Goats- how much work are they??

[She_s_Pure_Gold]

DH and I have been talking about possibly adding a few goats to our farm in the next few years- currently thinking about getting 2 nubiens and 2 pygmies. We do NOT plan to breed or milk them, we’re just planning to have them as pets and to help with weed/brush control around the farm (we are over run with oriental bittersweet, hoping that’s palatable to them, among other plant varieties!). We plan to build a separate space for them with good, solid fencing and appropriate shelter next to our horse paddock and keep them confined unless they are in another temp fenced area of the property to eat down growth.

For those who have goats or have taken care of goats- how much work are they? Obviously I know they need to be fed/watered every day and their feet need periodic trimming, that’s fine- but day to day in terms of cleaning up after them (both the shelter and their ‘paddock’) and any other things I’m not considering- would 4 non-milking, non-breeding goats add a lot of work (time) to the day? Also, what is the best method for cleaning up goat pellets outside??

As a bonus, I’d love to hear everyone’s fun (or not so fun!) goat stories- we’re still on the fence about it, so would love to hear the good, bad and ugly before we commit!

[clanter]

I’d love to hear everyone’s fun (or not so fun!)

they like to stand on top of cars and trucks making little hail dent marks all over the roofs and hoods

[ChocoMare]

They are God’s escape artists. You need extra-good fencing.

Similar to clanter’s comment: Goats need Goat Mountain! If you do not provide sufficient Goat Mountain, or several, they will choose one and you may not like their choice. :lol:

Prone to lung worm, so good deworming is needed.

Provided there is enough dirt, hard ground and rocks, they can self-trim their wee feets.

[Guilherme]

Dairy goats (like Nubians) are as much work as dairy cows. Ask me know I know!!!

The above comments are correct regarding goat behavior, confinement, etc.

On the other hand tether goats make great “weed eaters” along fence lines so that might make the effort worthwhile.

G.

[zoehesed]

I love my goats! BUT they also are quite obnoxious at times. We tried to keep them penned up but like said above, they are escape artists. We gave up and our three girls now free range our farm. They go where ever they want whenever they want but always sleep next to the house where their people are. One goat seems determined to get inside the house because that’s where we are…

They DO get on the cars. When people come to visit, we have to tell them to park away from the house so their cars are safe.

They have eaten most of our landscaping. If you don’t want them to eat something… they WILL. If you DO want them to eat something… they won’t…

You have to make sure the horses can eat away from the goats or the goats will eat the horse’s food. They are persistent enough that most of the horses will let the goats eat with them.

Other than that ours are pretty low maint. They like to hop around on the brick retaining wall by the house. There is gravel on the driveway that keeps their feet trimmed. With 14 acres to roam on - and tidbits from the horse feed they scavenge up - we don’t really feed them anything. They will eat off the round bales of hay with the horses in winter. Just make sure they can get in shelter for rain - they HATE being wet. Our know where the front porch is and go there when it’s raining.

PS - if you don’t want them to start head-butting you - don’t mess with their heads at all. If they never learn this behavior - they won’t do it. Ours all have horns and I’ve never had a problem with them head butting anyone but I also make sure to tell all the kids that come over to NEVER mess with their heads or encourage any head butting. Some people may think it’s fun and cute when they are babies but when they grow up it’s not fun anymore.

[cayuse]

Watch your kneecaps :yes:. Our neighbors have some serious head-butters. Other than that, and their proclivity to climb the fence, they are enjoyable pets. For them, lol. I value my knees too much to take one on.
They are very friendly and I do enjoy watching them, though. We can see them from our living room window.

[tabula_rashah]

The answer to that question is in direct correlation with how good your fencing is

[TheHorseMutterer]

Knock on wood I have had excellent luck with my two nigerian dwarf wethers. They are fenced in four board with 4x2" mesh and top rail with 4x2" mesh on about an acre by themselves. I have a small kid’s playhouse that I bought for them to sleep in and they have three “goat trees” (raised 3x3’ platforms connected by ramps) that we built for them to be idiots on. The less I feed them, the more likely they are to mow their paddock grass, but we’re still working on that. I was over-feeding grain and have come to learn that less is more with these little guys.

They are incredibly useless, but they are also incredibly hilarious. One keeps trying to jump in the pool (he has demonstrated that despite being 90% air, he does NOT float), and one follows you around like a dog. They are aptly named Boondoggle and Hijinx.

Storytime: Late one night, I turned off the light to go to bed. My bedroom is on the first floor corner of the house and surrounded by a wrap-around porch. I hear footsteps on the porch and think “Ah yes, porch cat is back.” No. Porch cat is not back.

The dogs start going nuts and I’m grabbing for my gun as footsteps continue. I flip on outside light. Footsteps continue. I’m beginning to think I’m about to get murdered by the world’s most persistent baddie. I crack open the front door and look out.

A little goat head flops around the corner and goes “Bahh?”

Their gate had been blow open by a ridiculous gust of wind and they were out exploring. Didn’t make the adrenaline any easier to handle, though. Glad I didn’t shoot the poor guy.

[She_s_Pure_Gold]

Haha, thanks for the stories. For fencing I was planning on using woven wire, 5’ high. I was thinking of initially setting it on t-posts until they clear an area and then setting more permenant wood posts. I have electric on our 3 rail horse fencing, so adding a strand or 2 of electric would be relatively easy to do if that would be more effective. I am definitely open to suggestions, though!!

We are hoping to keep them contained and thus avoid the car issues, and we also live on a busy road and would hate for them to run out into it- so having very secure fencing is a top priority to me. They will be kept separate from the horses (at least, that is the intent!!

Will also be mindful of the headbutting. Our plan is to get dehorned babies.

[She_s_Pure_Gold]

@Guilherme

Dairy goats (like Nubians) are as much work as dairy cows. Ask me know I know!!!

The above comments are correct regarding goat behavior, confinement, etc.

On the other hand tether goats make great “weed eaters” along fence lines so that might make the effort worthwhile.

G.

Are they still a lot of work if we are not breeding/milking them?? Also, what are tether goats? Definitely open to suggestions for breeds- whatever ones will be the best weed/brush eaters We want them to help us clear about 1/2 acre for a second horse paddock over time. I know we’ll still need to do some machine exgavating, but it is mostly vines and small brush/sapplings we would like them to help with and fertilize in the process ala goatscaping.

[RoughOut]

goats are hilarious. I have a little nigerian dwarf he’s undersized so slips out through the gates between the gate and the hinges but doesn’t go far. The fourty sheep all stare wistfully as they cannot figure out how to escape.

The horns make nice handles for restraining for vaccines, deworming, hoof trimming. But he gets his stupid head/horns stuck in our no climb fence. The smallest pasture is four acres and we rotate. I appreciate the effort trying to keep the fence line nice but keep your head in!!! I hate to have to run a mile of electric for one little guy so as it is he gets his head stuck, screams bloody murder, I unstuck him and he stares at me begging for treats.

Mine are all fine with electric mesh kept hot for rotating them in fields and other random areas around the farm that I want them to eat down.

Get the goats!

[Heinz_57]

@She's Pure Gold

Haha, thanks for the stories. For fencing I was planning on using woven wire, 5’ high. I was thinking of initially setting it on t-posts until they clear an area and then setting more permenant wood posts. I have electric on our 3 rail horse fencing, so adding a strand or 2 of electric would be relatively easy to do if that would be more effective. I am definitely open to suggestions, though!!

If your goat(s) are like my goat, they will attempt to climb up and stomp down anything that isn’t a) electrified, or b) solid enough to hold a goatworth of weight.

We have a half-mini LaMancha, with elf ears, we got him as a bottle feeder and he stayed in the house for the first week or so. I call him the escape-goat, and I spend more time inventing new, creative ways to fix the fences he’s destroyed than anything else. He is entertaining as long as he is contained - I have no patience for finding him in the barn with his face buried in the expensive alfalfa, goat poop scattered all over and everything that isn’t bolted down has been tipped, dumped, stomped, etc. He’s also not a great weed eater, and is very vocal when he thinks he’s run out of “good” weeds.

If you have goat-proof fencing, they are mostly low-maintenance on a daily basis. But if you’ll be making temporary areas and moving them about, I’d definitely electrify the temp fencing!

[Guilherme]

@She's Pure Gold

Are they still a lot of work if we are not breeding/milking them?? Also, what are tether goats? Definitely open to suggestions for breeds- whatever ones will be the best weed/brush eaters We want them to help us clear about 1/2 acre for a second horse paddock over time. I know we’ll still need to do some machine exgavating, but it is mostly vines and small brush/sapplings we would like them to help with and fertilize in the process ala goatscaping.

If you’re not milking then they are a lot less work. Of course if are milking that’s a way to cut your grocery bill!!!

A “tether goat” is one that you tie to a fence so they can eat vegetation vice you having to use a weed-eater. We used to tie to a well set post with a line just a bit longer that the distance between two posts. Then you move them through the course of the day as they eat.

Goats are browsers more than grazers. If you really want to clear land for pasture use pigs. They will eat everything including roots and leave the area really clear. We did this more than once in the early '90s. Then you can eat the pigs.

G.

[FatCatFarm]

They’re ADORABLE as kids; less so as adults. Smart and entertaining but incredibly messy and exasperating. They will taste/try anything including your good leather/rubber reins; they will try to climb up on anything including cars, hay bales, tractors, tables; and they will pee and leave goat berries everywhere. The most friendly ones are usually bottle raised but that also makes them quite screamy and demanding around people. Nubians and Nigerians being the worst. I understand pygmies and Lamanchas are less so. They are escape artists; they knock each other around at feeding time, even when given separate bowls; they will pee and poop in their water and feed dishes; they will not eat grain or hay off the ground. They will girdle trees; peel the siding off your barn; decimate any landscaping they can get to.

We’ve had nigerians and pygmies. Even without horns they would butt the dogs and cats around, even if said dog or cat were not bothering them in any way. Horns are great handles but they will try to gouge you in the face with them if picking one up when they’d rather you not. A intact male goat is an extremely stinky goat.

I enjoyed the ones we had but am much happier with my three little black Shetland sheep wethers. Entertaining but way less obnoxious; mild mannered; neater; stay put; don’t girdle trees; are polite; don’t bother any of the pets and are mannerly about eating their own food and don’t challenge the horses over theirs. Much, much quieter.

ETA: My three shetlands will do a great job of maintaining a small pasture to the point that we almost don’t have to bushhog. The somewhat mini pig we had didn’t do much for the land scaping and would live large areas of churned earth from rooting around. However, he was smart enough to be trained to only do that behind the barn and in the pastures and left the front of the barn and the landscaping alone.

[chestnutmarebeware]

My goats (2 nubian and 2 angora wethers) could climb over my 5-foot wire sheep fencing in less than a minute.They broke into the feed room and gorged themselves on horse feed before I added a lock to the door. They spent a good portion of their time standing on the hood or roof of my SUV. They destroyed any tack/equipment/tools left unsupervised for 10 minutes. And it was really hard to find a vet to treat them—the large animal vets in my area focused on cows or horses, and had little experience or interest in sheep and goats. I finally talked my small-animal vet into treating them if I led them into the office in a collar and lead rope. (She had goats, herself.)

All that being said, they’re a hoot, but I think being a goat owner took at least 10 years off my life.

[Magicboy]

This thread has convinced me to never have goats, but they do sound entertaining…sort of…

[She_s_Pure_Gold]

@chestnutmarebeware

My goats (2 nubian and 2 angora wethers) could climb over my 5-foot wire sheep fencing in less than a minute.They broke into the feed room and gorged themselves on horse feed before I added a lock to the door. They spent a good portion of their time standing on the hood or roof of my SUV. They destroyed any tack/equipment/tools left unsupervised for 10 minutes. And it was really hard to find a vet to treat them—the large animal vets in my area focused on cows or horses, and had little experience or interest in sheep and goats. I finally talked my small-animal vet into treating them if I led them into the office in a collar and lead rope. (She had goats, herself.)

All that being said, they’re a hoot, but I think being a goat owner took at least 10 years off my life.

Yikes!! Did you eventually figure out a fencing arrangement that kept them in?? I’m thinking I will definitely be adding multiple strands of electric to the inside now, if we do get goats…!

[maunder]

All of the above and whatever the goats can think of next… muahahahahaha

I have three now. Isobelle Golightly a Boer/Pygmy cross, Gimli, son of Gloin a Nigerian Pygmy and Durin Elessedil, a LaMancha.

Durin is a big bully to other goats and my sheep. He’s horrible to others and he’s always been horrible. He’s very sweet to people unless they tease him. What is it with men that they have to grab at horns? Isobelle is a little power house. She can’t jump high, so she will bash fences until they bow or fall down. Isobelle HATES sheep and gets very hangry. Gimli used to be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound but he’s had a bout with meningeal worm and can no longer do that. He oozes through small areas if he can find them.

I have the goats in Premier super duper panels and these work great because they can bash and clash and rub on them and they can’t bend them.

Meningeal worm is a real possibility for goats, as is urinary calculi in the wethers. Durin’s brother Dayel had to be put down because he didn’t respond to treatment for urinary calculi. You can do everything right and they may still get it and it’s a heartbreaker.

A friend of mine has Nubians and Nubian/crosses and they are sweet and gentle goats. They are also huge. One of her goats is taller than my 36" mini horse.

I’m lucky I have a great vet practice available that has goat specialists.

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“small”,“data-attachmentid”:9856589}[/ATTACH] Isobelle GoLightly

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“small”,“data-attachmentid”:9856590}[/ATTACH] Gimli, son of Gloin

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“small”,“data-attachmentid”:9856591}[/ATTACH] Durin Elessedil

[moving_to_dc]

I have a herd of 20 Boer goats (meat goats). They seem to be much more placid and less adventurous than dairy and mini goats. I have had zero escapes… My adults are fenced with 16’ round pen panels, and do not climb thru.

My biggest frustration with goats is preventing them from wasting hay. They WILL NOT touch it once it is on the ground. I have feeders made of 4x4 panels that work fairly well, but I still have some wastage. I can put a round bale OUTSIDE the round pen panels and the goats will reach thru to eat it, minimizing waste. The best feeder I have is a “cage” from a water tote that has 2x4 gaps in the welded wire sides. Almost zero waste with that feeder, wish I had several more, but I haven’t yet found another water tote cage that has that small of gaps…

My kids are contained with electrified “sheep” netting. It is only 32" high, but is so hot that they won’t go near it. Nobody tries to jump it like a deer, either. Meat goats just don’t seem as interested in climbing as other goats…

[Bluey]

Did you really meant to go around picking goat berries?

You don’t need to, they don’t need cleaning after outside, bugs and dogs do that for you.
You will need to sweep the porches.

We had a goat dairy, we used chain link in the goat pens and traps.
Most goats stayed in, a tiny alpine, Toggenburg doe and our billy goat didn’t, they could get out of Fort Knox.
Goats killed every tree in their traps, are nature’s pruners, if a little overzealous.

Little ones are the most fun, when you go in with them with a handful of coke bottles with black rubber nipples and they jump all over you trying to get them, pulling them off the bottles before you can get them settled to nurse.
You want goats that have been hand raised, some not handled intensively as babies can be rather wild as adults.

One goat story, we trained race horses.
This one owner came see his horse, so proud of his new Cadillac.
Billy the goat went to say HI!, the fellow, little short fat man in his long black coat, started shooing Billy away from his new car.
Billy minded his manners and left them alone while fellow walked toward’s the barn door.
As he got there and turned around, he saw Billy again approaching his new car.
Fellow ran back yelling and windmilling with his arms.
Wrong move, scaring Billy right up the bumper onto the back of the brand new, shiny Cadillac, bounding clear up the back window over the top and running around the hood, to jump back off, leaving such nice bumps and scratches all over that brand new, not so shiny now Cadillac.
Owner left, came back with another new Cadillac.
Don’t know what happened at the car dealer, what story he told, but we were not asking.

Definitely find a vet before you get the goats.
Our vet took care of all our critters, including goats.
He had been raised in a goat farm, we were lucky.