Goat as companion?

[justpeg]

I am considering trying a goat as sole companion for my 28 yo TB next spring.

Any advice on how to manage this would be appreciated.

Would I build a separate goat pen within or adjoining the pasture?
Do I need more than one goat?
The goat would have a (horse) stall when not outside.
Goats love a variety of grasses–and we have lawn-like fields. Would I need to try and supplement that grass? And how?

I will talk to my vet and research goat care further before making the change, but thought it worth asking for advice.

Thank.

[saje]

When I was a kid (hee!) I had a goat as a friend for my solo horse. She lived right in the same stall and pasture as my horse and they got along fine.

[Fred]

I had a wonderful nanny as a companion for a rejected foal. She was right in the stall with him, but as he became more rambunctious I separated a corner of the stall for her.
She went outside in the pasture with him, but the one caution, is that goats can and do go where they want, and can climb, slide through and basically escape.
In fact the words of advice from the goat farmer when we bought her was ‘goats always want to be where they’re not’
So you will need to take that into consideration for turnout, re your fencing.

[saje]

And a large seeming goat can and will crawl through unbelievably small holes!

[justpeg]

Fencing is my main worry because of the nearby road. Building a goat-proof pen seems to take away from the companion aspect despite being safer.

Thanks for your help.

[HungarianHippo]

I agree that the companionship benefit seems limited if the goat is penned separately from the horse. Just like horses, some will do fine as a single companion, others no. I haven’t tried the one goat-one horse combo, but when we had one goat with 2 horses, the goat was really sad and lonely. She ignored horses and came to our back door, bleating for us to come out and play. The 2 goats we have now love the horses, we don’t have to pen them at all. They just move around as one herd.

More than grasses, goats like to browse on woody-stem plants, just like deer. So if you have just park-like grass inside your fenceline with no weeds, your goat may prefer the roadside with its more varied plants.

[kashmere]

My old girl was a broodie for a long time before I got her, and when there were baby goats on the farm she stole them immediately. They loved her and she loved them - they were stalled next to her with their momma, but would always go in between the two stalls to hang out with their “auntie katie.”

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/1013589_10151995687056433_9155676116093389876_n.jpg?oh=c33d2d7330a5e8ccd1992b4c15509719&oe=5716E49A

I miss that horse TERRIBLY.

[Epona142]

If you take care of the goat properly, a pony or other old horse will be far less expensive and your vet will know how to treat it far better.

On the other hoof, if you do decide to go the goat route, feel free to message me. I will say that it’s an unusual goat that bonds well with horses and if you want to do it properly, you’re going to need to raise a bottle baby with a lot of contact with him. It can be done and I’d be happy to help you along that path.

But keep in mind, I’m not kidding - goats are 1000x the trouble horses are in all manner. My little pony is the easiest animal I own!

[justpeg]

[QUOTE=Epona142;8437238]
If you take care of the goat properly, a pony or other old horse will be far less expensive and your vet will know how to treat it far better…

But keep in mind, I’m not kidding - goats are 1000x the trouble horses are in all manner. My little pony is the easiest animal I own![/QUOTE]

Thanks for this advice–my gut said to stick with equines as I know nothing about goats. People keep telling me how simple goats are to keep but from what I read, it’s not as easy as “they” say.

[Fred]

Yes, as much as we loved our goat, whenever I needed a companion in later years, I got a pony or mini. Easier in every way.

[Hermein]

I have 2 goats (wethers, bottle babies) who go out with the horses, but are in their own pen at night. The goats like the horses better than the horses like the goats.

It’s true that goats are a lot of trouble, and these aren’t my first goats, so I knew what I was getting into. My mantra is Never go to a goat dairy and visit with the babies! :sigh:

[Epona142]

[QUOTE=Hermein;8437999]
My mantra is Never go to a goat dairy and visit with the babies! :sigh:[/QUOTE]

Hehehe. I too am real good at sending people home with babies, it runs in our blood as dairymen! Lol!

[beowulf]

as far as companionship, my mother got goats 2 years ago while my TB was on serious lay-up - he was in confined 24/7 T/O, but only a run the size of the stall w/ a 20ft run.

The goats made him very happy - he loved them and bonded with them immediately. He is not a bondy-friendy horse, so it was thrilling to see how much he perked up with them. They liked him too.

However, they are WAY more trouble then they are worth (IMHO, but the mother doesn’t agree). We had to redo the entire fencing perimeter, place chicken wire around the enclosure of the paddock, goat-proof several gates, and we had to seriously adjust the “routine” at the farm to accommodate them. They are loud and messy, get into everything, destroy things you love (one got into our grain room and ate my Kiefer saddle!!) and are all around, little demons. My SO calls them “the hooved hellions”.

One day I was loading up my TB and the goat broke out of the enclosure and loaded up in between my TB’s hooves. Nothing says “horrifyingly delicate situation” like extracting a goat out from under a loaded horse! :eek:

They are cute though. We just got 2 more last week. :rolleyes:

[crosscreeksh]

[QUOTE=saje;8436378]
And a large seeming goat can and will crawl through unbelievably small holes![/QUOTE]

Goats are the very BEST escape artists!! If you go this route…get one of the bigger Nubian or Boer breeds…they are less likely to crawl through a crack!!

[Epona142]

Myotonic (aka “Fainters”) are the easiest to fence, as they are rather poor jumpers and climbers.

[danceronice]

My two goats (an ex-market La Mancha wether and a probably-Saanen nanny) live with the horse. He likes the company and except that Nanny has once again found somewhere she can get under the bottom electrobraid (Toby, the wether, is too tall if the fence is on) they’re far less trouble than a second horse and easier to clean up after.

I really don’t know how people have so much trouble with feed/medical with goats, either. They saw the vet for the first time since I got them two years ago (and possibly the first time ever for Nanny given where I got her, though she IS ear tagged so someone at some point gave a crap) and she (the vet-the practice has no problem seeing goats, all the large-animal people do them) was beside herself with how nice they looked with no sign of parasites and in good weight. Easy to feed–they graze, plus eat the pine needles off the trees in the corral, they eat the same hay as the horse, and a little bribe-size scoop of Dumor pellets when the horse gets his grain. Goat mineral and/or baking soda as-needed. Our farrier even does their feet (though if she didn’t, I could if I had to-she just has goats herself and doesn’t mind as she’s there anyway.)

[Epona142]

[QUOTE=danceronice;8438525]
I really don’t know how people have so much trouble with feed/medical with goats, either. [/QUOTE]

Where you live, the breeds of goat, and what you are doing with the goats are variables makes an immense amount of difference. Running them with horses is quite good for parasite control, plus your location (parasite die offs every year), and that they are non-breeding means you are checking quite a few green boxes in the “easy keeper” column.

[Doctracy]

We have three goats.ni got them when someone needed to find a home for their pets and I needed a companion for my pony. She bonded with the dairy goat and had a good friend until I got another horse home. Then,she wasn’t into the goats anymore but the horses do get along fine with them.
Fencing is a challenge. Mine are currently “free range” with a stall at night and 21 acres of woods. They do prefer browsing on things up high and would much rather eat from a hay net then on the ground. They also prefer eating leaves and twigs than hay if you can provide at least some twig treats.
They do a fantastic job of clearing brush and briars. But they do have the drawback of being total pests around people and get into everything. They are sweet,smart and cute as can be.

[Chase1996]

My horses love my goats, they are not in the same pen because my young horse thinks they are the best toys EVER!!! She chases them

[wildlifer]

They can be great & have a lot of pros, as already mentioned. The primary reason I don’t have one is fencing – I’m poor, my horses are easy, so some of my cross-fencing is just a single strand of tape (although primary fencing was 6-7 strand heavy gauge HT for goats, I removed some strands to prevent horse entanglement).

As my vet wisely says, "To see if your fence will hold a goat, throw a bucket of water at it. If no water goes through, the goat will stay in.) ;D