Free Range goat??
 

I avoid goats because I heard that if your fence can hold water it will hold a goat...no thanks.
I have 21 acres and the road is about 800 feet from my house and really nothing but more woods to the sides and back. Ponds are easily accessible and yard is around 3 acres of grass and five acres of water in the ponds.
Would a goat run off if it were free or travel far? I like the idea of a goat but not a fence.
Thoughts?

I think you need to build a fence for the protection of the goats. It has been my experience cows and horses are harder on a fence then a goat is.

Though I do let mine out of the fence to browse while I am home because of the area Im in I dont recommend it full time.
One, it could be against the law and 2 free range goats are easier access for free range predators.

If something happend and my goats caused a wreck I would be responsible. When I had brush goats I couldnt let them out so much because unlike my dairies that are afraid they wont hear the feed barrel open my brush goats would have taken off and not stopped until they where full.

Btw, we will be using cattle panels to fence in our whole property, the current is goat wire and we have had no issues with it containing the goats.

When in Missouri, there is a goat fence between their habitat and the house to keep them off of the porch and vehicles. Other than that, they have access to over sixty acres of ours. Our place currently has no west fence, on the side of the property farthest from the house. They never go off that far.

That said, these are dairy goats that are emotionally bonded with us and consider us part of the herd. I do not know if meat or brush goats would stay close to home without that loyalty.

I let mine out when I am home to supervise but would not leave them unattended...not because they would wander off but because stray dogs are a concern. They need fencing for protection more than anything else.

Mine free range. They do jump on hubby's car and they have eaten the windsheild wipers. They are mini's and can't jump on my pickup. Now Pony (new baby) is all legs and he can jump on my pick up. I found that if I park it off to the side he won't jump on it because there is no one to show off for. I believe that as he grows and gets fatter and lazy he will knock it off completely. We live on a gravel road so not very much traffic except tractors/trucks during harvest. Once in awhile they wander over to the ditch to eat and that made me nervous. We also have 2 mini donks that free range and one day the goats were in the ditch and Mama-D was across the road in the corn field!! So we put up a fence and gate at the end of the driveway and along the road. There is only horse fencing on the east, no fencing on the north or west where our grove is. They won't go in the grove without me...they are scared of it and want to stay closer to the house. These are all pets. They are locked up at night in the barn. Our property is completely surrounded by thousands of acres corn and bean fields. No neighbors. No dogs. But we do have coyotes and that is why everyone gets locked up at night. :)

First you cannot have one goat, you need at least two. I actually recommend three in case something happens to one the other still has a friend and you do not have to run out and buy a goat you do not want.

Yes they can free range and here it is not against the law. But first they have to settle down, know where they live and have a barn/shelter/something to sleep in. So you might pen them up the first few days, then start letting them out and calling them back with a bucket of feed or a bag of treats. Goats are smart and learn quickly.

Mine once it starts getting dark put themselves to bed.
They do not wander far since they know where their food, water, treats and attention comes from.

Coyotes are a problem here so I have LGD.

We had a goat that roamed the area for a long time. The only catch is that you have to have goats in a fence for a free range goat to stay close, or else they have to know you well.
But, yes, you can free range goats. They are like dogs. They like you. They know where they get fed. They lay on the porch, look into your bay window and call you. They leave nanny berries on the front/back porch. They even ram the door to knock for you.
I've had goats walking around the property many times. Lots of people do. They don't run away if they know where home is.

One of mine pulled the phone wires out of the box and ate them. Then they taught the male LGD to do the same, but he just chewed on them. They also pull anything they can get a hold of off of the house or buildings at times.
The kids do like to use the vehicles as sliding boards and climbing equipment.

Yeah...Gretta got our phone wires once too. And we can't have any fruit trees or decorative bushes. If I have a garden I fence it off with electric net. We have to keep doors closed to all our other outbuildings or they will go in and wreck stuff (or eat a roll of insulation :rolleyes:) Hubby has a problem closing doors securely so I keep a close eye on that. It does cause some problems but to me it's worth the extra effort it takes because they are so happy :)

With 21 acres of your own I think they would do fine BUT like thaiblue said at least 2 but 3 goats would be better.

You would want some type of Pen for bad weather, winter & night time with a decent shelter or barn area so they could get out of the elements & be protected from predators at night especially or a place to go when they felt they needed to. They would learn that is where they sleep & at night you would just have to shut the gate.


Also I would keep them in that pen for a few weeks until they bond with you & your family & then start letting them out while you are home, etc.

Sometimes the fence is to keep them from getting into ornamental bushes & flowers which some can make them deathly ill or are poison to goats, keep them off your cars, etc. But with as much space as you have they would probably stay out of trouble with so much to wander & browse in.

Some folks fence their yards in so the goats can't get around their house, cars, etc. & they free range around the barn & rest of the property.

We do free range our does' & the wether in with them in the winter a lot of time because my flowers & garden are all done so no harm there. Because of all the snow, etc. though they wander the edge of the woods & chew on low branches, wander form their outside penned area & the goats part of the barn.
I never worry about them running off or wandering too far.

Mine didn't eat the windshield wipers but they did destroy several pairs by getting on the roof of the cars and then sliding down the windshield, ruining the wipers on their way down. They thought that was great fun.

What they did eat was the tabs off my mini van. I had to go into the Department of Licensing to get replacements and had to fill out a form, essentially swearing to tell the truth, but they only gave two boxes to choose from to check explaining what happened: one box said they were stolen, the other one said they were lost.

I told the woman that there was no box for "my goats ate them" and she told me to just mark the "lost" box. lol

Anyway, as far as free ranging - as long as they (meaning the at least two goats the OP will be getting) can't get on the road or cause a problems at the neighbors, and if they have a safe place to be locked up at night - maybe a small fenced area with a shelter that they have access to at all times - then it would probably be all right. Even with unlimited browse in the summer, I would still feed at night; that way they don't forget where home is and they will show up for dinner, giving the OP the chance to lock them up.

Also, I would make sure they have access to clean, fresh water and not make them dependent on drinking out of the ponds. Maybe it's just me, but I worry about nasty things that might be picked up in the pond water - especially if they are ever stagnant. I actually have a pond, and even with several water tubs placed around their pastures, I do still see my goats occasionally drinking out of the pond and it gives me the heeby jeebies - especially since I have ducks.

I agree with the others - if they are given the chance to bond with their humans before being turned out, they probably won't go far. Mine go up the hill behind my house and are often out of sight but as soon as I step outside and yell, "GOATS!!!!," they come tearing down the hill.

My property borders national forest but I don't think my goats have ever made it that far.

But a question for the OP - if you aren't sure you even want goats and just want to turn them loose, what purpose would they serve you? Brush eaters? Pets? Milk? Meat?

They LOVE to do that. They think autos are big sliding boards. Then you end up with scratches all over the roof and hood.

Well, you know, there's no way to play "king of the mini van" without inflicting some damage. Duh. :doh:

When I had my very first goats many years ago, a friend came over to visit. She had a Barracuda - an old, classic Barracuda. And sure enough, we're in the house and we hear all this thumping and banging around and we look out there and all these goats are jumping all over her classic car.

I still cringe when I think about that but she wasn't mad at all. In fact, being a city girl, she thought it was neat that she could explain to people who asked her where all the scratches came from that they came from goats using her car for a playground.

You have coyotes in Ga. and most likely would lose your goats to them.
Nancy

We have coyotes in Missouri, too. Lucky so far, I guess. No losses to coyotes, cougars, or neighbors in deer season. :)

Thanks for all the replies. I have a lot of fruit trees and scratch free vehicles so a fence would have to be installed. If I have to use them for prepping which was my thought for milk and maybe meat then I'll just have to trade some stuff from a friend of mine a couple miles down the road for a goat then or barter fish for milk or whatever. LOL. This all kind of came up in the survival thread about getting a goat or storing powdered milk. I think storing would be easier on my nerves. Fish, rabbits and ducks are pretty much maintenance free and easy to keep.

You will really need more than 1 goat. Goats are very social animals & do not do well by themselves. They need another of the same species to really thrive.

meddac, I am pleased as punch that you found information, decided that you were not physically set up for goats and were unlikely to be, and then decided that there were things you WERE set up for that could be bartered for your dairy needs.

I wish more people who were not set up for goats, and were not willing to set up their place for goats, wouldn't get them.

I live in a very rural area. I have bears to live with too. Yet, I have 80 plus acres. Raw land, my driveway is the road. I have one neighbor within site. I have had up to 40 free ranging goats. The number is high due to all but one or two are female and though they are Nubians they often give birth to 3 most 2 next 4 and 5 sometimes so that is how the numbers are so high. I color code the moms and daughters to match add bells to their collars and let them roam. Babies under 4 weeks stay in a chain link pen in the center. They roam far and wide but I can walk the trails and listen for the bells to hurry them home if I wish. Summer daylight last forever and they come to be milked and head out again to the wild roses and fireweed. I do have some small pens --a hundred by 300 I can toss them in when I want. As they clear the land I am setting post for fencing in the whole area. I did this due to proverty. Things improve steady my goal is to have everything fence with wild life paths as needed.

I have 23 acres and am in a neighborhood type area - I don't have real fence for my does. . .they never go off the land or at least. . .not more than 100 feet over . . .

I've known several people who let their goats free range.

They fence them OUT of the yard, garden etc, not IN.

Mostly it has worked.

There is some mortality, amazingly not that much due to coyotes but getting the meningeal worm due to being in deer territory and also some deaths due to stepping in bees nests and getting stung to death.

We fence the goats in, I don't want to hear from the DH again " Do you know what Your goats have done now?" Rocky our escape artist, can get into trouble, very quickly. I don't know how many times I have gone out and yelled "Your a bad Goat" as he has chewed on phone wires, tarps or anything else he can find to destroy. But I still love him, he keeps life exciting, but DH might disagree.

I've had goats fenced, and unfenced. You've got to have some kind of enclosure to keep your animals so you can go out of town if needed, ex: away for vacations, or if feral dogs are roaming the neighborhood and you need to put the animals in a safe, dry place....etc.
-scrt

Our goats and poultry are free ranging. We have about 300 acres with a 40mph road running down the middle. Our house and all buildings on one side of the road. Most of the property is heavily forested mountain with some 80 acres cleared on our side of the river. Our house and animal housing sits on about 15 acres that is cleared and surrounded by river one one side and road on the other.
They meed at the East and West ends of the 15 acres.

We keep livestock guardian dogs in an area with huge populations of coyotes, bear, wildcats and small predators. Aside from the two chickens that one of our Pyrs took down we have never lost an animal to predators.

Our neighbors routinely get sacked by bears and coyotes, but we've never been. Knock on wood!!!!!

In my experience free ranging works in even the most dangerous local so long as there are effective LGD present.