New Goat Owner Needs Help!!!

[SportTees]

I picked up my pigmy goat last night. The ladys husband is who deals with the goat but he was unavailable for some reason. I was told he was going to give me info but he wasn't there. I'm trying to find out how old the goat is and so forth. I know they need there hoofs trimmed and shots and worming. They need allot of hay, some try of grain or goat chow, a mineral block or other mineral form. I'm going to see about getting the horns gone- there are several people around here that have goats + I already have a livestock vet. Is there anything else I'm forgetting?

 

[CaGoatLady]

Do you know how old it will be? Hay, hay, and more hay! Also some sort of grain. I used to feed Showmaster, but I've switched to Purina Goat Chow.

 

[cmjust0]

Go over to the backyardherds.com forum if you haven't already. Goats eat grass, weeds, tree leaves, hay, and bagged feed that's labelled for goats. They need mineral, too.. And, yes, they need other special care.

You could run goats for 100 years and still learn something new the very next day.

If you are seriously going to pick up a goat TODAY without even knowing what they eat...? Well, may the god of your choice have mercy on the both of you..

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Uh, you may want to get a book and do some reading before you get your goat. Goats eat lots of different things, but you really need to read up and make sure you're providing the proper care for your goat! Look for books at the library, there are some really good, easy to understand books about goats.

 

[murphysranch]

There is a Yahoo Pygmy goat group. Look it up. Maxine Kine (sp?) is on there and she is the foremost authority on pgymys.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

There are a lot of good goat forums on the net. Backyardherds.com has a section. There is http://www.goatwisdom.com/. http://www.fiascofarm.com/ has some good information. Just do a search on goat care and you will find a lot of good information.

You will need to establish with a livestock vet, as they need vaccinations and worming on a regular basis. Most important thing is to find out what the previous owner has been feeding and do the same. Introduce any new feed very slowly to avoid bloat. Bloat can kill a goat, and very quickly. We feed our Nigerian Dwarf goats a three-way hay. i think it's wheat, oat, and rye. They get that twice a day. We give them alfalfa pellets and a bit of Purina Goat Chow every couple of days, as a treat. You should provide the goat minerals and bicarbonate of soda free choice, and always have fresh water.

You mention "a Pygmy", which i take to mean you are getting just one goat? You will want to have at least two, as they are very social animals. They need another playmate and will get very depressed if left alone.

Take all your questions to the current owner of the goat, and they should be able to help you. But don't hesitate to ask more questions here, too.

Good luck! And you know, you will have to post pictures.

 

[SportTees]

Quote:
Thank you for the info

The goat won't be alone I have about every other type critter there is for it to play with.

I was more less wondering what to supplement the hay with. I read some of the websites on care today but I couldn't figure out what to suplement with

 

[mypicklebird]

Why? Why are you going to get a creature that you know nothing about? You need to read read read, build a proper goat enclosure BEFORE you have the animal, have all of the food and supplements you need, and line up your medical care before you get the animal. Livestock vets are not as common as they used to be. Do you know they are social- get more than one, do you know they will eat your landscaping (need a sturdy enclosure), do you know what diseases they get & vaccinations/dewormings they need? If I sold goats and the person coming to buy one admitted they were- your quote 'clueless', I would not sell them one (or more), and tell them to come back when they had done their research and had completed the area the goats would live in. I won't sell chickens or even hatching egg to clueless people....

 

[Laney]

One other thing, please don't forget hoof care! Most of the goats I have rescued have overgrown hooves with hidden hoof rot below. It can take up to a year or more to trim back and heal the hooves and get them back to good condition.

Hooves need to be trimmed anywhere from once a month to every 6 weeks. More often than that if you ask the current owner how often he trims hooves and he says "trim hooves???" It would be great if you can find a local goat mentor to show you how to trim the hooves, if not, then you can find a lot of book that can show you the basics and just start out slow and work from there.

Just be careful, watch your fingers and be sure YOU are up to date on YOUR tetanus shot.

Laney

 

[cmjust0]

Quote:
Graze and browse if possible, and most folks use at least a little bit of bagged feed that's labelled for goats. Not sheep and goats, mind you -- GOATS. Try to find one that specifically says NOT to feed it to sheep because that means it contains copper, which goats must have. Make sure there's at least twice as much calcium in the bagged feed as there is phosphorus.. If it contains added ammonium chloride, even better.

Mineral is very important also. Goats seem to do better with loose mineral than blocks, and do try to get one that's labelled for goats. If you can't find one labelled for goats, a bag of the better cattle mineral will do in a pinch. If you buy the cheap stuff, it'll have cheap stuff in it, and cheap stuff isn't typically very bioavailable so it really doesn't do the animal much good. Also avoid "Hi Mag" or "Spring" mineral, as they have high levels of Magnesium in them.. Especially avoid those if your goat is a buck or wether. Magnesium contributes to a condition call urinary calculi, which are basically bladder stones that can get caught in the urethra and kill the animal. Male goats shouldn't really have much significant magnesium added to their diets.

Beyond that...worms are pretty much inevitable in goats, as goats are really prone to internal parasites. Nature of the beast. Learn all you can about deworming products, FAMACHA testing, fecal egg counts, etc.. Unlike most other livestock animals, you can't simply decide to deworm on a regular schedule and use the same dewormer over and over again.. If you do that, you're only encouraging the development of anthelmintic-resistant worms and your goat will eventually succumb to parasites no matter how often its treated. Instead, you gotta rotate your dewormer family, and deworm only when necessary if you hope to have any shot at controlling parasites. Rotating and deworming when necessary means knowing dewormers very well, and knowing when a goat needs to be dewormed.

There's a lot to know about goats.. They're not the hardy, easy-to-manage, tin-can eating, four-legged garbage disposals everyone seems to believe them to be. Managing goats successfully can be an extremely rewarding endeavor.. Managing goats unsuccessfully is absolutely heartbreaking.

If you do it long enough, you'll experience the highs and lows of both.