Pygmy Goats?

[Rusty]

Anyone have Pygmy Goats? My wife has the opportunity (?) to get two young Pygmy Goats this coming April. Neither of us have any experience with them. The intention would be to provide something smaller than the horses for our grandkids. Do horses and Pygmy Goats do well together? Are Pygmy Goats easy keepers? What kind of trouble do they get into? Our pasture has horse mesh fencing and our paddocks have three oak boards with electric wire on the top two boards. Do Pygmy Goats chew, and if so, on what? I've already told my wife that having goats would require two new implements, but I am not sure what they might be. Thanks, for any help!

 

[PhilNH5]

Pygmy goats and horse go great together. I used to live in a "horsey" part of MD. Some of my nighbors only had a single horse. They would get a pygmy goat to keep the horse company. Often you would see the pygmy goat standing on the horses back!! Very cute indeed.

Phil

 

[kc5dlo]

Several years ago I had a couple of pygmy goats. Great little animals. The main reason I got the first one was so that I would'nt have to mow the back yard as often. They first one worked out so well, I decided to get another. they got along great with My cocker spanial and did a terriffic job of keeping things trimmed in the back yard. The female was quite friendly and enjoyed being petted. The male was more skiddish and didnt think much of attention.

I supplemented the grass eating with half of a small coffee can of sweet feed for each goat daily.

 

[Dozernut]

Nothing like smelling a Billy down wind, we could smell ours a quarter mile away. People thought he was so cute, he would come and rub his chin on you, until they caught the smell. That rascal liked to urinate on his beard and pass the bliss onto everyone and everything. Smells worse than a Tomcat spraying. Stick with the Nannies and take them to a breeder if you want kids. Ole Ernie was an escape artist, wasn't a fence made that he couldn't figure out. He used to delight in sneaking up on the dog and ramming him, bowling him over like tipped cow. Poor dog got paranoid and needed therapy. When ole Ernie nailed the little woman (who was Ernies owner over my protest, but that is another story) it was decided that it was time for him to go. I wanted to commit goaticide but the wife found some suckers er I mean friends to give him a good home. For some reason they are not as friendly as they used to be, go figure.

 

[Rusty]

Thanks, guys! Our Pygmy Goat education has begun.

Dozernut, my wife is still laughing about your comments. No males, for sure.

But what about implements???

 

[Dozernut]

After the experience with Ernie, the goat from Heck, I can think of at least three implements that you could benefit from. A gun, a backhoe (useful for burying things) or a livestock trailer to haul animals to the sale barn. Your choice or need of implements will vary depending on the goats you receive. Ernie was the type of goat you would give to your mother-in-law. Good luck!

 

[3RRL]

Ernie was the type of goat you would give to your mother-in-law. Good luck!

Hahaha, I love Ernie already!!!

 

[roxynoodle]

I haven't had pygmy goats. I have a Saanan and had a Nubian. Goats and horses love each other. You can get a male, but make sure he's neutered (called a whether). My Saanan is a whether and he's the greatest pet. He will be 13 in February if he makes it. That is very old for his breed and size. He even jumps my horse jumps. Pygmy goats are at least less likely to damage anything they jump on. My Saanan goes around 300lbs and in his younger years he jumped on my picnic table and what I thought was a good sturdy table crashed to the ground in pieces. Despite his size he has always been gentle and good with children. My Nubian loved to knock kids down and many children were scared of her. Some kids thought she was hilarious and loved to play with her but others would cry if anyone even mentioned visiting the goats.

Get the goats. Plus you get 2 more implements in the exchange!

 

[dooleysm]

My cousin had a pack of pygmy goats for a while. They were fun and he mostly let them roam where they wanted. He really didn't have a choice, because they kept finding ways out of his pen and barn. It was fun to see the males ramming stuff, usually your lower leg. The males did stink and my cousin's wife took to cutting off their beards so they couldn't pee on them. Real life 'goat'ees!

He would sell the occassional baby, but mostly just had them for fun.

 

[tallyho8]

My horses are a lot easier to keep fenced in than my wife's pygmy goats. And pygmys are not good brush goats. They like to eat the best horse grass and be fed also. And then you have to get dog food to feed your great pyrenees who you have to get to stop dogs and coyotes from getting the goats. Every month my feed bill is as high as the payments on a condo that I ought to be living in........