Getting my first goat!

After reading all this, I have to wonder how in the world goats ever survived before animal husbandry evolved to where it is today.

It appears to me there is one person that wants to treat a goat like livestock, The rest want to treat them like children.

I never read, not once, anywhere, where it was said the goat would not be provided minerals, something to get under or hay and feed as needed.

Y'all went off because it is going to be staked out and it will not have a play mate.

Id suggest none of you come around this part of the country. Single kid goats are routinely staked in road ditches and along the RR right of way until such time the owner decides its time to string it up and butcher it.

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" Do or do not, there is no try. " - Yoda

Just because it has been done in the past, or just because you know someone who does it a certain way, doesn't make it RIGHT or HUMANE.

Dont make it wrong either. But I didnt say anything about making it right, wrong humane or not. I said dont venture here because it is common place.

And just asking here. What about the thousands of goats that live in pastures with just the ground to bed on and thickets for shelter? They may get free choice minerals, they probably get wormed twice a year. And they have companionship, but they do very well without being brought in the house, fed raisins and animal crackers and could care less if they were ever handled or not.

And dont give me the " but those are meat goats and these are dairy goats" Goats are goats. They require feed and water. Extra minerals are needed more in some areas than others.

I have no doubt that a 6 month old kid roamed an 80 acre pasture. They probably covered the entire place several times a week.

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" Do or do not, there is no try. " - Yoda

My goodness...i'm SO glad i'm not the only "crazy" one! LOL! My husband tells me i'm too soft with the animals. I should send him here! I've been know to (jokingly) ask if i can bring in the shivering horse in from a snowstorm! hehe... I have no problem providing creature comforts to my animals, but i'm still going to treat them like animals.

I keep thinking about the speeder goats we chase around in the fall (antelope hunts! ) They're goats, right? They sure don't have shelter from rain, or dry bedding all the time, and they seem to survive! And the bucks usually hang out by themselves too. All alone. Poor babies...

Purely out of curiosity, and i'm not being snarky here, do ya'll pitch a fit if someone owns a single dog or do you suggest they get a pack of them? How about a single horse? Or should everyone have a herd?

I think many of us were simply trying to help you. Some tend to be more passionate than others.

Many of us have lost goats or have had friends lose tethered goats in horrid ways; so we try to prevent suffering by suggesting not to tether. While some here allow their goats in the house, I haven't seen anyone seriously suggest that goats should only live in the house and sleep in the bed.

And I think those who suggested treats, were only directly answering a question posted by the OP.

To answer the OPs latest question, the only thing I have "one" of is a game rooster and even then he's got a flock of laying hens.

I've only offered advice and personal experience that I thought would be helpful. S'pose I'm done with this thread. I do truly wish you luck with your new goat they are entertaining and useful creatures.

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-Kim

Me, too.

Now I'm off to cuddle my two new, born today, babies who ARE in the house and will be for a few days.

I would never tie a goat out because of the simple fact it takes seconds for a goat to choke itself out. I tie my goats up at feed time with me and someone else right there. My LaMancha doe tripped and fell to the ground within 10 seconds she was almost dead. If I had not been there she would of not made it.

I had a boer buck by his self for a few weeks because and he was miserable. I have no doubt in my mind that my goats are livestock but that does not mean I will not give them something to sleep in if they choose they want to and I will not make them live a life without a friend. I look at it like this... Us humans can live without ever seeing or talking to another human but what type of life would that be? Would you truly be happy?

Most people here have been in goats for longer then I have been alive, so they have that been there done that and it didnt work attitude. Which is one reason I come here.

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They aren't tethered...

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Gena

http://www.jbargfarms.com/
“Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength.”
― Ralph W. Sockman

Dogs and horses aren't "herd" animals....

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Gena

http://www.jbargfarms.com/
“Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength.”
― Ralph W. Sockman

ummm... I've kept chilled lambs in the bed with me before... warmest place we could find. DH and I snuggled up with lambs between us. We had a diaper on the lamb. People might laugh, but my animals are valuable to me. I know a lot of people feel the same way about theirs. Livestock doesn't mean it isn't loved stock. And loving your animals doesn't make you less of a farmer/homesteader. There's no image we have to fulfill, to be some rough and ready pioneer type with no emotional bonds to our critters. It doesn't mean that they are pets forever, either. My view is that every animal deserves to be treated with love and care according to their needs as long as they live with us, whatever their purpose is. Some people think I'm soft. I don't care what anyone thinks.

I am also done with this thread. I wish your goat all the best.

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Since WHEN are horses not herd animals??!!?? Ever seen real wild horses? They sure ain't by themselves! And dogs are pack animals.

Some wild horses do indeed travel alone. Not a lot, but some. Just like some dogs and some wolves travel alone. I have had horses that became very upset if kept alone and others that seemed to prefer it. Some dogs don't mind being alone. Some dogs think their human pack is fine and don't need or want other dogs around and some dogs like having their human pack and another dog friend.

But goats, do indeed do better with someone of their own kind, or at least some other herbivore that can be nearby. Some are happy with horses, some with sheep, etc.

But, you could have a goat that doesn't mind being alone so much, only time will tell with that and you've already said if he looks depressed or lonely you will get him a friend.

I am curious, is he a wether? If not and you don't plan to breed him, you might want to consider getting him wethered shortly. Otherwise he will go into rut and start peeing all over himself and blubbering and generally acting um... inappropriate.

Some people have had great success with tethering, others not so much. One thing you might consider (at least until you know how well he does on the tether) is building him a small pen where you can put him if you aren't going to be home and at night. That way you can keep close supervision on him while he is tethered and be there if he gets himself into trouble.

If you put a little shelter (something the size of a large dog house will work) in his pen, then you could leave him in there when there is inclement weather. And help protect him at night from predators. This would also give you a place to keep his minerals dry, and hay dry in the winter. Wet hay gets moldy, moldy hay kills goats.

I know wild deer and such are out in the elements, but they have the choice of seeking shelter in a ravine, or deep in a thicket or something. Also, they have thousands of years of genetic make-up that prepares them for the weather there. A pygmy has thousands of years of genetic make-up that makes it the perfect goat...for Africa. They were developed and breed in a hot, arid climate. You would be surprised how quickly a damp, chilled goat can get sick.

Yes, people run meat herds out in large pastures where they pretty much fend for themselves, however they don't do this without some losses. Only you can decide what your acceptable losses are. They are different for everyone.

One reason you might consider a friend for him, one pygmy may not be able to keep up with all of the weeds.

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Do as you wish...you can go down any road and see a horse in the field alone, eating and doing their thing (oh, yeah, that's eating.)

In the beginning I thought several of the comments made toward you were a little rough. However, at this point, I, too, think you are ignorant of goat husbandry. You are not trying to keep a goat in his natural environment. There have been many threads on here that speak of this exact thing. When you take an animal out of the wild and choose to confine it, there are things that have to be replaced "artificially" for that animal to survive and thrive.

You are obviously indignant.

Domesticated horses "survive" alone. Dogs were domesticated long ago and are now used for "people" companions. Goats...need goat companions to SURVIVE. Many of us milk our goats...twice or more a day and develop a relationship with them similar to many folks and their dogs. I know LOTS of people that "spoil" their dogs in ways I would NEVER CONSIDER spoiling my goats. But they are free to do it. I don't think anyone here asked you to bring this young pygmy in your house or insinuated that you needed to. It is unnecessary to be nasty and beligerent to the people that you asked questions of.

Last I checked, at least in some venues, this is still a free country and you are free to treat your little animal however you choose. I, too, wish you both the best. And just so you know, we had our sheep attacked by dogs years ago...they weren't wild...they were people's pets. It was all for sport.

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Gena

http://www.jbargfarms.com/
“Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength.”
― Ralph W. Sockman

I, actually, didn't ask any questions in the beginning. I was just sharing my excitement of getting a goat. I never said i was a goat expert, but i'm NOT ignorant in basic animal care. I never said i wouldn't do what needed to be done with the goat, i just said i'm not going to coddle a farm animal. Animals kept domestically, in general, are not kept in their natural environment and they are just fine. If it can't survive without pampering, well then, it's not meant for our farm, and i guess that's yet to be seen.

I agree, to a point, that in our free country we are free to treat our animals how we choose as long as it's not neglected or abused. Neither of which my animals EVER are.

My goat, along with every other animal i have, will be healthy, happy and safe, but he's still a farm animal and will be treated as such. The biggest predator we have issues with around here are fox. I honestly don't know of anyone that has seen a coyote in the valley in a long time. The more i think about it, i do worry a bit about one particular neighborhood dog that occasionally escapes, and he can be a pest, so i will probably build some kind of permanent shelter for the goat at night or when i'm gone all day. And if he REALLY needs a friend, i'll get him one. I'd love to get an orphan or something that needs to be hand raised. If he keeps getting tangled or hurts himself, i'll figure something else out to contain him.

I'm not unreasonable, uncaring, nor ignorant. But our animals all have a purpose and i didn't get a goat to be my companion (although, i've been known to get pretty attached to these creatures! ). If anything, i take especial care of my animals to preserve my investment. They aren't cheap financially or in my time and effort.

And, yes, he's weathered. I wouldn't have got a male otherwise.

I agree with most of the posters here as well. And I just went back and read the whole thread. I'm sitting here amazed...did you really say your stake out your dogs???
Really?? In most states you do know that is illegal.
I raised pygmies for years. mostly for weed eating along our mountainside. They were always fenced in, they had several shelters where they could get out of the weather. They were never in the house, they were certainly farm animals.
And just because things were done one way when you were younger, doesnt mean it was right then either.

Staking dogs......I'm still just amazed.
Alice in virginia

P.S. Are your chickens staked out??

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There is nothing any worse than an angry little old lady, they've had a lifetime to learn all the dirty tricks and people get upset if you hit them!

Most people DON'T stake or tether out their livestock and most of the time they have another companion animal with another, chickens are not companion animals.

We Love goats here but we all know they are livestock but we still Love them & try to provide them what they need since we have domesticate3d them & have them penned for our use it's up to us to make sure they are well cared for.

No One told you to bring the goat in the house or pamper it, all anyone here told you were basics that this little goat needs to stay healthy & happy.

By The Way, Your Little goat isn't making up to you or Very friendly again because he's SCARED to death being tied up since he's been roaming an 80 acre field & never been tethered before.

I wish you & the little goat the best, hope everything works out the way you plan.

Staking out dogs illegal? HA! They could TRY that here, but it'd never work! EVERYONE ties their dogs out! Mine are (they come in at night though), all five of my neighbors have dogs tied out. All the hound hunters in town stake their hounds out (and that's a LOT of dogs!) and we had all ours staked out when we had hounds. Everyone i know that has a dog ties them out, (unless they're townfolk with little fenced in yards). And not a single one of them are abused or neglected or anything but happy dogs. There's NOTHING wrong with it.

It's not uncommon to see a pony or donkey or goat staked in the ditch banks around here either.

And get this....my husband grew up in a hunting outfit in the Bob Marshall wilderness. They staked their mules out sometimes!! Scandalous!

But no, my chickens aren't staked out because i can't find collars small enough. (Where is the exaggerated-eyeroll smiley? I need it....)

And the reason he's not very friendly is the fact that he hasn't had any human contact in his whole little life! He's going to be scared to death of us for a while regardless of how we contain him!!

I wish ya'll could see my PM's. Believe it or not, i'm not the only one who raises perfectly healthy animals as livestock...just the only one stupid enough to post it here!!!

You keep saying you are raising him as livestock. So are you trying to say that if we do not tie out our goats, give them shelter, and a friend we aren't raising them as livestock?

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Every drop of blood, every bitter tear, every bead of sweat, I live for this. - Hatebreed.

It Happens Farm

Addie Girl Soap

Come Like us on Faceboook

Horses are absolutely herd animals. For the record, I would not keep a single horse alone. Not that it can't be done, but generally the horse is not happy, even if he doesn't pitch a fit and make it absolutely obvious to absolutely anyone that walks by. Just because you drive by a field and see a lone horse, that does not mean that horse is happy about it. Or even if the horse is happy, that the same horse wouldn't be happier with a buddy. This is why so many racehorses have goats and other companion animals. Because they have had the companionship of other horses taken away to live at the track, they often need some kind of smaller animal for company to keep them sane and happy. And therefore they do better in their races, since they aren't blowing all their energy fretting for companionship. So it makes financial sense for the racehorse trainer/owner to spend the little bit of extra upkeep on the smaller animal.

Dogs are pack animals, but they are also carnivores. We do have a single dog right now. We usually have two but are down to one since our last dog passed. However, Rocky is not a herd animal, he is a pack animal. Carnivores are different. He is blissfully happy being an only dog. WE are his pack. Which makes sense really, since we are also predators. Goats are prey.

It sounds like the OP is providing feed and shelter for the little guy. I personally would not tie a goat out, but I know it has been done successfully. I think the movable pen is a great idea, along with a portable shelter. In fact, we are working on that here, to let the goats eat a few overgrown areas that are not worth putting the money into fencing permanently. I hope he ends up with a companion, I always tell people that ask about goats that generally a lone goat is a very loud and annoying goat.

Oh, we do eat our goats. I have no problem with butchering livestock for the freezer. I do, however, make sure that the freezer bound goat has a healthy, happy life right up until the time the bullet passes through his brain. In fact, mine die in a blissful state of ignorance, because we follow the instructions in the sticky up top and give them a scoop of grain on the ground to keep them still and get their head down where it needs to be. So they are enjoying a treat when they cease to live.

YMMV, but remember everyone on here is here for the good of their animals. If no one cared, no one would give you any advice