Goats Eating Horse Tails!

[JessB]

I have had goats for about 10 years. I had re-homed my goats and moved to to another state a couple years ago. 6 months ago I got back into the goat world. I bought 2 young LaMancha wethers. This is a first for me - they are eating off the tails of my horses! My horses have almost no tail left! My previous goats never did this!
The goats are in their own pen with cattle/ranch panel fencing. The horses will butt up against the fence so the goats can chew on their tails. The horses are getting some kind of enjoyment out of this and the goat are liking the hair.

I am so mad I could cry! I am ready to stop having goats all together now! I never had this problem before! Aside from making the goat pen "Fort Knox" and taking the fun out of having them, what can I do??

Has anyone had this problem? Any ideas??
I may have 2 goats up for adoption soon!

Thank you!
Jess

[Jay27]

The goats are probably deficient in something... what are you feeding?

[JessB]

The goats apparently ate the horse's tail off where they were born - they learned it from the other goats there.

I am feeding Purina Noble Goat Grower and grass 90%/alfalfa 10% mix hay. It's very high quality hay. They also get grass and weeds in the summer. These goats are 8 months old. Twin boys, they are somewhat small for LaManchas <--- I think.

I'm at a loss

[gracie88]

Sometimes, itchy tails can be a parasite problem. Or, maybe you could wrap their tails and then spray the wrap with something nasty-tasting. I feel your pain, I had one that let the goats chew his tail and mane, both. My current horse is less tolerant, thank goodness.

[Karenrbw]

Our wether ate the mare's tail around here a couple of years ago. It still hasn't grown back in all the way. He was just doing it out of boredom. We had the wether and the billy in with the horse when we weren't breeding. It just kills me that she stands there and lets him do it.

[farmerjohn]

Could you coat the tail with something nasty tasting? Like iodine or hairspray or soap? Our goats never did that to our horses. The horses did it to each other. Fly and Mane spray did not stop it so I used Palmolive soap. That stopped it and they KNEW the bottle on sight.

[JessB]

Thanks for your sympathies! I have been putting Tabasco sauce and Bitter Apple No Chew (for dogs) spray on the tails. That helps for a day. Then my horse is right back at the fence waiting for the goats to start chewing. I'm so angry about this. I used to love having goats. Now, I am ready to say goodbye.

I might try to use soap. That can't taste good.

Thank you for your help!

[horsepoor21]

Wow ,I can't believe your horses let your goats do it ! My horses have super attitude with my goats and are always pinning their ears at them ,chasing them away . My goats fear them now .LOL

[Minelson]

Originally Posted by horsepoor21

Wow ,I can't believe your horses let your goats do it ! My horses have super attitude with my goats and are always pinning their ears at them ,chasing them away . My goats fear them now .LOL

Same here! My goats would never get that close to the horses. They are the only thing that Gretta is afraid of lol!!

[thaiblue12]

Well the goats are not totally at fault, the horses are as well, so before you toss the goats out try the soap. Also mine tend to eat things when they are babies more so when they are grown. They would "graze" on my LGD, eat paper and etc, they grew out of it.
Do you give them minerals? They need the copper and etc and it might help their craving for hair. Also can you stop the horses from going over there with a rope or something?

[JessB]

I do have a goat mineral block out for them and they attack that like crazy! They are getting plenty of minerals with the feed and the block.
I am thinking of adding barbed wire where the horse press against the fence.
I just went out with a mix of iodine soap, habenero & tabasco sauce and water. I dunked the horses tails in it and got them soaked. I can smell those tails before I even get close to the horses! They smell HOT! :P I am also considering making the pen for the goats smaller so i can double up fence - making it impossible for the goats to even reach the horses. But that would have to wait until spring. The ground is frozen and I can't move fence posts. We'll see what happens.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Deworm your horses!

[JessB]

Alice,
My horses and goats are properly dewormed and on a deworming schedule!

Thank you very much!

[Alice In TX/MO]

My horses will back up to fences when they have pinworms.

[JessB]

my paint horse is also letting the goats groom - chew hair - on his face, legs and sides. I think he just enjoys it and the goats had already learned to eat hair before I got them

[francismilker]

Sounds like to me you need to get a donkey to put in with them (horses and goats). My goats would chew on anything until they got trained by the donkey to "stay away from other 4-legged creatures."!!!!

Seriously, that's probably a habit like a cribbing horse. May not be able to break these goats from it once they're started. You might want to consider separating them from the horses if possible if they produce offspring to prevent the bad habits from being taught.

[HappyFarmer]

[QUOTE=JessB;4794274]I do have a goat mineral block out for them and they attack that like crazy! They are getting plenty of minerals with the feed and the block.

I would add some loose minerals.
The blocks are hard and difficult for goats to get enough, them attacking it like crazy tells me they are needing more. Even with the loose minerals they will consume them heavily until they have enough (week or two), then slow down a bit. We offer all three blocks, kelp, and meatmaker loose minerals, though we have a larger herd.

HF

[JessB]

I certainly think this is a hard habit to break or maybe even an impossible one!

HappyFarmer - the mineral block I have is made by Purina and it just falls apart when you pick at it, it's flaky. It's not a hard pressed block like a salt black. I got these goats in July and we are on our 3rd block already! These are two ~60lb goats - should they be eating that much? I've had to put the block up on a spool so they have to work to get at it. They pick it apart like candy! I'm afraid they will eat too much at one time. Would they do that with loose minerals?
Thanks for you help!

[HappyFarmer]

If they are deficient in something yes they will hit the minerals hard.

I don't know what kind of block you have, but molasses or salt blocks they just gobble them up for those ingredients. We put out a protein tub (GoatLyx) occasionally that is mostly molasses. They go quick, though I know they are going after the molasses, but I have it out for the extra protein so it works well for us.

I'd remove any salt or molasses blocks temporarily & offer a loose mineral (mine won't eat the black minerals, love the red ones, get a sample beforehand if you can). If they need them they will eat it hard until they've cleared up their deficiency-could take a while. I don't limit any minerals I put out, and yes the kelp goes fast too because of the salt. Free choice.

There are very few feeds/forages/grains (if any) that are completely balanced for all areas of the country, much less local areas.

HF

[JessB]

Thank you for your help! I will get a loose mineral and start feeding that.
This is the block I have out now: http://goat.purinamills.com/OURPRODU...k/default.aspx

Is it doing any good?
I appreciate your help!