Goats with horses??? Need Advice

[dccdmom]

Will the goats stay in the fence? Sorry, but that's about the funniest question I've ever heard.

My angora Harpo has been nicknamed Houdini. He won't stay in any fence! Chico is usually right behind him too.

We tried putting the goats in with a miniature horse temporarily while we shored up the other fences. The usually mild mannered horse was awful to the goats. I would give the goats their own fenced area.

 

[chickenannie]

Linebacker, how do you get your goats to stick around your place when you "take them off their lead ropes?" . Do goats FREE-RANGE? How much space do you have?

 

[linebacker]

Quote:
I have a total of 30 acres but only 12 are fenced right now. Both of mine are bucks and also the first goats I ever owned. I got them from a guy who had them in his herd as breeders. They are totally a trip. They had neither ever had a collar on or ever been staked or even been in a stable. I just started them in the back yard staked next to the pasture fence overgrown with honeysuckle. Im a teacher so I get home around 3:30 every day along with the kids. We just spent a lot of time with them. We started first by getting them to eat treats out of our hand. The whole process really went pretty quickly. After a while they just wanted to be petted and play so we started by unhooking the chain and letting them drag it along with them so if they did bolt we atleast had a chance of grabbing the chain. The only downside is they really and I mean really like our shrubs! If you go in the house and they are running lose and see you they go to the french doors and look in and baaaaaaa to you come back out. I bet not to many people have goat nose marks on their doors and windows like we do! lol We've had them since last June and I just couldnt imagine live without them.
Brad

 

[chickenannie]

Linebacker, That sounds so nice.
Just to clarify -- when your goats free-range, are they within the 12-acre fenced area? If not, have you EVER had them run away? I love the idea of what you're describing, but I'm imagining myself going to my neighbors houses to reclaim my goats! (some of them have no sense of humor).

 

[linebacker]

They stay somewhere around the 12 acres sometimes they go out the back fence but they are still on my land. I am fortunate not to have any close neighbors as I own a buffer on all three sides and Im 100 yards off the road. I guess the best way to visualize would be to compare them to dogs playing in the yard. Im sure if something peeked their intrest they might travel to investigate it, but what if I had treats with me they would not want to miss them. I guess with them being herd animals they just want to be with us and the horses and at the very least each other. I know when I first got them I made the mistake of staking each one on different sides of the fence. That would have been fine now as they have cleaned it off so much they can see each other through it, but then it was a nightmare. I was glad I was there because they both got tangled pretty bad trying to get where they could see each other.

 

[NYREDS]

You asked 2 questions-
Goats make excellent stable/pasture mates for horses, that's not an issue.
As to the fence question simply remember the old adage-a fence that holds water will hold goats