Feral goats, the start of the journey to eradicate them, and to domesticate some of them.

[Sussex19]

On some of our land that we are developing, there is a bad feral goat problem. For a guess, I would say anywhere between 20 to 50 head, but many of the does look to be pregnant.
They are damaging the native vegetation, to the point where there isn't any regrowth at all, and many plants may be becoming extinct.
The plan is to round them all up, keep the best few to breed with my goats, and sell the rest to slaughter. (I'm sorry if this is upsetting to some, I really don't like doing it, but they need to go, and they are a too good resource to give away)
All I am doing at this point is to track them, and find out the best way to trap them.
photos from my trail cam.

I really like this one, it looks like a cashmere, so it will definitely be a keeper if I can catch it.

 

[troyer]

I'm interested in this project so I'm going to follow.

 

[Sussex19]

I have set up my camera again, in a slightly different position.
What I'm thinking of doing, is making a very well fenced yard, along side the fence you can see in the photos.
Then, use that fence as one side of a chute, and build another fence to be the other side.
I should be able to just wait out there, at the right time of day, until they come along heading for their hole in the fence, and then get behind them.

A interesting development, is that I'm not actually sure just how feral they are. Like two or three have ear tags, although thats not very many out of 50. (I got a better count)
They still need catching, but maybe someone will come forward and collect them.
Or maybe some are really feral, and a few escapees have joined up with them.

I have no idea what the law is, in regards to keeping animals that are on your property, if they are clearly uncared for by their owners.
Not that anyone would notice if the odd one went missing, I've found some bones around as it is.

 

[NatJ]

two or three have ear tags, although thats not very many out of 50. (I got a better count)
They still need catching, but maybe someone will come forward and collect them....
I have no idea what the law is, in regards to keeping animals that are on your property, if they are clearly uncared for by their owners.

Your profile says "NSW, Australia," so I started looking for laws that apply there.

I found this:
https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/safet...on/rural_crime/straying_stock_on_public_roads
There are links to some infographics and fact sheets

I think they say that if you catch someone else's animal on your private property, you are supposed to notify either the owner or a particular authority within a certain amount of time. I don't know how that would work out if the owner doesn't care.

 

[Sussex19]

Your profile says "NSW, Australia," so I started looking for laws that apply there.

I found this:
https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/safet...on/rural_crime/straying_stock_on_public_roads
There are links to some infographics and fact sheets

I think they say that if you catch someone else's animal on your private property, you are supposed to notify either the owner or a particular authority within a certain amount of time. I don't know how that would work out if the owner doesn't care.

Thank you!
I should have looked my self, but I guess I was being lazy.
I guess only those with ear tags would be coincided someones property, other wise there is no way to tell apart from an actual feral.
I'm hoping the ear tags will have a PIC (property identification code) on them, so we can tell where they came from.
And I'm also hoping that we can sort it out without going to the authorities, as we know most of the landowners to some degree.

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

I have no idea what the law is, in regards to keeping animals that are on your property, if they are clearly uncared for by their owners.
Not that anyone would notice if the odd one went missing, I've found some bones around as it is.

I doubt you'll come into much trouble when you are removing pest animals that are damaging native habitat. If they belong to someone they should be properly contained not wandering from property to property.

 

[Sussex19]

I doubt you'll come into much trouble when you are removing pest animals that are damaging native habitat. If they belong to someone they should be probably contained not wandering from property to property.

That is exactly what I was thinking.
They are definitely wandering wherever they like, and breeding uncontrolled.
I don't want to cause any disputes though, even if I'm in the right, so we'll try to find out whose they are.

 

[The Birb King]

Hmm I wonder where all those goats came from. It seems interesting trying to trap them will you use food? I hope none of the pregnant females get slaughtered!

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

Hmm I wonder where all those goats came from. It seems interesting trying to trap them will you use food? I hope none of the pregnant females get slaughtered!

The originals were likely escaped pets/livestock. Keeping goats contained is harder than some realise

 

[Sussex19]

Hmm I wonder where all those goats came from. It seems interesting trying to trap them will you use food? I hope none of the pregnant females get slaughtered!

Not food, I'm thinking of setting a yard and fences on one of their main tracks, and then get behind them.
I hope to avoid slaughtering the pregnant females, at least any that are showing obvious signs.
There is some room for goats in one of our paddocks near the house.