Dead Goats

[cletus99]

I'm so pissed. Yesterday morning my wife gets up to go to work and walks out on the back deck and here's one of our goats hollering. It's still dark and she can't see anything. One of our goats was due to give birth any day so she thought it was giving birth. She comes in the bedroom and tells me she thinks the goat is giving birth that it is out there hollering. I'm still in bed. A few minutes later she comes back in upset saying that they're all dead that something attacked them and Emma the pregnant goat is still alive with its guts hanging out.

I jump up out of bed, grab my pistol, and run outside. Horrific site. Three goats laying there together half chewed up and then realized two were still alive. Had to put them down. At the other end of the pasture was Emma laying there with here guts hanging out, foaming at the mouth, just barely hanging on. So I put her out of her misery. Everyone of our goats were killed.

We suspect dogs by the way they were attacked. Coyotes usually attack the throat and eat the organs and none were attacked that way. Mostly attacked at the hind legs. They had to climb or jump the fence to get in though because there are no holes where they dug in under the fence.

We just picked up a breeding pair of American Guinea Hogs on Friday and thankfully they were not harmed. They were in a pen made from hog panels. So today I'll be building the hog pen 8 foot tall and securing it better so hopefully they'll be safe until I can take care of those dogs or whatever killed our goats. Can't afford to get an electric fence yet so I'll have to wait a few weeks til next pay day maybe to get that. I am going to set up a baby monitor out there so we can keep a listen at least.

I'm so mad about this. Emma was my daughters Christmas present. She wanted a baby goat for Christmas so I bought her for her for a two for the price of one. She's been so upset too. This is just the reality of farm life, but it sure does suck!

 

[blueriver]

Clint .. So sorry to hear this .. Have you considered a livestock guard dog?

 

[dave1949]

Sorry to hear that, it's no way to begin the new year for sure.

Maybe you could keep a strip of bare ground disced or dragged around the outside of the fence. You could pick up some tracks that way from whatever is coming around.

Coyote tracks tend to have two equal length toe nail marks in the front center of the track. A dog track tends to be more rounded across the front center.

 

[kf4uda]

Maybe borrow a game camera(s) from a buddy. Place it/them along your fence line.

 

[DennisArrow]

Once again, the sad tale too late of what preventive measure to take.....Pit bulls running loose or a pack of strays, coyotes don't kill just for the sake of killing.....Goats are a target waiting to be hit. They put off an odor....they make LOTS of noise.......They run when threatened which kicks in the "chase" predator instinct......

Some folks go the burro or llama routine; but for us, and we are in heavy duty pit bull and coyote country, you can't beat a couple of LGD, livestock guard dogs.........For me, the Anatolian breed is great. Pyrenees are great but all that hair makes them suffer in the heat of Georgia.......Anyway, I can easily go on and on; but in the future: Have 2 dogs that live with and are part of the herd. One will get pulled apart with 2 or more dogs/coyotes but 2 dogs get back to back and take on anything..........God bless Bud..........Dennis

 

[BuzzardA91]

That sucks.

There are wild Pit Bulls down in Ga?

 

[jimmyj]

Sorry to hear about this. We have guard dogs and electric fence to protect out sheep and goats. We lost 1 goat to a local dog a few years back after I forgot to plug the fence back in by coincidence on the same day the dog got loose from his owner.

The predators may be back, be careful.

 

[rsallen]

Sorry to learn of your woes Clint.
It sure as h&ll can't stand without action.
Have you gotten in contact with other breedsmen in the area? Maybe ya'll can narrow down from hence the problem is coming and nib it out before any more damage is done.
It's sad story, sorry for your loss.

 

[k0ua]

That sounds like what happened to our goat herd years ago when I was a boy. By the time my dad and older brother got out there with weapons, all there was to do was put the the few that weren't dead out of their misery. A large pack of domestic dogs killed most of them. These attacks occurred again, several times. Sometimes we would win, and the dogs would not make it off of the property and sometimes we lost more goats. We started putting up the goats at night in a secure barn, but sometimes the dogs would try to attack them even during daylight. Sorry to hear about it, but it is not unusual in my experience.

James K0UA

 

[randy41]

sorry that happened. you should call animal control. also here there is a fund setup that will reimburse you for your loss (the monetary part not the emotional part). i think the county puts all animal fines in it and then reimburses livestock owners in situations such as yours. don't know if you have that where you live.