Goat

[Surehatch]

Goats make great friends - I remember living in Kenya where goats are pretty much part of the family in certain communities

 

[Jasmine1998]

I have fainting goats. The best thing about my buck is if he getting too ramy I just have to clap my hands & he goes down & leaves me alone. One of my girls got out a few time & I had to change her pen. That has worked for now.

 

[pride&joy]

As has been said already, the only major thing with goats and chickens is keeping the goats out of the chicken food ( strategically placed chicken doors for coops work at my place). We have both Nigerians and pygmies and they are great. Not too much to worry that they will eat the coop, but as mentioned they will eat the bark of unprotected trees and kill the trees. On the positive end nothing like fresh goat milk and the kids are so fun to watch.

 

[Hound]

The thing that really aggravates me with my goats (and i'd imagine most goats) is that if you're opening a gate they will try to barge through it regardless of where it goes to. Escaping is somewhat of a sport. There's just no teaching them to respect your space like you can with horses.

 

[Ashmeade]

I have 2 Boer weathers, 1 nubian/boer, 1 fainting goat buck, and 2 fainting goat/nubian crosses (very old fainting goat bucks can apparently sometimes still produce even when they go years without doing so)

Goats are hooved locusts. I refer to mine as "The Loveys" but I am the ONLY one that does.

If I had a dollar for every time I had to apologize for my goats I would have my farm paid for.

Mine stay on my 20 acre property and will stay in their pen mostly when they are penned but that is ONLY because they choose to.

Goats are notarious escape artists. They will head butt, scratch and jump on cars (I have an e-bay account that knows me well for car taillight replacement), Bombard anyone who might possibly have food. Oh the list goes on and on...

One thing I have noticed with mine is the boers need more hoof trimming attention than the others. And you can initially teach your goats to stand for trimming but they will not retain it (at least mine do not) and hoof trimming is one of the most dreaded chores of mine to do the way mine carry on about it. Also, nubians tend to be loud mouths, even when they are crossed with fainting goats.

But all that aside, they are "The Loveys" __to me, at least.

 

[Hound]

My Nubian had a short stay here. The incessant screaming was too much. Not bleating, but 'i'm being killed by a coyote' screaming. 'I'm starving to death' screaming through that particular mouthful. It got to the point where I wished a coyote really was killing her, and she screamed so much I probably wouldn't have noticed if one actually was... until it got quiet.

 

[michelle1017]

Try one of our sister sites www.backyardherds.com there is tons of information about goats there!

 

[allanimals21]

I have an apline wether that I bottle raised from day 1. Then a 3 year old fainter doe and a 8 month old fainter buck. The alpine can be a pain somedays because he needs to be part of everything. The fainters seem to be less troublesome. I've been told its due to the fact that they know if they get scared they faint so they try no to scare themselves. Mine don't jump, climb, or try to sneak out of the gates. They know their boundaries and seem to be ok with it. I love fainters.

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

I have an alpine wether bottle baby too. He's 7 months old now. And boy, is he a baby! He always wants attention and he doesn't have any manners. If I don't give him his grain at the same time every day he'll sit and cry until he gets it. My toggenburg doe is very respectful, comes when she's called and doesn't rush the gate every time I open it. I think it has something to do with the males being wethered. They just never mature and have to act like idiots the rest of their lives. If you are thinking of milking a miniature goat I think you'd want to go with a Nigerian Dwarf, or actually a couple of them.

 

[allanimals21]

Quote:
Your alpine wether sounds just like my baby Billy. He has no manners at all. He has to be part of everything I'm doing. He used to scream at me all the time when I'd leave him un attended. Hes better now that he has friends. He still would rather lay on my lap or lean on me than be a goat. lol

This is my Billy

This is him the day I brought him home