I am thinking about getting a goat (s) but have some questions

[Beer can]

I've seen people keep goats on chains and move them around their yards, I don't see any harm in it.
If your thinking dairy goats and want to stay small take a look at Kinder goats.

 

[enola]

Goats on chains aren't a big problem..... until a dog chases the goat to the end of the chain and the goat's neck gets broken...

 

[Mutt Farm]

Hi!

I am no goat expert.This post is humor. I had one goat, Vincent Van Goat. He was a friend for an orphaned baby wild burro I adopted. He was de-horned and fixed. I really enjoyed him. They were inseparable, played by the hour. He slept in a XLG dog house in the barn stall. He was never loose or tied, he had a 16X48 run and 16X12 stall to share. That's my goat story. Now, I'd like to tell you about my neighbors goats for comparison, as food for thought. He's such a nice guy, but had no idea what goats can do! Mind you, we only have 1.5 acres, desert. You may have a ton of property. They had 4. 2 bucks, 2 does. Then they had a few babies

so cute! They didn't pen them. The males stink to high heaven. They relentlessly torment the girls. He locked one up in a dog kennel, it got it's horns stuck in the fence while they were away and died. They climb and have ruined my chain-link to eat tree branches. They stripped and killed a couple trees. They would leave for the weekend, the goats would holler 24/7 for food. Our cranky neighbor reported him for noise and neglect. A coyote got one of the babies. So that's how not to do it!
I have a friend up the hill that has tons of property and lots of adorable pet goats. Her only problem is predators.
I'd love to have a goat again, they are so darned cute!
You've received great information here from others. Waiting to see what you wind up with! Best of luck!

 

[MeepBeep]

Goats on chains aren't a big problem.....

I prefer to avoid any risk of neck injury or entanglement where they can no longer access their water or shelter and I like to give my goats at least a basic fleeing chance when they encounter a predator...

If they are supervised in a entanglement free area void of predators, that is one thing, but chained up in the woods as the OP asked about is trouble waiting to happen...

 

[enola]

You only quoted half of what I posted. I was in no way endorsing putting a goat on a rope or chain. And I see a broken neck as one of the worst scenarios, not the only one.

 

[Beer can]

I've know of goats on ropes that are many yrs old, seen them on a couple different people's front yards for many years. They move them around and it keeps their lawns mowed nicely. Now a goat tied up in the woods is a different story, I'd call that bait if you have coyotes.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Or if you have a t-rex. Sorry.

 

[enola]

Where I live a goat on a rope would be bait for dogs, coyotes or certain ethnic groups of people.

 

[cassie]

I used to recommend wethers to everyone I knew who were thinking about goats. It's what I had growing up and they were great pets. However, after vet school, I don't think I will be recommending wethers as much as I once did. Male goats have a temdency to block incredibly easy and the treatments for blockage are expensive and not all that great. You can prevent it (which is the best option, though not always a gaurantee) but if you plan on leaving and giving the goats free acces to grain (not a good idea whether male or female) and you don't feel like saving a thousand or so for treating a male goat for urinary blockage, I would go with does.

A dog kennel will not be enough space for two goats. Goats do need some room to exercise. I would also recommend a built shelter (though the goats will probably try to eat that as well). Logs work great as play toys in the pen.

I also think the other posters definitely had some great advice for your other questions.

I just have a comment or two. Take them for whatever they are worth, I had goats for over 40 years and I had one and only one male goat ever get a blockage. Being in vet school you would of course see a lot of them and they aren't pretty. I really don't think the factors causing urinary calculi are all that well known, but that is just my opinion. With my goat it was a lack of water. The automatic waterer malfunctioned and I didn't notice it soon enough. I have been told too much alfalfa and grain cause calculi. Maybe they do but my goats were fed exclusively alfalfa and the bucks were grained during the breeding season and with that one exception I never saw any calculi. I had a neighbor who had a young wether get calculi and he was fed grass hay and no grain. As you pointed out pet wethers, and pet goats not used for breeding do not need grain. To prevent calculi I am not sure what you can do other than make sure they have plenty of fresh clean water. I have been told minerals in the water may be a factor. I knew one woman who added a little apple cider vinegar to the water of her pet wethers. None of them ever had a urinary blockage but I don't know if the ACV was a factor or not. At any rate it couldn't hurt and the goats seemed to like it. If the goats try to eat the barn, try feeding some minerals. As I said, I fed alfalfa and my goats would chew on wood. When I traveled a a different part of the country I noticed the goats were not wood chewers. The difference is that my goats were fed alfalfa and the goats I saw on my trip were on grass hay. Alfalfa is low in phosphorous and most grass hays have plenty of phosphorous. My goats were chewing on the wood to get the phosphorous. When I offered them a suitable mineral mix the wood chewing stopped.

 

[Mutt Farm]

Where I live a goat on a rope would be bait for dogs, coyotes or certain ethnic groups of people.

Oh my gosh! I forgot, in Fla, my friends goats were disappearing without a trace. She rented property for her horses and goats. The neighbors were stealing them and eating them!