NEW to Goats need help....

[crazypoultrychx]

so I have a dwarf Nubian cross goat...(at least that is my best guess..) she was given to me for free with a free horse....and Betty is a real sweetie....but definitely has tude and doesn't like kids.....so I want to start my own kinder herd and I want 2 Nubian dairy goats...I have a friend that raises Nubian dairy goats and has a doe that she will sell me and its already preggo.....so we are going to move her before she kids so we don't run the risk of her drying up.....so me and hubby were walking the area we want to put the goats and here is my dilemma.....we live at the end of a dirt road in the middle of no where....there are no houses past me and nothing behind me....so my question is do I HAVE to fence them in.???? can I just fence them OUT of my garden and orchards....I have a long finger pond that runs the side of my property and I want to put them over the other side of it but fencing it would be a total nightmare....we walked it and not only will it cost us a fortune but we will have months of work ahead of us....can we just let them go loose and put them in the barn at night...will they wander away....the current one hangs out in the front with her horse....and when I first brought her here she bellowed all night long.....and I found her near the pool.....but after a lil while she settled down....and she is great now.....but DO GOATS HAVE TO BE FENCED??

 

[Alaskan]

She needs a paddock area that is fenced, but you don't have to fence in everything.

So......

Fence in a little rain shelter spot for your new goat, lock her up fir a week, and then you could let her out to free range during the day lock her up at night.

Every evening feed her something. Easiest if you feed her while you milk her, or at the time you will be milking her.

She will learn the routine and be standing at the paddock gate when it is meal time.

The only problems with this are:
1. When it us time to kid she WILL try to sneak off and hide somewhere
And
2. Any stray dogs or coyotes in the area, they will harass and maybe kill her.

 

[H Diamond]

I just can't suggest you let a goat free range. They are a prey animal, and while in theory it could probably work (they like routine), are you ok with not knowing whether or not your animal is fenced in safe? What kind of predators do you have? You could put up a hot wire fence (not hard at all), or if you are some place with decent soil, you could get those portable fences from Premier 1 Supply (even easier). Neither option is very costly for a smaller area. (We fence in hundreds of acres at a time, so I'm talking just a couple acre area). What would you do if you had to go out of town for a few days? I'm going to get on my soap box for a minute, and I don't mean to offend you by this.. I truly don't. Just giving you something to think about... If you aren't willing to take the time to put up a proper fence, and if you aren't willing to spend the money on a proper fence, do you really want animals? Are you going to take the time they need for proper care, and are you willing to spend the money they need for proper care? Would you put your chickens out in the "back 40" without the proper housing/containment/protection? Goats are wonderful, and I hope you get them, just don't set yourself up for failure with them!

 

[crazypoultrychx]

we have an area that is fenced and that is where she will stay initially.....but what I am hoping for is since they eat brush and vines I am hopeful she will clear me a path into the woods behind my house when she is out free ranging so I can run a fence.....I love my animanls and the only predators out here are hawks....we have no wild dogs or coyotes.....we have an american bull dog that makes sure predators stay way far away....I plan to keep her up in the one horse barn we have out there at night...and I think she would have plenty of room....and No worries H Diamond

I just can't suggest you let a goat free range. They are a prey animal, and while in theory it could probably work (they like routine), are you ok with not knowing whether or not your animal is fenced in safe? What kind of predators do you have? You could put up a hot wire fence (not hard at all), or if you are some place with decent soil, you could get those portable fences from Premier 1 Supply (even easier). Neither option is very costly for a smaller area. (We fence in hundreds of acres at a time, so I'm talking just a couple acre area). What would you do if you had to go out of town for a few days? I'm going to get on my soap box for a minute, and I don't mean to offend you by this.. I truly don't. Just giving you something to think about... If you aren't willing to take the time to put up a proper fence, and if you aren't willing to spend the money on a proper fence, do you really want animals? Are you going to take the time they need for proper care, and are you willing to spend the money they need for proper care? Would you put your chickens out in the "back 40" without the proper housing/containment/protection? Goats are wonderful, and I hope you get them, just don't set yourself up for failure with them!

your soap box didnt offend me....I have thick skin......and she is an older goat and I am going to put her with my other goat so she is not alone.....as well as I am sure I will be spending most of my days watching over her as this is going to be my prized project....I am willing to spend the money and the time to allow all of my animals proper care...(sometimes I over care for them and wind up with spoiled animals that come when I call them)......to me these animals didnt ask to be here so it is my responsibility to care for them fully....and make sure they have all the things they need....

 

[H Diamond]

Sounds like me with mine, lol. My milk goats come one at a time when I call them to the stand for milking.
I'm sure you will be able to use her for the brush clearing. You still might check into that portable fencing. Tethering is another option, but not one I recommend for multiple reasons.
(unable to flee predators, strangulation). If you really don't have any predators, I would say give the free range a try. Supervised at first of course and just see what they do.

 

[Alaskan]

My sister has a big place and her goats do what amounts to free range..... But it isn't a good idea when they are close to kidding

 

[crazypoultrychx]

well so far all is going well.....we cleared and fenced what we could and she basically hasnt left the barn except for that whole grass/fruit trees are greener on the other side....and we fixed that too with a gate spring........if I go out and sit with her she will forage/sun/chill.....so I go and sit with her for SEVERAL hours a day and read....which has worked well for both of us....she loves all over me and I am almost positive she is trying to see if she can push my chair over......but as soon as I turn for the house she runs to the barn....and if she sees me from the house or hears my voice....she cries......but she is eating and drinking and the other goat keeps her company at night but during the day the other goat hauls butt to the front yard to be with the horse and the new one wont go there........like I said....there are no predators.....(except for hawk terrorizing my chickens)......and the emotional situation.....she went from the underdog in a herd of 14+ to alpha in the herd of 2......Im sure its gonna get interesting after her kids are born..........

 

[bustedchicks]

my neighbors goat was chained up pretty well. it was easy to move around, just a metal rod in the ground. a longer pipe fit over it that attached the chain. the pipe over the rod was long enough to not lift at any angle the chain was pulled at except directly up.

the goat would sometimes get wound up around things so I would go out and unravel him. give him a few pets and thank him for keeping t he blackberries down. you can tell when he was caught up by his blaaaaHhhh bllleeett. pay attention to your animals they tell you whats going on!

never really worried about predators unless he got really deep in the woods. the oy sign if predators were the mountain lion prints in the mud around his nighttime house.

he was a great goat and I miss him dearly. the border between me and those neighbors is really starting to get overgrown with blackberries.