What next.... Stray Goat...

[K Epp]

My neighbor from up the road comes by yesterday evening and ask if I have baby goats. I tell him I do knowing I just came form the back and they are both there. He tells me their is a baby goat at his house and they had to chase the neighbors dog away from it and they are afraid to leave it that the dogs will kill it. I get in the car to go investigate and Find a small buckling about the same size as my Nigerians. I think he is younger and has floppier ears than they do, but not as floppy as a Nubian. I'm thinking some type of mix. I didn't know what else to do with him, but bring him home with me and try to locate the owner. I don't even walk up that road because the dogs are mean. Poor guy was soaking wet, but seems to okay other wise. He seems a little thin, but then again I have plump goats to compare him to. He has horns about the same size as my 7 mth old. Hopefully the owner will show up. If one of my babies was missing I would be going crazy.

[o&itw]

Hopefully he wasn't "dumped" like some do with dogs and cats. If there were other goat raisers close by I would think you would be aware of them.

Good luck....You may have just adopted.

[K Epp]

Well I have looked every where for his home. I have called the vets, feed store and the man I get my hay from. No one has heard of anyone with a missing goat. The man who I get the hay from offered to band him as he is still intact. I figure I will wait a week before having that done so if some one wants their buck back they can have it, but I believe you are right he may be a stray. He is cute and as a wether I will keep him, but I believe he is maybe a Mini Nubian or some other type larger goat than my Nigerian Dwarfs.

[o&itw]

Perhaps someone on here can estimate his age from the horn length....
if he is young enough could he be a standard Nubian?

[myheaven]

I'd say 8-10 weeks by horn length

[GraceAlice]

Looks like a mini Nubian to me. Poor little guy. Sounds like he has a great forever home now, don't ya think?

o&itw, I definitely wouldn't think that he is a standard. His ears are waaaayyy to airplaney.

[KSALguy]

probably a brush or brier goat as they call them down here, could have a little Nubian in there but who knows, cute little bugger, if no body claims him you got a nice little weather for a pet or for the freezer,

[o&itw]

Originally Posted by GraceAlice

Looks like a mini Nubian to me. Poor little guy. Sounds like he has a great forever home now, don't ya think?

o&itw, I definitely wouldn't think that he is a standard. His ears are waaaayyy to airplaney.

Thanks Grace,

I am always trying to learn, and have seen very few goats close up, and didn't usually know what breed they were when I did. Thanks to Pony, I can now tell a ND and Nubian apart (uh, that is if someone told me that what the two goats were in the first place)... If I see a white goat with a red head, I think it is a Boer.... if it was that color and a Nubian, I would probably think it was a skinny Boer.

I can talk with experience about rabbit, chickens, guineas, pigeons and cattle. But when it comes to goats, I am just leaning to tell one from a hair sheep

[K Epp]

Well he is safe from the freezer at my house. I canr seem not to make pets out of anything including the 15+ lb turkey that thinks he is supposes to sit in my lap. Now if I have something get mean that will change.

At what age fo you band? Isn't he old enough now? I will give it a week, but dont want to take a chance on me tiny ND doe getting breed. She is so small I don't know if I will ever be able to breed her. At 7mths she is about the size of a americauna rooster.

[K Epp]

Well he is safe from the freezer at my house. I canr seem not to make pets out of anything including the 15+ lb turkey that thinks he is supposes to sit in my lap. Now if I have something get mean that will change.

At what age fo you band? Isn't he old enough now? I will give it a week, but dont want to take a chance on me tiny ND doe getting breed. She is so small I don't know if I will ever be able to breed her. At 7mths she is about the size of a americauna rooster.

[blaundee]

He is not a Nubian, thought could be half Nubian. His ears are called "airplane ears"- that's what you get when you cross a goat with erect ears with a goat with floppy ears. My guess by the horn size would be about 6-8 weeks old, but that's just a guess. Looks like a standard sized goat to me.

Nubians ears must come at LEAST one inch past their muzzle. There is NO way in the world that goat is full Nubian lol

I don't know where you live, but here in NM you would need to call the State Livestock Board Brand Inspector to either come get it or to give you paperwork saying you could keep it- otherwise you'd be stealing and rustling is a serious crime lol Either call your state livestock board or animal control and ask them what you need to do to legally own or give it away.

[blaundee]

As for the banding- I have never known a buck able to impregnate a doe before he was 4 months old, and that guy isn't that old. I don't know if you can legally castrate him if he is not yours and you do not have permission from the owner... call animal control or the livestock board to make sure you aren't stealing him. Here in NM an animal is not legal to rehome for at least 2 weeks, and public notice in newspapers must be made. If you do decide to band him, it can be done at any age, though if you wait until he is about 6 months old you'll need to get a bigger band than usual.

If you do band him, and do not keep him his entire life, you have completely sealed his fate to be eaten. If someone bought him for breeding, they may be able to sue you for the babies he would have produced. I would heavily suggest that you get LEGAL OWNERSHIP of him before castrating him.

[blaundee]

Originally Posted by myheaven

I'd say 8-10 weeks by horn length

You're probably closer than I was, as I was not taking into account that he is not full Swiss, but also half Nubian- Nubians have much smaller horns than Swiss breeds, and that is what I have raised for the last 26 years lol

[blaundee]

http://www.i-n-b-a.org/

http://www.adga.org/index.php?option...ats&Itemid=131

[K Epp]

Well if I hadn't put him in with mine he would be dog food. I have contacted animal control. Here they dont deal with livestock. I will call back and ask those questions. If they show up after two weeks the room and board will be more than a scrub goat is worth. I have never had a animal I have rescued claied after a day or so. As skinny as it is it hasnt been cared for. We will see...

Odd how I could shoot it for eatting my tomatoes but don't fix it in fear of being called a rustler....

[Pony]

Our goats have found a hole in the fence, but when one of them gets out, the rest put up such a ruckus we HAVE to go see what's going on out there. Can't imagine anyone NOT missing such a sweet little guy.

[BethW]

He's a cutie pie! So glad he found a safe haven with you.

[Minelson]

He is a darling! I hope he found his forever home with you

[wintrrwolf]

I want to say definitely nubian cross with pygmy or nigerian.

Horn size compared to my baby bucks here I would say he is about 2-3 months or between 8 - 10 weeks
first pic is of full nubian buckling mom was in poor shape when I got her and improving slowly she is also polled both boys she had are growing slow as well...standards also seem to grow slower than the small breed goats.
2nd pic is of tiny Tim born at the end of March f3 nigerian/saanen his horns are about the same size as your little guys.
3rd pic is of my mini nubian doeling Buttons born 2 weeks ago no horns polled but she has the airplane ears.

[K Epp]

They are cute as can be. I think he is a Mini Nubian as well. Or something close to that with out knowing where he came from. I went.out looking and beating on doors trying to find his owner with no luck.

He is doing good and I hot him to eat out of my hand this am. He still doesn't come up to be scratched like the others, but isn't shying away either. Which is a improvement.