Help? My husband 'rescued' a goat. We have never had goats!!

[smcjoj3]

Please don't yell at me. I know know know it's never a good plan to bring something home without doing the proper research/planning. My lovely husband brought her home randomly this afternoon. He told me he rescued her from some people living out of a camper feeding her dog food down by the hotdog stand in our small town. ..I could go on with their sob story, but I'll back to our current goat situation instead.......

So we have never had goats before. I had started doing research causually a few months back in consideration of adding two goats to our small farm next spring. But i am by no means feeling anywhere near prepared!

First off. She's only one goat! So not only is she stressed and trying to adjust to her new enviroment....which was constructed AFTER she showed up at our house. Busy afternoon to say the least, but this poor girl is probably freaked out of her mind because she's alone!

What should I expect the first night/few nights of her being out in her new enviroment alone? Am I going to have to send all my neighbors edible arrangements and apology cards by the end of this week? (yes we have neighbors that are close) ...

Thankfully there is a county 'flock swap' coming up in 2 weeks in our area, so if our new girl & we adjust well, then we can get her a companion hopefully, or worse case we can find her a home better suited? Which i would hate to have to do because I know how lousy it is to move them around from one home to the next.

We have a pretty solid pen, (or so we think, time will tell) it's dry, keeps her safe from wind and rain, and we will have about 1/4 acre to fence off for her to graze ( i know this isn't a lot of space .... )

I am going to call the 2 local farms tomorrow and see what info & helpful advice they can provide, and we are headed to the library.
She is 10 mo old 1/2 Boer 1/2 Nubian Dwarf Bush...??? the woman apparently confused my husband with all the breed info. *sigh* but I know she is 1/2 Boer for sure.
What am I not thinking of? What am I forgetting?
Hay, goat feed, fresh clean water...keep the chickens away to avoid illness and keep her away from the chickens & their feed.

What kinds of useful quick tips and advice do you all have to offer!

Thanks so much in advance.

[Backfourty,MI.]

The chickens won't hurt her but you don't want her eating the chicken food. If the chickens are wandering around with her that's OK though.

If she's just a pet she doesn't need alot of grain or pelleted goat feed. Start any feed changes slowly so you don't upset her rumens & cause runny poo, etc. A little goat feed(not sweet feed) once or twice a day should be good & it will get her better aquainted & use to you. When I say little bit I mean like 1/4 cup morning & evening.

She should have access to good hay 24/7 & also a loose cattle mineral is also need for goats. I use Cargill brand Right Now Onyx but any cattle mineral dark gray or black in color is better than the red colored loose mineral & also high in copper content. I think my brand has 25oo ppm's of copper. If you have sheep, copper is deadly to sheep.

I also mix a little baking soda with my loose minerals & put it somewhere out of the elements but where the goats can get it 24/7 if they want some.

I would get a wormer definately for her. If you have a vet you use a fecal could be done by taking some of her fresh berries to them so they can test & tell what worm loads she has an over abundance of since all goats have worms but it's keeping the numbers down to a healthy level is the goal.

Fiasco.com has alot of helpful info & there are other links on wormers, etc. that will be helpful too but I don't want to over whelm you.

If you don't have a vet or can't get a fecal done then for just one goat I'd get the Ivermectin horse paste at your local farm store & worm your goat with 3X the dose that you'd give a horse with the same weight.

Congratulations, I hope you find your girl a friend because they are very soial & do much better with a friend.

[nehimama]

Backfourty gave you lots of good, basic advice. I have nothing to add other than your hubby must be an awfully kind--hearted feller.

[mygoat]

The only advice I would like to add is to do your reasearch on diseases. Many first time goat owners jump into goat ownership but don't know to research disease. There are a few heart breaking diseaes that goats get.

Because of this reason, I'd avoid a 'flock swap'. Sounds like a good place to pick up an animal that has been exposed to one of the bad diseases before or during the swap. I'd buy from a local breeder who tests.

The diseases in question that I test for personally are CL, CAE, and Johnes. The majority of reputable herds will test for CAE and usually CL as well - Johnes is not so common yet but IMO, still worth being knowledgeable about.

[heatherette]

I'm down to one goat at the moment and am learning too after inheriting a mini farm. I have been brushing her with a cat slicker brush every day and it makes her very happy. I talk to her and pet her. She escapes very very frequently, but she stays in the yard so until I can gather funds to block off the underside of our deck I just keep an eye out and lure her back in. I hope you can find her a pal! I've been looking around locally for a pal for mine. She misses Suzie, but Suzie had a bad break in her leg and we put her down

[KnowOneSpecial]

I wouldn't go to the flock swap for the reasons stated.

Any luck on Craigslist? You can go see the farm, ask questions and make decisions there. You might also get a good goat mentor that way, too!

[thaiblue12]

Yes the chicken feed is bad, even if it is a little over time it can cause the same issue as gorging on a large amount.
My chickens roam around and eat what the goats leave and do not cause illness, they do at times get stepped on and goats do not notice.... or care most of them learn to dodge.

Did the lady maybe mean Nigerian Dwarf goat? Or maybe a Nubian?
Pictures may help in figuring it out, and maybe not but we still like them

Look on Craigs list for a friend. Here it is a popular place to list goats, healthy, registered and of course sickly. So if they have pictures look to see if the goats are thin and or sickly looking, if so I would not even email.

If the pen is at least 4 feet high you will be ok. They can also squeeze through and under so that needs to be considered.

I would stick with just hay for right now since she has been eating dog food. Also before she goes out to browse/graze I would make sure she had eaten hay since those changes can upset her stomach as well.

No do not send your neighbors edible arrangements because the goats will be at the door eating them

[ozark_jewels]

I too, would advise steering clear of the flock swap. Here they are called "swap meets" and its where I got my first goat.
A lovely Nubian, brown and tan with beautiful long bell-shaped ears and a sweet disposition. I named her Brandy and it was love at first sight.
Brandy turned out NOT to be bred, as promised. But much worse than that, she turned out to have CL, and proceeded to give it to the three goats I bought right after I bought Brandy.
Long story short, I learned about goat disease real fast and had a very hard cull.
Bad first experience.
If you find a breeder, you can see the herd, quiz them about diseases(an honest breeder will not be offended and should encourage questions), and get advice.
Much better option.

[motdaugrnds]

I know what I would do if the situation were mine.

The first thing I would do is make sure she had some clean water with electrolytes in it.
I would give her a big glob of Probios Paste.
I would check her eyelids and lips for color; and if pale, would give her Ivermectin "Plus" wormer and fecal her.
I would place some Baking Soda in a place where she can get it whenever she wanted it; along with some quality hay. (I would feed her a small handfull of Alfalfa Pellets.)
I would spend some quality time with her just brushing her.

All this while I figure out what to do with her.