new goat owner questions

[bassfishrman]

I just brought home 2 new goats.

One is a 9 week old female. Question: When will she begin to eat goat pellets? All she will eat is fresh hay and collard greens from my garden.

The other is an adult female nubian. She will not eat the goat pellets either. All she will eat is fresh hay and whole corn. Will she ever eat the goat pellets?

another question: is am putting up a new fencce for the goats. It will be 1 strand of barbed wire 1 " from the ground and regular 4ft woven wire livestock fence above that. The big nubian adult keeps putting her legs on the top of the fence. Should I put barbed wire at the top also, or would this cause a visit to the vet when the goat ripped her legs on it?

 

[hollyk]

Feeding- my goats do not like feed that is dusty. Some companies have a lot of animal by-products in them and this smells bad to the goat. So, you might try another brand.

The 9 wk baby is young. Is she still taking a bottle? If she is, just after the bottle is done and she is trying to suck on everything, puts some feed on your fingers and let her slurp them that way. She might not recognize the feed as food. I start bottle babies on feed that way, my mama raised kids just copy mom and start to nibble on feed and stuff at a week or two old.

I have a strand of barbed wire at the top of my field fence. Regardless of how they act, goats are smart. Once they get bit by the wire, they will leave it alone.

Enjoy your goats! They are awesome.

 

[BeardedChick]

another question: is am putting up a new fencce for the goats. It will be 1 strand of barbed wire 1 " from the ground and regular 4ft woven wire livestock fence above that.

Did you mean 1 inch or 1 foot from the ground with the barbed wire? Is this a common setup where you live? I have never seen sheep or goat fences built with a strand of barbed wire at ground level.​

 

[ausamerican33]

Our goats have yet to meet a fence they can't weasel their way through. Sigh. Finally fixed the chicken coop so they couldn't bust into anymore. It amazes me that 2 big fat goats can fit through the same space a hen can barely squeeze through!

 

[griffin45]

Even tho we feed very little grain, we went through several different types of food til we found one our goats seem to enjoy.
Goats tend to be very finicky about what they eat. For the most part they won't eat anything that is dirty (or dusty) or anything that has been on the ground. Also, smell seems to be as important to goats as it is to dogs.
Most importantly, although they will graze, the prefer not to eat at ground level.
Until you find the right feed, give your goats access to tree branches, dried up leaves (ours really enjoy maple) mineral block, sweet feed and the hay. And don't forget, too much corn will mess up their digestive system!
I wish you all the best with your goats. They will bring you a lot of pleasure.

 

[ausamerican33]

Forgot to say ours scour the land during the day, and share a scoop of the horse's sweet feed and a flake of hay at night.