Minature Goats

[TomG]

And, contrary to popular thinking, they're picky eaters I hear. A farm zoo in the city says they'll eat alfalfa hay but won't touch any other hay. The zoo is something of a working livestock operation where participating farmers bring in some of their stock certain times of year, and young animals are raised there. The animals usually rotate, but several of the goats and Scottish cattle became celebrities and are permanent residents.

Despite prestige and money things, goats can get by on entertainment value. Maybe that's next year's project. Of course, around here we have real wolfs (One in our driveway last summer. Middle of the day). Keeping goats from the wolfs might be a problem.

 

[TomG]

Gee, I like the idea of jumping pigs.

Actually, the guy with the goats and pigs is something of a local problem. His livestock are on the highway frequently. A neighbour hit his pig last fall and broke the transmission on her car. A school bus and other vehicles have hit them in the past. Police confiscated his animals several times. He just goes and buys more. I understand a judge ordered him to get an electric fence. One was ordered, paid for and never picked up.

I haven't seen his animals for awhile so maybe the police finally got serious. Livestock on the highway are bad. Pigs are especially bad. Of course, we've got moose and bear here. Hit a moose, and write off your vehicle.

 

[PaulB]

Wen - the goats without ears are I think called Lamanchas, and they have all the inner workings of the ear, just tiny ear flaps. Hear fine.

 

[W5FL]

The problem here is coyotes, but I hope a good 5 ft fence will keep the goats from becoming supper. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I am not sure that alfafa will grow here. Hope they like coastal. Tell me a little more about the entertainment value. I figure my little 4 year old grandson will think they are ok. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[W5FL]

Thanks Paul, I will do a little more research on Lamanchas and find out a little more about them.

 

[W5FL]

People don't seem to drive in the country like they are in the country. People should do a better job of keeping farm animals fenced, but I think people should pay a little attention to their surroundings, too. Good thing she didn't hit a horse or cow!

 

[Bird]

Wen, there is just a little (very little) alfalfa hay grown in my area (in fact I've only known of one farmer who grew it around here); most of it is brought down from northern Oklahoma. However, folks around here feed coastal, Johnson Grass, and Haygrazer to their goats and they eat it, but they won't eat much of it if you give them plenty of the regular sheep and goat feed (like I did).

And goats do like to climb and play "King of the Mountain" on a bale of hay, or anything else. I put an old set of mobile home steps in the middle of the pen just for them to play on.

And coyotes (and occasionally dogs) are a problem around here, too. A lot of folks keep donkeys to keep the coyotes and dogs from getting calves, kids, and lambs. So . . ., I bought a young donkey gelding and put in the pen with my goats. He could see and hear other donkeys in another pasture a ways off, and he paced back and forth like a caged lion for a couple of days, then attacked one of the nanny goats and broke her neck, grabbed one of the little ones by one hind leg and was running around the pen with me trying to catch him (if I'd had a gun with me, I'd have shot him). Anyway, he finally dropped the kid without injuring it and the donkey went to the sale barn the next morning. And then someone told me if you're going to put a donkey in with the goats for protection, get a female; not a male./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif Of course, this wasn't the first lesson I learned the hard way./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Incidentally, my closest neighbor had five donkeys in with his cattle for several years and decided last Fall that they weren't doing any good and weren't worth feeding, so he sold all of them. This Spring, after losing 6 newborn calves to coyotes, he bought two more donkeys.

Bird

 

[Bird]

Yep, Wen, it never ceases to amaze me at the number of one vehicle accidents we have on these farm roads; mostly from either just driving too fast, or from being drunk, and running off the road. But there have also been several accidents in the area from folks hitting cattle on the road. I usually drive close to the speed limit myself in the daytime, but sure go slow around here at night, because hitting a cow or deer sure ruins your whole day./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[dfranksmith]

I believe I saw an earless goat once, and the owner told me it was a Morroccan goat. It was average size, and the coloration was something like that of a doberman.

 

[gordon]

We have one goat and she thinks she's a dog they run together two dogs and the goat when she's out of the pen. I was very surprized at how well goats can jump. The good thing is that if she does get loose she stays right around the pen. She is also very good around the childern the goat is very spoiled as well thanks to my wife and the kids.
If the dogs act up around her she lets them know who is boss real quick with a quick head butt enough to keep them in line not to hurt them.
My wife wants to get more but I'll have to build a much better pen before we can do that because all goats are not as trusting around kids and dogs as Dollyrama.
What is the best way to build a pen for goats?
Gordon