair, and more. Your little ones need to be gradually introduced to grass over the course of a week or so. UNLESS the farm you bought them from had them on grass. If they are bottle babies newly off the bottle, DO NOT put them right on grass! They will get very, very sick. You can start them on grass by giving them a handful the first day. Then two handfuls the next day. Then three handfuls the third day. Then, let them out on the grass for about a half hour on the fourth day. And gradually increase their time out on grass each day. If you notice signs of scours (trust me, you cant miss it!) IMMEDIATLY take them off grass and put them back on whatever the farm was feeding them and medicate them for scours. (The medication is red and sticky and smells kinda like fish. You can get it at a farm supply store, or maybe even fro the farm you got the kids from.)

Enjoy them. Kids are adorable and so cute to watch frolic around.

 

[showme31]

To tether my buck I just took a length of rope and put one of those things like on the end of a dog leash on each end. He has a good size house that used to belong to a dog, I put a ring on the house and I just clip the tether to it.

A couple of things to remember. A tethered goat is a sitting duck, so to speak. It will not be able to escape it's most common predator, the dog. I lost a goat this way and it's not pretty. That being said I still tether. The dog that killed is gone. It went over an 8' fence of another neighbor and killed his peacocks and also killed several calves before it met it's fate.

The other thing is to make sure it doesn't get "hung up". You don't want poor goatie to strangle or be without water.

I've had goats for thereabouts 12 years. I've never grained any goat that isn't lactating. I've never had any probs, overgraining is bad for both bucks and wethers.

Yes you will have to worm. I use safeguard. It's a horse worming paste. I keep mine on a regular schedule, just like my horses. They need regular foot care and I do give CD & T vaccinations. I keep dog collars on all of mine and train them to walk on them. Makes moving them very very easy. A goat that doesn't want to walk with you can be a challenge to move.

Enjoy your goats they are great pets.

Smiles
Jul