How Far Will Goats Wander?

Mine graze most of the day. They come back to the house for water, their dirt pit and shade. They also go to one of my neighbor's 4 acre horse pastures. He wants me to bring to another one that is overgrown. The horses won't eat it. But it is 2 pastures over and one down and they will not walk all the way over there. They turn back at some point and all go home
We also have an aggressive Rot mix around here, but I have LGD, one warns him off and the other wants to really put a hurt on him. Thankfully after talking to my neighbor, getting bit and make a threat to turn him into a throw rug, he keeps him home all the time now.
Talk to your neighbor about his dog and let yours out while you are at home to start with, check on them often.

Oh and mine do not wear collars. I shake a bucket with some alfalfa pellets, so bring out a bag of animal crackers and they all stampede home!

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We have a LGD - though she isn't much of a goat guard - an Aussie ( the only one out of 4 that is 100% goat safe) and a Toy Manchester Terrier. . .the neighbours all have dogs, but none come on the property because our dogs do guard that. lol.

No collars huh???
I never thought of that. I guess its the same dilemma w/ horses. To halter or not to halter. Mt girls don't always come to me if they get loose. They don't go far, but run from me. I couldn't catch them w/out it. And oce they got loose when I wasn't home and they went to my neighbors across the street. They are so not goat people. But they said they grabbed them by there collars and walked them back. So if they had no collars then what would they do?
I hate making these choices...

Christie, they won't even come back for a shaken bucket of grain? Or handfuls of raisins?

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Becky

I used to let my first goat free range. He thought he was a dog. Whenever I was outside, he hung out with me just like the dogs. Well, he got older, and when the dogs went on there morning patrol of the "neighborhood" (rural here, too) he went with them. Dogs came home without him. A sign at the nearest gas station got him back quickly, but I had to stop letting him wander after that.
My friend lets her 2 wander, they go into the henhouse with everybody else at night. And they really look great. Fat and shiny.

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Maybe you could learn to rope em

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Oh, dear, I'm having flashbacks of goat roping contests seen at high school rodeos in another decade, long ago.

This is awful:

http://photos.eptrail.com/Weekly-Pho...32642252_TFKGq

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Alice
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"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus

Goat roping, goat tying and goat tail tying all were events when I was in Little Britches! Yikes that was a while ago!

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Sarah Patterson
M & L Farm
Lamanchas, lamancha cross, Sable and Sable cross

You can also find us on facebook! M&L Farm

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Is that you in that U tube video Alice???

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NO NO NO! I just did a google search for that.

Shoot, I was thinking I needed to say it wasn't me.

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Alice
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"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus

I think you should say it is you lol!!

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If you have goats who won't come to you, it's worth your while to spend some time training them to come. Use a treat that they can't resist, and every time you take it to them, call them or whistle or something, the same thing every time. (Pavlovian training, LOL!) After a while they'll associate that call or whistle with the treat, and learn to come for it. I have one dam-raised doe who doesn't come to me inside their pen, but if we are outside the pen, she is a big scaredy-cat and clings to me!

Kathleen

Well, I had them out, the sheep actually wandered farther than the others. I need them to stay in one particular area, but no go. I finally chickened out and brought them into the fenced in dog yard, where we can't fit the tractor. They are in heaven. My dogs know they are out there and will not calm down, though.

ETA: OK ok, so I moved them back out so the dogs could go pee. I found that if I set off at a run in the direction I want them to go, they will all run after me. Problem: I cannot get them to stay in the area I want them to, because they keep trying to follow me when I go to leave them. I gave up and put them back up, I'll try tomorrow or later today when I can spend some time out there with them. I am hoping they will get better if I do this more often.

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Becky

Yes, you absolutely have to stay with them. You are part of the herd, and you may be somewhere near the top of the pecking order. You move, they move.

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Alice
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"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus

imo, goats should always be behind a very good fence unless you are right there with them. Even then, I wouldn't have more than a couple goats out at a time. But then, I have fruit trees and a garden.

We just got home from taking our 12 week old nubian to the Farmer's Market. She was a huge hit and very tame. Her 2nd time on the leash and was a perfect angel..... I do have a collar on her, she's not easy to catch unless she wants to be caught! We don't let her wander too far, we're very rural but she might follow the BC into the woods or she might be a little too curious.... She mainly eats/grazes or dozes and lays around waiting for her night bottle. We have cow panels that we fashioned this portable fencing thing and we put her in there during the day or at night, we are putting her in a dog crate - -

Interesting thread - we're lucky we don't have stray dogs or neighbors' dogs that might be dangerous for her.... Bella, the BC, is an angel and leaves her alone, period.

Becca, have your been able to leave yours out at all yet???

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Yeah, just did it today. They wandered a bit further than I liked, but no where near off the property. I left them out about an hour, then brought them back in...I didn't realise I would have to stay RIGHT THERE the whole time, lol. I have a good view from my windows and thought I could just check on them pysically every 25 minutes or so, but look out the window every so often. WRONG, lol. I am lucky I didn't have a sheep in my kitchen. They DID return immediately to a shaken grain bucket, and I found that if I ran/jopgged away they all followed me at a run.

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Becky

I don't have to be RIGHT THERE at all. And it has not been perfect (like the eating insulation escapade) (like the chewing the phone wires off the house) (like the getting in the house a couple of times) (like the following the neighbor home) (like the chewing the windshield wipers off hubby's car) (like the eating all the strawberries and apple trees) (like the eating my hubby's tractor manual) (like the stealing the tractor keys out of the ignition) hmmm...I thought there was only going to be one example! I guess now when I write it all out I can see more why it has caused marital tension. But 99.9 percent of the time it isn't a problem

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My goats are angels in comparison!! Wow
Did find Crystal on top of the shed this weekend, freaked me out thinking I was gonna end up with a taking her to the vet for a broken leg ...but she managed. The other goats where jealous they couldn't figure out how she did it and I wasn't about to show them either.

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