Getting my first goat!

So, he's managed to survive the first FOUR MONTHS of his life "roaming" 80 acres?

That statement alone shows how little you really know about goats. A four month of age and less goat is not going to get that far from its house. Heck, mine are still getting bottles at four months of age! There is NO way a four-month-old kid has been "roaming" 80 acres.

Do you not have coyotes in SE Idaho? Four months of age is still a baby. And a four month old pygmy is especially tiny and it wouldn't take a very large predator to make a meal out of him.

Can we all assume that you're not providing anything in the way of shelter for the poor little guy?

I'm sorry but I hate these kinds of stories. Hate them, hate them.

Makes me glad I was as picky as I was when I was selling and if I ever have any to sell ever again, I will be just as picky.

I also find your lol's when people are just trying to offer you a little common sense advice to be offensive.

I have a feeling that it's not going to matter what anyone says.

That is just not right!!!!

Well, I understand both sides. I would not sell one of my nigerians to this person, or anyone who wanted to keep it alone and staked. In the same breath, I would not hesitate to sell one of my boers to some one who planned to eat it.
I do have strict concerns however regarding my animals' quality of life while they are here (as in alive). If it were mine, I would stake it out while we were home, and keep it penned and with shelter at night or while we were out, IF I had no other option. It is not fair to the animal to separate it from it's herd, stake it to the ground in isolation from any animal it might well have companionship with, and set it out to be rained on, eating wet feed/hay (which by the way is very difficult from a nutritional stand point for a goat to digest), and I am sorry, but I don't think you are the least bit interested in it's quality of life, OR you are just ignorant to their needs. Either way, I think that if it were me, I might just take a moment to consider that all of us here, on this forum, have no dog in this fight. We are simply here to discuss the welfare of our animals. While you may have VAST experiences from childhood when it comes to farming etc., it is obvious to anyone who has raised or cared for goats, that your experiences may have misled you into believing that you "know best"? I have no interest in judging anyone, but don't come on here discussing in a forum full of people who CARE FOR and raise goats and have for many years, your mistreatment of a goat, and then gawk at the responses you get simply because they do not coincide with your VAST experience.
Animal husbandry practices have come a long way since whenever it was you were a kid, and it is not because we are all out here being unrealistic about what livestock is. We, instead, one might argue, simply have found a better way of raising our livestock, that takes into consideration not only our needs, but the needs and quality of life we afford our animals that we use.
Consider, for just a moment, that you have not truly considered this animals quality of life. Then, stop to consider, if you actually care.

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Very well said. Thank you.

While I don't eat my goats, I understand that others do eat theirs. And I have no problem with that as long as their quality of life prior to that time is good and that they are killed humanely and quickly.

Staking a four-month-old baby out, with no company (the poor little baby must be terrified) and no shelter, and by an owner who has such disregard for its safety and well-being, laughing about how they hope a wolf gets the goat instead of the dogs makes me very sad (not that I want the dogs to become wolf or coyote food either).

I was wrong, he's actually 6 months. He was 4 months when he posted the ad, both of which i'm a little doubtful of because he isn't a real small goat. Regardless, yes, the guy said they roam the 80 acres without much human contact. Not sure what that means exactly, as i didn't go with my husband to pick him up.

Sure we have coyotes around here, we go to great lengths to hunt them. In our yard? Rarely. In the occurrence that they do show up, if my (or the neighbors) dogs don't scare them away, the goat is within hearing distance of the house and my shotgun is at the back door. To be completely honest, the only "predator" i'm really worried about is the two-legged variety that have stolen a couple of goats in the area.

You can assume whatever you'd like, and hate my story as much as you'd like. But i'm not ignorant to the basic care of animals. I'm not disregarding all the advice given, didn't i already say that i'd watch him and get a friend for him if he wasn't thriving? I'm just simply surprised that people are suggesting i treat this goat any differently than all the other prey animals i've raised. I've had horses that HAD to have a buddy, if that's the case, i'll get him one.

I love my animals, and am excited to have this guy here. It annoys me that people would insinuate that i don't care about the welfare of any animal in my care. That being said, i'm not going to coddle them either. And yes, i'm going to lol at people that do.

And i SERIOUSLY don't understand the staking thing! We did it with at least three different goats in the past, and never had a problem with it. They were friendly, healthy and happy! The exception being the neighbor's pygmy that naughty little kids let off his rope and ran into the middle of our herd of broodmares that had all just foaled!

BAH! These are the comments that make me smack my forehead. Do you REALLY believe that i just staked this goat out hoping that a wolf eats it, and then laugh about it? REALLY? Yes, i'd rather it was the goat than my priceless dogs, but i'd be royally ticked off in either situation! The "poor wittle baby" is well taken care of, even if you don't think so. All my animals are happy and healthy, this one will be too.

The staking issue is due to the fact that goats get tangled in their leads VERY easily, breaking necks and limbs. I will only stake my goats out when I can be with them every second. If I even have to go into the house for a minute or two, the goats get put back in their pen. I only stake them when I want them on a higher quality pasture than what I have in their pen. If I've only got one goat to deal with, I take it out on a dog lead.

When you've seen what a dog or a coyote can do to a goat, YOUR goat, you will think differently. A goat on a tether cannot even run away to protect itself. Dogs and coyotes will rip at the face, the belly, the hind quarters- it is an ugly way to go, and what you find when you come home is heartbreaking.

Goats tend to have an intense dislike of being wet. They are thin skinned and tend to come from arid climates. They can take a chill easily if they are damp, and then you end up with a sick goat. We built a nice shelter for our goats out of pallets for free. It is dog tight, airy, and comfortable. It keeps the rain off them. Eventually I will cover the sides with cedar shingles so that it is more attractive, but for now it is what it is. For free. Goats need a "den" to hide in when the world is overwhelming. The house keeps their food dry and their mineral block from melting away prematurely. I can close it up at night and know that my goats are safe and not being attacked by neighborhood dogs. The house provides shade as well, during the day, since our pasture has no trees on the northwest sides. Time in the hot sun will kill a goat quickly if they are unable to get into the shade because they are tethered.

These are not unreasonable things. I wouldn't sell a goat to someone who wouldn't provide shelter and intended to stake them out 24/7. Our animals are our servants, and for as long as they live with us, they deserve to be treated well.
I hope your goat will be ok. I hope you will take the advice of people here and do what is right by your animal, or find a new home for it.

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A pygmy will easily fit in a plastic dog house. The plastic dog houses are light enough to drag around the yard with the goat. They HATE to get wet.

I have had friends tether goats before and all went well for a while. Eventually they all succumbed to tangling themselves or more often the owners coming home to only find a few pieces of their goat still tethered. I'll never forget the time my childhood friend came home and had to dispatch her "pet" goat because a dog had eviscerated it on it's feet. The goat was standing their tied with it's guts in the dirt and it just screaming. Luckily there was a neighbor nearby with a gun, so it didn't have to wait for the vet to come to put it out of it's misery.

I can understand not wanting to "spoil" livestock, but there are better ways.

Have you considered electric netting? It's a moveable electric fence. Simply move his little electric paddock around wherever you need him to weed. He'll always have access to his water and his dog house. No worries of entanglement and the electric netting will slow the predators down. Congrats on your new goat.

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Great ideas Wolffeathers & not real costly either.

He has shade and shelter appropriate for the current weather where he's at right now. I'm in the process of building a shelter that is sufficient but also easily moved around with him though. Those plastic dog houses never seem to last long around here! I was going to use pallets and plywood we have, but i think that will get too heavy for me to move by myself.

I like the idea of the electric fence, i'm just worried about the toddlers i have running around. Although i'm not sure which is worse, the rope taking their feet out from under them or touching the electric fence once or twice! (or three times in my hard-headed kids' case! lol!)

By the way, i'm going to google it too but, what DO goats like as treats? This guy hasn't been around people at all, so he's not too friendly yet. Not sure what's best to bribe him with! We've tried grain, apples and carrots so far, but he doesn't show a huge interest in anything yet. Maybe just because he's got a lot of adjusting to do though.

Mine like raisins and animal crackers. Tortilla chips too..

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You could put the shelter on wheels...

LOL! How funny! You'd think with having toddlers around, i'd have some of those things on hand, but i don't! I'll have to pick some up next time i'm in town!

I second the animal crackers. Mine like animal crackers.

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One thing that hasn't been mentioned. I noticed you said he has a salt block. Goats really need a good loose mineral, preferably one made for cattle that has lots of copper in it. Their tongues aren't rough enough to make much use of a block.

I think a movable shelter and the electric netting sounds like it would be great for your little guy.

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CNCFamily, You asked the Question and you don't like the answers. We tell it like it is, goats need other goats and we don't stake them out. I would never sell you one of my goats. As Zilli said, it dosent matter what we say you will do as you please.

So goats are herd animals, which I think you can agree to, so where is his herd or herdmate? Chickens are a flock and could careless about each other let alone a goat or any other animal.

Does he have horns? I can tell you now that those will be the first thing he gets tangles if given the chance and may snap his own neck.
First goats I owned I bought three, tied one out she was tangled in the 5 minutes I went into the house by her horns, her sister came over and was beating the snot out of her. That was the end of tying.

Just eat him now and get your husband a heavy duty weed whacker. People with years of goat experience, the man who sold him to your husband and probably most things you read state they need a friend yet you know best and refuse. You think he is going to come up to you and tell you he is miserable and needs a friend?

Coyotes and stray dogs are a daytime problem and your tied up dogs can't do a thing about it. I had a little buckling escape the big buck pen and the coyote grabbed his back leg, then my LGD was on him. It happened at 4 pm. What if you are not home and they come and eat him? Buy 4 cattle panels, do not pound the fence posts into the ground use wood post or something, put him in it with a plastic dog house and a friend and move it around your property, keeps him safe, your kids not zapped and is easy.

A goats most basic needs need to be met and you just refuse to even consider it and with a wether their needs are not much:
Friend
An acutal shelter
Good hay in the Winter
Clean water
$10 bag of loose minerals which will last a long time for 2 goats
baking soda in case of an upset stomach

End of story. I honestly do not need to make a sale bad enough to sell my goats to someone who will not meet their most basic needs. Maybe that man did since his ad was up for over 2 months. I do not ask people to buy them a heat controlled shelter, feed sea kelp, pamper them to the point that they are spoiled brats. I do expect them to give them the basics and treat them well.

You can lol all you want but if you come home to find that he strangled himself, or has been killed by predators, I will feel sorry for the goat and not you since you were armed with info you chose to think you knew better then.

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The kiddos will learn not to touch the fence, if you go the electric route. The downfalls to electric is the availability of electricity.

Another idea along the same lines would be cattle panels. The regular cattle panels are 16 feet long from TSC and I know run 19.99 here. They are tall enough to deter jumping. Personally I would prefer the electronetting as it would deter climbing from both the goat and predators.

You could purchase 4 cattle pannels for approx $80. Add in the cost of maybe 8 metal snaps to fasten the corners together. I wouldn't permanantly fasten the corners because it would make manueverability difficult. Easier to carry a wall at a time then a 16x16 square. Plus you wouldn't need a door, just unsnap a corner. The downside to the cattlefence would be the rigid walls, depending on the level of brush, they may be hard to move into and around in heavy brush. Since most pygmies still have their horns, he may get his head stuck in the panels defeating the purpose of avoiding tethering.

So, while the electronetting appears to be more expensive intitially, it will save you in time and effort. Easier to move a flexible net fence with step-in posts than rigid 16 foot panels. I think the electronets run in bigger sizes than 4 cattle panels, so more space for relatively the same cost. The electric will keep the goats and kiddos from standing on and breaking down the fence as well, so it should last longer. ((Whoops, just read Thaiblue's post about the cattle panels. LOL))





We first bought goats to clear the weeds from our horse pasture. So I can completely understand his purpose. They did an excellent job and now we're down to just a few dairy goats. The folks here are great and really only want the best for you and your new goat. Even though sometimes they can come across as harsh, it comes from lessons hardlearned and heartbreak.

While a goat friend for your goat is the best; I've had luck with geese and laying hens. While the fowl will be sure the goat is there to eat them, the goat will be happy to have another moving body in the pen. The geese and my goats do very well together, they ignore each other and the size of the geese kind of keeps everything at a standstill. That being said I do not suggest penning a single goose with a goat. LOL You'll have a miserable goose. We had a screaming bottle baby and I only had a small pen and didn't want to take on another bottle baby, the only affordable ones were from an untested herd(and that wasn't going to happen). I threw a soup hen in the pen with the bottle baby. The hen had a roost to get out of his way when the buckling got rambunctious, but the goat was relieved to have a moving body in the pen. Granted his pen has a top on it, or that bird would have run for the hills.

Goats like raisins for treats.


Wheels on the shelter will help, but I've learned anything made from wood will soon be too heavy to move easily. Have you thought of hoop housing? I'm sure there would be a way to modify it, so it's moveable. The skeleton on the shelter is a cattle panel folded over, with a canvas or tarp over the top. Not suitable for extreme weather but would keep him out of the rain. They are mainly used for poultry, not sure how they would stand up to jumping/climbing/itching goats. Luckily, being a pygmy, the shelter won't need to be large. A simple A frame shelter will work. Just something for the little guy to get out of the rain.

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I say go for it. If you have your mind made up and have a plan then run it like an experiment but be prepared to make changes if things don't work out.
The concern of most of the folks here comes from experience that only owning goats can give.

Goats are like nothing you will have ever raised before and if you notice how many people are in this blog compared to the others it won't take you long to understand why. No other animal has brought me more enjoyment and caused more tears than my goats. No amount of reading and studying will teach you like first hand experience. My ignorance has caused the demise of a number of my goats. I started out like most thinking I knew enough that I could deal with problems as they popped up. They popped up or should I say blew up and many of the fine people on this forum came to their rescue and helped guide me through many emergencies.

Enjoy your goat to the fullest and if your goat doesn't need a friend you might find that you enjoy more goats in your life.

Best of luck,

Chris