Goat Thread!

[BarnyardChaos]

I have 1 billy (Spot - dwarf fainting goat), 1 wether (Camo - nigerian dwarf). Got billy & wether for weed control and ONLY wanted these two. No more. Later, neighbor conned us into adopting her 2 nannies (Maybelle & Millie - nigerian dwarves), along with their four kids. Soon had 3 more bucklings from this flock. Sold all 5 boys, kept the doeling. So 5 total at the moment, more on the way in October. Sigh. Is this anything like chicken math?

Hate them. Well, not really, just Spot, the billy. He's feisty, aggressive, doesn't take lessons in proper behavior well at all, pees on his face, and STINKS! Tears up fencing. Gets tangled in whatever he can annoy me with. (He was a bottle baby, raised in the city as a pet, and then banned to their chicken coop when he matured. No manners or socialization.) At least he's entertaining when startled. The girls just scatter, and Camo just freaks out. But they tear hell out of a weed patch!

Son got an australian shepherd dog, so now have ZERO problems keeping goats in the pen, even with the gate wide open. LOL good boy. Goats can be all the way down the pasture by the pond, son tells aussie "Go get the goats, Archie!" And off he goes, bringing them all back, bleating and racing to their pen. Archie is quite proud of himself.

I just want to sell them all. Don't want to fuss with fencing, winter feed, worry about kidding, getting stuck in a fence somewhere, unexpected bruises on my legs from not being watchful enough around Spot, etc.....

 

[StinkyAcres]

I have 1 billy (Spot - dwarf fainting goat), 1 wether (Camo - nigerian dwarf). Got billy & wether for weed control and ONLY wanted these two. No more. Later, neighbor conned us into adopting her 2 nannies (Maybelle & Millie - nigerian dwarves), along with their four kids. Soon had 3 more bucklings from this flock. Sold all 5 boys, kept the doeling. So 5 total at the moment, more on the way in October. Sigh. Is this anything like chicken math?

Hate them. Well, not really, just Spot, the billy. He's feisty, aggressive, doesn't take lessons in proper behavior well at all, pees on his face, and STINKS! Tears up fencing. Gets tangled in whatever he can annoy me with. (He was a bottle baby, raised in the city as a pet, and then banned to their chicken coop when he matured. No manners or socialization.) At least he's entertaining when startled. The girls just scatter, and Camo just freaks out. But they tear hell out of a weed patch!

Son got an australian shepherd dog, so now have ZERO problems keeping goats in the pen, even with the gate wide open. LOL good boy. Goats can be all the way down the pasture by the pond, son tells aussie "Go get the goats, Archie!" And off he goes, bringing them all back, bleating and racing to their pen. Archie is quite proud of himself.

I just want to sell them all. Don't want to fuss with fencing, winter feed, worry about kidding, getting stuck in a fence somewhere, unexpected bruises on my legs from not being watchful enough around Spot, etc.....

You have an appropriate user name! I am glad I'm not the only one. I feel bad saying I don't like an animal, it's not their fault. But I only enjoy looking at goats from afar now. Someone else can deal with them!

 

[BarnyardChaos]

You have an appropriate user name! I am glad I'm not the only one. I feel bad saying I don't like an animal, it's not their fault. But I only enjoy looking at goats from afar now. Someone else can deal with them!

Yours too!!! LOL

 

[ShrekDawg]

I guess you have to be a really laid-back person to love goats. And that's not me! I need animals to calm me down not drive me crazy!

 

[ShrekDawg]

I have 1 billy (Spot - dwarf fainting goat), 1 wether (Camo - nigerian dwarf). Got billy & wether for weed control and ONLY wanted these two. No more. Later, neighbor conned us into adopting her 2 nannies (Maybelle & Millie - nigerian dwarves), along with their four kids. Soon had 3 more bucklings from this flock. Sold all 5 boys, kept the doeling. So 5 total at the moment, more on the way in October. Sigh. Is this anything like chicken math?

Hate them. Well, not really, just Spot, the billy. He's feisty, aggressive, doesn't take lessons in proper behavior well at all, pees on his face, and STINKS! Tears up fencing. Gets tangled in whatever he can annoy me with. (He was a bottle baby, raised in the city as a pet, and then banned to their chicken coop when he matured. No manners or socialization.) At least he's entertaining when startled. The girls just scatter, and Camo just freaks out. But they tear hell out of a weed patch!

Son got an australian shepherd dog, so now have ZERO problems keeping goats in the pen, even with the gate wide open. LOL good boy. Goats can be all the way down the pasture by the pond, son tells aussie "Go get the goats, Archie!" And off he goes, bringing them all back, bleating and racing to their pen. Archie is quite proud of himself.

I just want to sell them all. Don't want to fuss with fencing, winter feed, worry about kidding, getting stuck in a fence somewhere, unexpected bruises on my legs from not being watchful enough around Spot, etc.....

Oh gosh! Sounds like you have your hands full!!

 

[ShrekDawg]

The dog sounds amazing though!

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Gotta tell you more about Spot. He was a rescue billy from a family splitting apart and moving. All we knew is that he needed a home, and friends of theirs got a lead that we had a little farm. He came with a dozen chickens. What I knew about goats I could write on a postage stamp. Google was my friend.

One day, my husband let him out of the pen to graze and was just sitting and watching him. We had a few pigs in an adjacent pen - and if you know pigs, they can get appear to 'explode' into noise and movement when excited or startled. I walked around the corner of a shed with my bucket of pig feed, and the pigs exploded from their mud hole. That, and the sudden sight of me so close, startled the poor little goat and he fell over. "Did he just do what I think he did?" LOL - and that's how we found out we have a fainting goat.

Hubby has seen him do it several more times, but he doesn't taunt him or do it intentionally. I only saw it one other time - I caught him and Camo in the feed shed, helping themselves to corn and I scolded them loudly. Camo shot out of there, and Spot fell right into the corn bin.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Gotta tell you more about Spot. He was a rescue billy from a family splitting apart and moving. All we knew is that he needed a home, and friends of theirs got a lead that we had a little farm. He came with a dozen chickens. What I knew about goats I could write on a postage stamp. Google was my friend.

One day, my husband let him out of the pen to graze and was just sitting and watching him. We had a few pigs in an adjacent pen - and if you know pigs, they can get appear to 'explode' into noise and movement when excited or startled. I walked around the corner of a shed with my bucket of pig feed, and the pigs exploded from their mud hole. That, and the sudden sight of me so close, startled the poor little goat and he fell over. "Did he just do what I think he did?" LOL - and that's how we found out we have a fainting goat.

Hubby has seen him do it several more times, but he doesn't taunt him or do it intentionally. I only saw it one other time - I caught him and Camo in the feed shed, helping themselves to corn and I scolded them loudly. Camo shot out of there, and Spot fell right into the corn bin.

Oh gosh! LOL poor guy!

 

[lomine]

I have 1 billy (Spot - dwarf fainting goat), 1 wether (Camo - nigerian dwarf). Got billy & wether for weed control and ONLY wanted these two. No more. Later, neighbor conned us into adopting her 2 nannies (Maybelle & Millie - nigerian dwarves), along with their four kids. Soon had 3 more bucklings from this flock. Sold all 5 boys, kept the doeling. So 5 total at the moment, more on the way in October. Sigh. Is this anything like chicken math?

Hate them. Well, not really, just Spot, the billy. He's feisty, aggressive, doesn't take lessons in proper behavior well at all, pees on his face, and STINKS! Tears up fencing. Gets tangled in whatever he can annoy me with. (He was a bottle baby, raised in the city as a pet, and then banned to their chicken coop when he matured. No manners or socialization.) At least he's entertaining when startled. The girls just scatter, and Camo just freaks out. But they tear hell out of a weed patch!

Son got an australian shepherd dog, so now have ZERO problems keeping goats in the pen, even with the gate wide open. LOL good boy. Goats can be all the way down the pasture by the pond, son tells aussie "Go get the goats, Archie!" And off he goes, bringing them all back, bleating and racing to their pen. Archie is quite proud of himself.

I just want to sell them all. Don't want to fuss with fencing, winter feed, worry about kidding, getting stuck in a fence somewhere, unexpected bruises on my legs from not being watchful enough around Spot, etc.....

Your post seems to suggest you run all your goats together. Nigerian Dwarf goats are year-round breeders. Meaning the does go into heat all year round. Doelings can go into heat as soon as 3 months. For the sake of the does health you need to separate the buck before they kid. He will try to breed them right away and that's not good for them. Plus the hormones they give off when close to delivery, can be a lot like those given off when in heat and he may start to pester them relentlessly. The stress of that could bring about a miscarriage/early labor. Their bodies need a break about labor. Breeding back-to-back will only shorten their lives. And if he breeds the doelings on their first heat, the pregnancy could very well kill them.

Alternately, you could get a vet to castrate the buck. Doesn't sound like you like his buck behavior and castrating him could help with that. The fact is most bucks should not be left intact. There's really no reason for you to have a buck especially since you already have more than you initially wanted.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Your post seems to suggest you run all your goats together. Nigerian Dwarf goats are year-round breeders. Meaning the does go into heat all year round. Doelings can go into heat as soon as 3 months. For the sake of the does health you need to separate the buck before they kid. He will try to breed them right away and that's not good for them. Plus the hormones they give off when close to delivery, can be a lot like those given off when in heat and he may start to pester them relentlessly. The stress of that could bring about a miscarriage/early labor. Their bodies need a break about labor. Breeding back-to-back will only shorten their lives. And if he breeds the doelings on their first heat, the pregnancy could very well kill them.

Alternately, you could get a vet to castrate the buck. Doesn't sound like you like his buck behavior and castrating him could help with that. The fact is most bucks should not be left intact. There's really no reason for you to have a buck especially since you already have more than you initially wanted.

I didn't give all the details, to save space. My son has the goats as his place for the time being. Boys live with us normally, girls at his place. We've had them separated since... oh, last fall, I think, when the 2 nannies kidded their 3 bucklings. Son wants to breed them, so ... Spot has been with the ladies for about a month now. Plan to bring the boys home in a month or so, or just sell them. Two nannies are about 3 years old, this will be their 3rd kidding in Nov or Dec. Doeling is about 18-months, this will be her first. Not MY idea to keep her (Spot is her daddy), but son and hubby insisted ONE generation would be okay. They are debating whether to sell them all. Hear, hear!