Goats

Trewsers

Trewsers

Well-Known Member
Oct 13, 2004
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I know I've probably mentioned this before but please bear with me! Any of you people with goats, I'd really really appreciate any information - ie, how hard are they to keep? Are they expensive to vaccinate etc etc? Somebody (can't say on here atm) has some and I sort of may well find myself with one or two - well four or six - are they likely to cost a fortune to keep? Will the horses bother about them do you think? How difficult are they to trim feet wise? Sorry for all the questions - but OH will not consider any animal unless he knows the ins and outs (ever since we bought the horses he is now wary, he jokes and says if he'd known what they were going to be like and all that...........:wub::bounce:) And on a serious note, how likely are they to scale 4ft high post and rail fencing? Thanks in advance.
 
Feet= easy, vaccinations=easy, feeding=easy.
They certainly won't scale a 4 foot post and rail fence, they'll go through and under it.
Keeping goats in is very tiresome. Our horses totally ignore the goats and vice versa.
 
What about a Lama? they seem to be getting very popular.

I don't know any thing about them though.

I think they are pretty good at scaring off predators (i.e trespassers).
 
Remember goats are not waterproof and must have access to a warm shelter at all times.
 
I think Wally's said it all: they're delightful animals, but they don't graze like horses and sheep - they browse. Which means they eat everything in the garden, including rose bushes and tree bark, they climb trees to get to the young leaves at the top, and they see every fence or tether as a challenge. Mine worked out that if you wind the chain round and round the tether until it's very short, you just need to give a little tug, and you're free ... Oh, and they do need shelter because they haven't got waterproof coats.
 
If anyone gets a goat and calls it Moat you are welcome to an incorrectly spelt slate stable door plate (was meant to be Moët lol)

I would love a goat, one day if we ever own our own land!
 
What sort of shelter is suitable? I only have empty stables - but it would be a problem getting them from the field to the stable so that they could come and go as they pleased. Would they be better with a purpose built shelter in the field? Sorry for all the questions. After all this I probably won't be getting them..............it's rather complicated and I can't say on here because I don't know if other people read these threads (bit cryptic sorry). They have such lovely little faces, I really like them. OH is just worried that they will cost a fortune and that he'll have to shell out for an expensive shelter.........
 
A little shelter of any kind would do them, so long as they can get out of the rain. Thos little pig Arcs would be ideal.

Goats can get in HOrses can't
 
We have one on our yard, belongs to one of the other liveries, he can be either a darling or a royal pain in the butt literally, I'm lucky because he likes me, but if he doesn't like you he won't hesitate to head but you HARD. He lives out side and is free to wander where he likes during the day with access to an old stable and the hay barn (his favourite place) he gets fed some goat mix at night and all sorts of vegetable scraps, he loves chocolate although I don't think he's supposed to have it and according to his owner he is cheap and easy to keep, she does his feet herself as an when, I'd say go for it if you have the space. :)
 
At night they like to be snuggly, if it's cold and wet and windy. They are prone to getting colds and chest infections if they are cold and damp.

Frances' goat house, purpose built for GOATS, was considered the best game ever for Icelandics and Shetlands, They'd play ruddy sardines in there. A goat house built to accomodate 3 goats could fit about 6 Shetlands and 4 ICelandics in it at it's best....or worst, with several others queueing to cram inside too!

It'd be like some Benny Hill comedy, whe the eviction notice was served you'd think there'd be no room for any more to come squirting out.
 
Wally said:
At night they like to be snuggly, if it's cold and wet and windy. They are prone to getting colds and chest infections if they are cold and damp.

Frances' goat house, purpose built for GOATS, was considered the best game ever for Icelandics and Shetlands, They'd play ruddy sardines in there. A goat house built to accomodate 3 goats could fit about 6 Shetlands and 4 ICelandics in it at it's best....or worst, with several others queueing to cram inside too!

It'd be like some Benny Hill comedy, whe the eviction notice was served you'd think there'd be no room for any more to come squirting out.
Click to expand...

Lol, bet that was a sight!!!:biggrin:
 
I've just been googling and found a website that gave a bit of information about nutrition for them etc. It didn't actually say that they eat grass - do they? It did say as Linda has already said on here that they are browsers - so how often during the day would you feed them? If say, I kept 6 in a field (with shelter) would I have to find things like leaves and hard feed for them to eat as well? Can you overfeed a goat? It mentioned hay - do people put hay into a field with goats and do they just pick at it all day long like the horses would?
 
Trewsers said:
What sort of shelter is suitable? I only have empty stables - but it would be a problem getting them from the field to the stable so that they could come and go as they pleased. Would they be better with a purpose built shelter in the field? Sorry for all the questions. After all this I probably won't be getting them..............it's rather complicated and I can't say on here because I don't know if other people read these threads (bit cryptic sorry). They have such lovely little faces, I really like them. OH is just worried that they will cost a fortune and that he'll have to shell out for an expensive shelter.........
Click to expand...

I don't think they need to cost a lot, Trewsers - mine never had injections, I did the feet myself, and they produced milk and kids. They hardly ever needed the vet and they pretty much looked after themselves. I don't think they need an expensive shelter - I was lucky, I had stables in the garden (although not enough space for horses), and I just used to bring them in if it rained, like the washing ... So they did eat hay, but mostly garden rubbish - tree prunings, veg peelings, weeds ... Very handy waste disposal. They're not hard to handle, generally if you lead one the others will follow, but you shouldn't lead them through your veg patch, because if the lead one takes a bite of something tasty the others will follow that too ...
 
Trewsers said:
I've just been googling and found a website that gave a bit of information about nutrition for them etc. It didn't actually say that they eat grass - do they? It did say as Linda has already said on here that they are browsers - so how often during the day would you feed them? If say, I kept 6 in a field (with shelter) would I have to find things like leaves and hard feed for them to eat as well? Can you overfeed a goat? It mentioned hay - do people put hay into a field with goats and do they just pick at it all day long like the horses would?
Click to expand...

Mine only had hay when they were in the stables - along with lots of nettles and ivy and other green weedy stuff. If they're in a field, they don't need to be fed, and they only need hard feed if you're milking them.

But mine weren't free-range - I've never found out how to make a goat-proof fence. Once my husband bought a walnut tree for an anniversary present. He built a six-foot high fence round it with sheep-netting and posts set in concrete. The goats climbed the sheep-netting, trashed the fence and ate the tree ...
 
also my friend has goats- they are really cool, but escape artists. they manage to escape all the time despite fencing!!!
 
Goats can get laminitis too. Anglo Nubians are particularly prone. Goats will eat grass but they prefer hedges and bushes and trees. A diet high in fibre rather than sugars and starches is better for them.

You cannot make a goatproof fence unless you invest in deer fencing, but you can train goats where you can't train sheep
Electric netting, backed up with setting the dog on them soon teaches them where they are NOT supposed to be, but if you don;t mention it they will be in there and stuffin their face, and they as such thugs when they want something you don;t want them to have.
 
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