Goats

[Southern28Chick]

I want goats!!!! Pygmy goats. I keep reading that goats are good for keeping predators away (snakes and hawks). I have a 40'x50' chicken yard. I have 23 pullets and 1 rooster.

Can I fit 2 pygmy goats in there with the chickens? Will my rooster try to fight with goats? Will the goats mess with my blind chicken? Will the goats eat the chicken feed? Is that to many questions?

 

[Judymae]

I don't know if they will fit or not but I can tell you that they will eat the chicken feed. They will eat anything that they can get into their little mouths. I've had pygmy goats for almost 10years. I just love them. Mine never messed with my chickens or rooster. Could be cause they were raised together. I also had a potbelly pig in with them. The pig couldn't make it into the coop so she couldn't eat the eggs or chicken feed. Goats are very laid back. I don't see why they would mess with your blind chicken. They will try to find a way out. They will always try to find a way out. That's the reason I finally sold all mine off. It broke my heart. I want more so badly. I think this time I'm gonna get nigerian dwarf goats. They are so cute. And are smaller than pygmy goats. Good luck!

 

[aran]

we have two in our run which is only 40x30 or there abouts southern28chick... biggest complaint i have is trying to keep the buggars out of the dang coop! I made the door TINY tonight and now i just went to check on the animals and the big chickens are roosting for the night outside the coop in the run and the darn goats are in the coop!

 

[Judymae]

Goats are so stupid they are entertaining. We had one get in a dog house that had one of those weather flaps on the door. He couldn't figure out how to get back out. Ran in circles crying out and panicking. We laughed so hard. Finally my dh went over and took the top off the dog house. That poor little goat just looked at him with big ole' eyes.

 

[cgjsmith]

I love my pygmies!! And yes they will get into the chicken feed. Mine keep bloating themselves. I'm always chasing them down getting them out of the chicken house. But they never hurt the chickens. They might head butt the chickens in order to get them out of the goat feed but they have never hurt them. My advice though. Get them young. the older they are the harder it is to get them adjusted to you. Make sure your fence is tight to the ground they can sneak out of the smallest hole. Crystal

 

[Henny peeny]

I have two goats

Daisy

and

Patunia (the white one)

I got Patunia when she was 10 weeks old so she is not really a goat she never was in a heard or seen much of gaots. I got Daisy since I read they need a friend or they get bonded with you ( in gerneral sense) Daisy is out of a heard of 400 and was pregant when I got her. He baby was born still born and my husband had to pull it from her literally note to anyone if you have a pregant goat and you are sure it is FIND A GOAT VET I could not find one in my area and I thought my husband wasw going to kill Daisy. anyhow she mended well but can not get pregnant wich is really good. Patunia had never been bred and I don't plan to breed her in her life. I have had them for about 6 years. I read that a goat can live about as long as a dog does. I feed my goats Purina Sweet feed for Goats DON"T FEED THEM HORSE SWEET FEED. alot feed the horse sweet feed because it is cheaper but it hurt their urinary track and I think it hurst their liver or kidneys. I feed the chicken feed to it has corn and wheet in it I mix this with there feed. I give them corn and left over veggies, My daisy loves potatoes. They are in a pen and are safe frm stray dogs or anything that might harm them. Oh and I givve them grass the grass helps with their dogestive tract. M... think that is all.

Rhayden

 

[aran]

our lil boy goat is going to have the snip done this week...he is peeing everywhere and getting WAY TOO agressive with my 6 year old...time for the twig to get separated from the giggle berries!

 

[jessied1227]

time for the twig to get separated from the giggle berries!

 

[Blondie]

Aran, I don't know how old your goats are, but do you know you can "fix" the males by banding off their "boys"? When I got my goats, the man already put a rubber band type of thing on him and about a week later they just fell off.

He didn't seem to be distressed by it - although I didn't see it when they were first banded, so it might have hurt in the beginning.

Maybe it's just an old southern way to do it??

Here's a picture of Billy:

 

[aran]

our little guy is 5 months old....as both a doctor and more importantly A MAN!, i can imagine that ischemic tissue ( ie without blood supply which is what the bands do--> cut off the blood supply) would be REAL painful...like ischemic heart tissue is painful ( heart attack). I dunno but im a big softie and our boy is going in for an op to have the meat and two veges separated.

And from what i read just about everyone else does it the way yours was done