Posted: 4/11/2010 7:14:44 PM EDT
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Does anyone here raise goats? The wife and I have and area about 1/2 acre that is fenced already, The fence needs some work, but is decent for the most part. We have been considering getting goats for a while. Goats can be found for 50-100 each in our area. (More for some breeds or with "papers") The fenced area is right next to my chicken coop, so adding a hot wire to my existing line would not take much. The thought is to get a couple of nubian doe kids and give it a try. The fenced area is grown up enough that there would probably be enough food to feed them durring the warm and growing season before supplemental would be neccessary in winter. I figure we could use the goats to "clean" the are while they are growing and get them on a more consistant diet once the get older and we start to milk them, (for soap, milk and cheese). What things might I be over looking? I still am in the beginning stages of learning and research but for the most part it seams all win with very little downside. Any thoughts? Anyone raise goats for meat? Any info would be welcomed.
C |
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If any animal in the "animal kingdom" can get out of any fence, it's a goat. They're nearly impossible to keep inside of a fence, especially if it's a smaller fenced area and they think they want the grass/forage on the outside more than the inside.
I got rid of my goats years ago because I was tired of chasing them down all the time. One of their favorite snacks is your wife's flowers. 
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I raised Nubians and milked them for a couple of years, made cheese, sold the milk etc.
I had 10 ac, they tended to just stay around the barn, maybe feeding them caused that? I was hoping they would graze but the wife was too concerned about what the were eating and giving the milk to the kids.so feed it was. and yes, they can get out of anything it seems, ignore electric fencing as well as barbwire, you can hit them with a stick, and they will then try to eat said stick, climb your porch, deck, car, eat your trees and flowers, taking down a fence to get to them..they are very stubborn and you need to let them know who is boss, no warm fuzzy goat management I can see viable.. billies I wouldn't keep less I had a gun to my head..rather pay someone $100 for a weekend to breed them and take him away.. I have scar on my back from a billy,,hit me while walking across the barnyard..as I had done dozens of time before...Billy went to goat heaven 
I do "hear" alpines are a bit gentler, they appear smaller, milk is sweeter, creamier etc..NUBIANS are the devil of goats IMHO.. |
We have some of the small pygmy goats. The best thing I have found is to either round up some used chain link fence or just buy some new. I drove steel posts around the lot and stretched this stuff , then installed 1 single stran of electric fence wire around the top and bottom to keep other things back. This works very well, no breakouts yet.........
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We have 3 Boer Goats right now. We ate #4 a while ago, good stuff.
I have mine fenced into an area inside my yard which has a 6' chain link fence (so they are inside of a double fenced area). Every now and then one of them will jump (climb) over a section of 4' fence to get the grass on the other side. I just pick her up and drop her back over the fence. We got them to 1. keep the grass cut in the area they are in, 2. a source of meat, and 3. to sell off the babies for a little extra cash. My mistake was feeding them corn. Now they won't hardly touch the grass (I have to mow it). Aside from that, goats are pretty easy to take care of. I feed them when I come home each day, make sure they have water, rake up their droppings, and just make sure the pen is clean. I need to get my big girl over to the lady I bought them from and get her knocked up. |
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We have a couple. They are like goddam velociraptors... They will probe your fences day and night, searching for imperfections and weaknesses.
When the violate your fence, they will run next door, and eat all the neighbors flowers. Or even worse, end up in trouble with the county sheriff: (Not my goat)... http://www.denverpost.com/animalnews/ci_14710276 |
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I have heard that they were quite good at getting out of pens,so making sure the fence will hold them is a priority, since the wife and I have a nursery close to where we would be keeping them. But are they really as bad as Satan's spawn. I also have no intention of getting billies but "renting" the use of a neighbors billy when necessary.
C |
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Quoted:
We have a couple. They are like goddam velociraptors... They will probe your fences day and night, searching for imperfections and weaknesses. When the violate your fence, they will run next door, and eat all the neighbors flowers. Or even worse, end up in trouble with the county sheriff: (Not my goat)... http://www.denverpost.com/animalnews/ci_14710276 Between your post and Douglas Morris .... the OP has been fairly warned. 
TRG |
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Quoted:
In order to test your fence before placing goats in your pasture take the following steps:
You forgot to mention water to a depth of 10' TRG |
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We got some Pygmy's over a year ago. We "had" goats for a short period of time years ago. Fences we thought would contain them did not, and it was a mess.
Buy young ones, keep them penned up for a month or so, work with them daily, getting them used to eating out of your hand, sitting on your lap, etc. They'll usually follow you around after that. When our girls have gotten out, one bellyhoos so loud you know something is up. Usually the other one has pushed the dogs off the front porch and is standing there waiting for you. :) Build a goat Stalag for them, nice new tight fences, high, well supported. You'll be glad you did and if you situate it properly, it will add to your perimeter security as well. 
Lowdown3 |
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BTW, make a list of the top ten things you do not want your goats to eat, damage, walk upon, or destroy.
Things like: Flowerbed Car hood Porch swing Neighbor's garden Master bathroom... ... ??? We came home one day to find out goat was missing. We found him in the Master Bathroom. We were able to track him by a confusing sound and also by birdseed spilled on the carpet. He had found the bird seed that my wife (now Ex) had kept in the wrappings from our wedding. Along with multiple houseplants that had been knocked over. It was the sound of him raking the paint off the bathroom door with his horns that confused me at first. TRG |
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I have had a few goats through the years, all LaMancha does. They were usually very little work or problem. The LaMancha goats are every hearty, strong, can go longer periods without water than most breeds and they were very gentle. Most of them ended up being like pets to the girls. They could take them off their chains and the goats would walk along next to you better than the dogs.
All my fenced property has cattle or horses to take care of it so the areas I used the goats for were outside the wire. Simple solution is a nice strong dog collar, a length of chain, and stake in the ground. Water with a 5 gallon bucket and wire it to your stake or a tree. Looks like a bunch or crop circles as you move them around. I had only a couple of problems with the collar and chain idea. Escaped goat because of a broken collar, coyotes coming in to try and get them and lost one to a mountain lion. I felt bad about the mountain lion one, she never stood a chance on the chain. Plus the best thing about goats, if you get sick of em, it’s BBQ time. The best tacos I ever had were goat tacos. |
I have a small herd of Nigerian Dwarf goats that I keep on my acre and a half. Mine really aren't too bad fence wise. They are overall pretty low maintenance, unless you are into milking them. In fact, I think they save me work in the long run by eating brush and weeds on steep areas.
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| You need an excellent fence, chain link or woven wire w/ a hot wire top and down low. If they escape, they will enjoy tap-dancing on your new pickup and eating the neighbors garden. Goats will eat almost anything, but they prefer shrubs, tree leaves. forbs, and other browse as opposed to grass. |
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Quoted:
In order to test your fence before placing goats in your pasture take the following steps:
Hit goat with ball peen hammer repeatedly untill its too retarded to jump...... problem "fixed" |
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My neighbor has about 50 of the stupid things. Contrary to just about every post in this thread I've never seen them escape from the 48 inch tall field fencing seperating our properties. They do get their heads stuck in the individual squares of the fence as they try to eat on both sides of the fence. They do seem to keep the property 'mowed' down.
I prefer cows instead in that they are much more hardy health wise and don't stink. Baaa |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
In order to test your fence before placing goats in your pasture take the following steps:
Hit goat with ball peen hammer repeatedly untill its too retarded to jump...... problem "fixed" He he. They are already retarded. They are like a big retarded, loving dog.I've not had the fence problems that others mention. They can get out, but if you have decent fences at, they'll stay put. They are not nearly as indestructable as the sterotype. They are a lot like turkeys in that they stand around figuring out ways to get sick and die on you. Bloat is a problem. Goats are foragers, not grazers. They'll eat grass, but prefer trees, bushes, shrubs, flowers....basically anything the wife has planted, they will eat first and it will probably not sit well with them. Then there are the diseases. CLS?? It's been a while. There are diseases that affect goats because of how their body deals with it that other animals shrug off with anibiotics....CL I believe is the one we dealt with. Once you have it, you have it. Almost impossible to get rid of. You have to dig up like 2" of soil and bleach everything. Be sure to get goats from a tested and certified herd. Had to put down the boy's prize nubian doe after trying surgery to rid her of the CL. SUCKED, really sucked. Goats seem like the perfect small lot animal. I thought so too and they probably are. But they are not what they are cracked up to be. If there really was a total eotwawki...I think I might go the extra yard for cattle.............then again someone with cows will be along to describe the pitfalls there too. I've got chickens. That's enough for me for now. I like milk but not that much. |
i guess i'm the odd guy out, but the only time any of our goats have jumped fences was when our does were in season and one PITA billie decided he needed some action. and it only happened twice in over 3 years of having goats. a hot wire 2'-3' from the fence, about 2.5' high stopped the problem until my wife turned off the hot wire b/c she thought it was cruel. what we did do to stop the jumping of fences w/o the hotwire was put a 3 or 4 lbs bell on his neck. it completely throws off his balance and he hasn't jumped the fence yet.
our does have never jumped the fence. we have nigerian dwarves, nubians, and alpines. the nubians and alpines have been great milkers, the nigerians not so much. one of our alpines, was giving a gallon a day. we have 4 less than month old kids running around and have two more goats that should drop kids any day now. we haven't used any for meat. this is more a function of me not knowing anything about butchering, so we've just traded and sold off the males. btw, my fencing is a mix of chain link and field wire all 4', so nothing special. contrary to popular belief, goats don't eat just anything. certain breeds will eat certain grasses/weeds/etc. while others won't touch it. all of our goats are extremely friendly and nobody, except my 7 y.o. has ever been head butted. he was trying to bull dog one of the alpines and she decided she'd had enough. it obviously wasn't too hard as he just got back up and went after her again. |