Geting Goats

FarmerGirl101 · #1 10/10/09, 03:33 PM

I want to get a couple of kid Goats for our horse. I want to get them from a stock yard. I was thinking of getting some and letting one have a goat kid and then when the kid has grown fix both parents so they wont have more.how many should i get to start out with?How many does?How many Bucks?We also have coyotes in the area.If you can answer some questions please. Thanks!

goatkid · #2 10/10/09, 04:26 PM

Be careful where you get them from. Some of the goats at sale barns have diseases you don't want on your farm. You should get at least two. If you get a buck and a doe, you could breed them and then get the buck castrated. The doe does not have to be spayed if there are no intact males on the property. If baby goats or milk aren't a priority for you, a pair of wethers would be ideal for horse companions. Some goat breeders have them available. I'm all sold out for the year.

Alice In TX/MO · #3 10/10/09, 04:36 PM

Repeating as above. Do NOT get goats at a livestock auction because they will bring disease to your ranch.

Find someone with nice Nigerian Dwarf or Pygmy goats. Get two wethers.

Minelson · #4 10/10/09, 05:04 PM

You may want to check out www.fiascofarm.com for more info on getting goats...
I would not get a buck unless you want to do continual breeding. You can get a doe that is already pregnant. Or 2 does or 2 wethers or a doe and a wether. Another horse would be best

PNP Katahdins · #5 10/10/09, 05:36 PM

Goats as horse companions can work well. However:

I'd bet that for every person you talk to who is happy with their auction/sale barn goat or sheep "bargains," there are 10 who had problems with bringing them home and contaminating their property for the future. Of course they may not realize why the new ones didn't do well or even died, after a big vet bill.

See if anyone near you has healthy young wethers (castrated males) without horns, at a reasonable price. Then if you like having the boys around, you can get a healthy bred older doe and raise some kids. You don't need to keep a buck in your situation.

Goats are very vulnerable to predators, which can include roaming dogs. Horns won't protect them and they can get caught in fences easier. You will need better fencing than for your horses. Check out Minelson's posts to see how naughty goats can be.

Hang around here for awhile and read the old threads. Keep asking questions. You can learn a lot. I sure have.

Peg

Backfourty,MI. · #6 10/10/09, 06:15 PM

I have sold young kids to different folks to go in with horses for companions but like above post horse fences will not keep in most goats, especially Pygmies or Nigerian Dwarfs. They won't run away & I do know folks that have horses ans a goat & the goat has never been fenced & stays where he's supposd to. They have had him for years & years now, he's a mixed breed wether.

I would get a couple wethered goats but definately not froma livestock auction or sale barn. Your just asking for trouble usually if you buy there. Most people selling at those places are selling because there is a problem with the animal they are selling.

FarmerGirl101 · #7 10/12/09, 08:05 AM

Thanks everybody. Ill try my best to be a successful goat owner.

barngirl · #8 10/12/09, 10:01 AM

I agree, you'll be better off if you purchase 2 wethers (or whatever you decide on) from a reputable breeder, or at least someone who knows what they're doing and doesn't have any diseases. You can buy them cheap enough and avoid a vet bill at the same time

Happy Goating!

Buster · #9 10/12/09, 10:44 AM

What everyone is saying makes sense and I've read it before in books.

So why would anyone ever buy from an auction? I visited one the other day and they sure were hoppin'.

DQ · #10 10/12/09, 11:28 AM

"So why would anyone ever buy from an auction? I visited one the other day and they sure were hoppin'"

think about people lined up at the slot machines. some people will burn themselves over and over. i personally know someone who bought from auctions somewhat regularly. usually he was taking something that had chronic CL abscesses to unload it and he would always see a hot deal or a nice doe and end up bringing it home. then. it would turn up with cl. and/or wouldn't settle, or its kids always died because it wouldn't take care of them. and back to the auction it would go. and home would come another hot deal or nice doe he found while he was there.

its seems to be like gambling for some people. the odds are so stacked against them but they continue to throw their timea and money away. I have seen this sort of thing with horses too, in fact it is a rampant problem. except now horses can't eventually go to slaughter (without export), are too expensive to dispose of or take care of if they are diseased or cannot be useful and hence the serious problem in the horse world today.

FarmerGirl101 · #11 10/12/09, 12:04 PM

Thank you i will look at the goats at the stock yard if i don't find any good healthy ones ill get them from some other people I know that raise them.

petaddict · #12 10/12/09, 12:34 PM

Where are you located FarmerGirl101?

Feathers-N-Fur · #13 10/12/09, 01:30 PM

I just took a goat to the auction yesterday. He was a problem goat. While there, I looked at what other goats there were. One pen had a very nice looking doe, with an open abscess on her jaw. That was more than likely CL, and since it was open, she was spreading it to all the other goats there. So no matter how good the rest looked, they were just exposed to CL.
I don't know about anywhere else, but here most of the goats at the auction are going to someone's table, not their pasture.

FarmerGirl101 · #14 10/12/09, 01:35 PM

I'm going to a stockyard in KY. I'm going to be looking for baby goats,you never know i might find healthy ones that i could save from being killed.

Demonikka2007 · #15 10/12/09, 04:20 PM

I found my pygmy buckling on craigslist. I don't trust auctions because the guy who owned all the goats that we were caring for kept buying them from there, and the last 4 he brought in both ----ed off the 10 goats we already had and got them all sick. Two weeks later all but one goat went back to the auction, because the one pygmy had stepped on her newborns and my one pygmy and one of his pymy's died within a week. We peaked at 16 goats on a Sunday, 8 days later we had four fresh graves and his 11 goats went back to auction, sick. And only Caramell remained.

TwoAcresAndAGoat · #16 10/12/09, 04:54 PM

Do not keep horned goats with horses.

FarmerGirl101 · #17 10/12/09, 05:48 PM

I know. I don't like horned goats anyway. If we get kids from the stock yards and they grow will have them dehorned. If I get some from the stock yard I will post pictures of them on here to see what you think.

Minelson · #18 10/12/09, 06:25 PM

If it were me, I would get a couple of kids that have already been disbudded. It's done at a very young age. Dehorning is a serious operation...and sure does cost a lot more.

FarmerGirl101 · #19 10/12/09, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minelson

If it were me, I would get a couple of kids that have already been disbudded. It's done at a very young age. Dehorning is a serious operation...and sure does cost a lot more.

Yeah that's what ill probably do.