Lots of Goat Inquiries :)

[Livia Stouffer]

Hello! I'm very new to goat information. I'm hoping to get a pair of goats in the near future and am trying to pack in as much research and prep as I can. (any tips for a first time goat owner would be much appreciated!)
I already have my heart set on Nubians, I'm aware that they are a little on the noisy side, but our neighbors are pretty far off and very noisy themselves and aren't very nitpicky people in general so I'm not worried about that part haha. My family decided it was best for us to have two does as pets to start out with, but make sure to choose a good milking breed so we can do dairy a little further down the road. We mostly need them for brush control. My biggest question about this part is, do we get them as babies or adults? Which is more convenient? And how much would it cost to feed 2 babies? Or two does not in milk? And how much should we pay for either, how much is too much? Is monitered tethering for brush control ok? (I've heard many different things ont his topic) What should my goat keeping record book look like? (I almost always keep a record book on all my animals, but I've never done anything like goats before) I'm going to find the measurements of the enclosure we're building tomorrow, and I would like some possible feedback on if it is sufficient for two goats.
We already have a farm picked out that raises nubians and we are going to visit and ask lots of questions there, but I need as much information from as many different goat owners that are willing to share advice, or experiences, or just plain facts about nubians that I may not have known.

 

[Callender Girl]

You're certainly going to be better prepared for goat ownership than I was! All of mine have been miniatures, but I think Nubians are very handsome animals.

A friend once told me that the best way to contain goats is to build the best, most secure fence possible, then throw a bucket of water at it. If even a drop gets through, eventually, a goat will, too. Think and overthink what MIGHT allow your goats to get free. I have been engaged in a four-year battle to outwit one of mine who, despite all my efforts will still occasionally greet me in the driveway or be spotted in the neighbor's field, enjoying a meal.

If your goats are going to be pets, I have had more success with raising them from kids. My first goat was a bottle baby who believed he was a dog and hung out with his "brother," a Labrador retriever. I've gotten goats as adults who are people-friendly, but there seems to be a much stronger bond with those who have grown up with me as their "leader" -- okay, as their food server!

Make sure to regularly deworm them. It's relatively inexpensive and you can easily do it yourself. Keep their hooves trimmed, and while they are certainly good at brush control, I would probably not tether them unless I was right there within sight all the time. It is too easy for clever goats to get themselves in trouble.

Okay, after all that SERIOUS stuff, let me just say, "Whee!" Goats are wonderful animals, and amazing pets. Good luck and let us know what happens next!

 

[JulieBeth07]

I'm excited for you! I'm following this as I've dabbled with the idea of getting a couple.

 

[Livia Stouffer]

You're certainly going to be better prepared for goat ownership than I was! All of mine have been miniatures, but I think Nubians are very handsome animals.

A friend once told me that the best way to contain goats is to build the best, most secure fence possible, then throw a bucket of water at it. If even a drop gets through, eventually, a goat will, too. Think and overthink what MIGHT allow your goats to get free. I have been engaged in a four-year battle to outwit one of mine who, despite all my efforts will still occasionally greet me in the driveway or be spotted in the neighbor's field, enjoying a meal.

If your goats are going to be pets, I have had more success with raising them from kids. My first goat was a bottle baby who believed he was a dog and hung out with his "brother," a Labrador retriever. I've gotten goats as adults who are people-friendly, but there seems to be a much stronger bond with those who have grown up with me as their "leader" -- okay, as their food server!

Make sure to regularly deworm them. It's relatively inexpensive and you can easily do it yourself. Keep their hooves trimmed, and while they are certainly good at brush control, I would probably not tether them unless I was right there within sight all the time. It is too easy for clever goats to get themselves in trouble.

Okay, after all that SERIOUS stuff, let me just say, "Whee!" Goats are wonderful animals, and amazing pets. Good luck and let us know what happens next!

Oh my goodness, thank you for your feedback!! We mainly decided on nubians because we already have a huge shed, so we thought why not get a large breed? and we have lots of nubian breeders around here.
We will definitely talk to the breeder about buying one of his kids then! I hope we're early enough to be able to pick and choose for this coming spring. I have a few more questions if that's ok. Should we buy the goats registered? We don't want to show them, because my family only does poultry for 4-h and that's enough for us, so these goats will definitely just be pets.
I also have a few pictures of our goat set up in progress so maybe you and a few other weathered goat owners would be able to tell us what we can do to improve it?

I forgot to get the measurements of the enclosure, but it's planty of room for 2 goats. The fencing isn't quite set up yet, and we have afriend who used to own goats who is going to give us a goat shelter for more protection from the rain other than the shed. Also, the shed has dirt flooring so it will be easy to clean, I'm just worried about mites and lice...
And the the exit from the shed would be in the lightly wooded area on the backside of the shed. We just need to cut a door. We also have a water system installed towards the end of the fencing so it will be easy to keep them with fresh water. And all the posts are cemented in the ground around a foot deep. and all the corner posts, and gate posts are a taller and thicker post just for a little extra precaution. And we're going to add electric wire to the top and bottom of the fence.

 

[Callender Girl]

I think electric wire is probably a good idea, although when a friend had to keep mine during an emergency, my stubborn babies would literally walk through the electric fence and into the roadway. Her full-sixe goats had never done that, but my kids were determined!!

My goats have one large wooden house -- kind of like a 12-foot-long dog house with a hinged roof and that has a wooden floor, as do two of the smaller shelters (Yeah, I'm down to five goats right now, but heaven forbid, they all sleep together). But there are a couple of the goat "boxes" that have dirt floors and I haven't had any parasite problems.

Goats tend to okay as long as they have protection from the wind. I've had a couple who have slept all winter long -- by choice -- in the little one-goat boxes and been fine. The crucial thing up here in the winter is to make sure they always have access to unfrozen water.

Because all of my goats have been pets -- with varying degrees of success -- I've never had any that were registered. If you are thinking of someday breeding and selling them, I guess that would make a difference.

You don't mention whether your goats will have horns, which often stirs debate. With few exceptions, my goats always have horns. When I got my first bottle baby and read the instructions on how to remove his little buds with a caustic substance that could blind him, I decided against it.

But I know folks have reasons why they would remove the horns. My advice is to go all in -- either everybody has horns or nobody does. Otherwise, the ones without (and I've had two) are at a distinct disadvantage within the group.

I hope others weigh in because I am far from an expert in all things goat. However, I will be happy to answer your questions when I think I might have something useful to add. I'm looking forward to hearing how your adventure unfolds!

 

[littledog]

I don't have goats (though we're planning on getting a couple pet wethers in a year or so) so my advice isn't based on any experience, except with horses.

That said, you might want to use T-post caps when you run your hot-wire on the top of your fence, to prevent any injuries in case your goats try to jump over. Also, maybe attach a piece of fencing to your panel gate, so they can't squeeze themselves out in between the panels.

Since the place you are getting them from registers their goats, why not go ahead and register yours? It might cost more now and seem unnecessary for pets, but if you do eventually get into dairy, you will probably end up with babies you want to sell. Registering the does now, will mean any babies you sell in the future will be worth more, and will be more likely to get good, knowledgeable owners.

Your paddock and the stall you've built for them look so nice! I hope to have a similar setup in the future.

 

[Egg Snatcher]

Hello! I'm very new to goat information. I'm hoping to get a pair of goats in the near future and am trying to pack in as much research and prep as I can. (any tips for a first time goat owner would be much appreciated!)
I already have my heart set on Nubians, I'm aware that they are a little on the noisy side, but our neighbors are pretty far off and very noisy themselves and aren't very nitpicky people in general so I'm not worried about that part haha. My family decided it was best for us to have two does as pets to start out with, but make sure to choose a good milking breed so we can do dairy a little further down the road. We mostly need them for brush control. My biggest question about this part is, do we get them as babies or adults? Which is more convenient? And how much would it cost to feed 2 babies? Or two does not in milk? And how much should we pay for either, how much is too much? Is monitered tethering for brush control ok? (I've heard many different things ont his topic) What should my goat keeping record book look like? (I almost always keep a record book on all my animals, but I've never done anything like goats before) I'm going to find the measurements of the enclosure we're building tomorrow, and I would like some possible feedback on if it is sufficient for two goats.
We already have a farm picked out that raises nubians and we are going to visit and ask lots of questions there, but I need as much information from as many different goat owners that are willing to share advice, or experiences, or just plain facts about nubians that I may not have known.

Goats are very got a brush control. You can bottle babies, in witch you will have to feed milk 2-3 times a day, weend babies, they are on grass, hay and grain, a nanny that's already had babies and is in milk, a nanny that is in milk, or a doe that's never had a baby before. Your record book should have dates when you bred them, and when you dewormed them. Goats get parasites very easily. They get some from white tailed deer. I can tell you some got desases if you would like. Goats also wast hay. They don't like wet hay. If you have your hay in like a wal mount feeder or a special round bale feeder the don't wast as much. One more thing, if you get a baby goat young enogh you can get them disbudded.

 

[Livia Stouffer]

I think electric wire is probably a good idea, although when a friend had to keep mine during an emergency, my stubborn babies would literally walk through the electric fence and into the roadway. Her full-sixe goats had never done that, but my kids were determined!!

My goats have one large wooden house -- kind of like a 12-foot-long dog house with a hinged roof and that has a wooden floor, as do two of the smaller shelters (Yeah, I'm down to five goats right now, but heaven forbid, they all sleep together). But there are a couple of the goat "boxes" that have dirt floors and I haven't had any parasite problems.

Goats tend to okay as long as they have protection from the wind. I've had a couple who have slept all winter long -- by choice -- in the little one-goat boxes and been fine. The crucial thing up here in the winter is to make sure they always have access to unfrozen water.

Because all of my goats have been pets -- with varying degrees of success -- I've never had any that were registered. If you are thinking of someday breeding and selling them, I guess that would make a difference.

You don't mention whether your goats will have horns, which often stirs debate. With few exceptions, my goats always have horns. When I got my first bottle baby and read the instructions on how to remove his little buds with a caustic substance that could blind him, I decided against it.

But I know folks have reasons why they would remove the horns. My advice is to go all in -- either everybody has horns or nobody does. Otherwise, the ones without (and I've had two) are at a distinct disadvantage within the group.

I hope others weigh in because I am far from an expert in all things goat. However, I will be happy to answer your questions when I think I might have something useful to add. I'm looking forward to hearing how your adventure unfolds!

Thank you again! You all have just been so friendly and helpful, and I'm so grateful for this site!
We've decided on disbudding... I've read about all the ways it can go wrong and about how it's unnatural, but we still have kids under 10 running around the house and it's just too easy for accidents to happen especially with them being eye level with goats. And the fencing and the gates would be too easy for them to get stuck in.
I'm actually going to the nubian farm today and you guys have just been so helpful and I just want to say thank you! You've brought up so many important questions that will really help with my goat owning! I'm hoping that this coming spring we'll have a pair to show off!

 

[Callender Girl]

Fill us in after the visit to the Nubians!

 

[Livia Stouffer]

Ok, so this guy answered so many questions!
He sells his kids for $400 for the registered doelings, and around $150-200 for the bucklings, and man, he's got some BEAUTIFUL goats. They're very well taken care of and well fed and super friendly. And their colorations are absolutely stunning. I'll see if I can link his facebook furthur on so you can kind of see what I mean.
All of his bred goats are due in Febuary, but we are thinking of visiting a few other farms first before settling on this guy. But he gave us a good hay person to contact with high quality hay for a good price, and told us where the best grain is.
I know someone said earlier to just go ahead and get registered goats, but we didn't exactly plan for that in the goat budget, and we aren't entirely sure we want to use them for dairy yet. But I don't know, we may change our minds and decide to chip in that little extra for some high quality goats!
One thing he said that got me thinking was that if we were to be just starting out as goat owners then we should start with and adult and I know people in here were saying to do bottle babies. Idk, it just really got me thinking about which is better and why.

https://www.facebook.com/Soggy-Bottom-Acres-Nubian-Farm-114133339970856/photos/?ref=page_internal
^ His facebook page