Thought I was being nice- I shouldnt have been nice...

NVMEinTX · #1 07/01/15, 09:39 PM

I have made a HUGE mistake with my young goats (6.5 and 4.5 month old sisters from the same mister, a Nubian). I have let them free browse all day and now I cannot get them back to live in their goat pen and my patio is overrun with pellet poop.

At first, when we brought them home almost months ago, they were so shy and were so obedient about staying in their pen. We would only let them out in the late afternoon to let them browse a little bit, and we were slightly amused as they cleaned up some brush around our pool fence.

Then they started calling out to us in the morning, and in the afternoon until we would let them out. Then the younger one learned to squeeze under the goat panel and would abandon her sister while she frolicked and ate.

I know we made this mistake and should have never let them out. In the process of pelletizing our pool deck and patio, early on they started turning their noses up to their alfalfa pellets and now they gorge on everything in the front and back acreage.

Can we recover from this? The fly situation due to the excrement is horrendous, and sometimes the girls barge into the chicken yard and into their coop to snack on chicken feed. I am a bad farm mom.

**mygoat** · #2 07/01/15, 10:52 PM

Improve your fencing, keep them out of the chicken food, and tempt them with grain into an area you can close them into. Escape artists can be very difficult to retrain.

Are these going to be your future milkers? If they're not tame yet, I strongly suggest starting now. I refuse to put up with wild dairy animals. Wild goats can be tamed, but its certainly not on my to-do list. :P I'd keep a promising wild animal as a brood animal only, taking any improved daughters to raise on the bottle so I"m ensured a tame dairy animal for sale or retaining... But then, we don't have time to tame dam raised kids or wild girls, and I'm not wresling a wild animal onto the milk stand.

If you can get them tamed down a bit, you'll want to start getting them used to the milking area NOW. With our bottle kids, we start feeding a grain ration 4-6 weeks before they kid in the milk stand, while we 'pretend' to milk. We go through the motions, but artificially. Rub the udder like we're washing, then sit next to them and pretend to milk. We've never had a wild kicking FF by the time she gives birth. Sure, they still kick the occasional bucket but they're used to the routine and fall into their place easily, unlike a totally unhandled lady.

chamoisee · #3 07/02/15, 01:35 AM

I'd get portable electric fence, fence them away from your house and chicken coop, and let them graze.

Bearfootfarm · #4 07/02/15, 02:22 AM

Some landscaping plants such as Azaleas are toxic to goats and sheep.

When you feed them grain, put it in a plastic bucket and beat loudly on the bottom before you give it to them.

In a few weeks you'll be able to make them come running to that sound from as far as they can hear you

V-NH · #5 07/02/15, 01:15 PM

Fencing isn't super expensive. Go to Tractor Supply Company. Buy six cattle panels for $21.99 each. Buy 18 t-posts to go with the cattle panels. For $200 your goats will never escape again.

nchobbyfarm · #6 07/02/15, 06:41 PM

good luck.

NVMEinTX · #7 07/02/15, 08:41 PM

Thanks everyone. We have a stanchion and they have practiced hopping up on it, that's where their minerals are. Definitely going to practice the motions of milking and getting them used to it.

They do come running to me every time we are outside, especially when we feed our pigs. We are changing their pen sides because the ones we have are weirdly warped on the bottom. We are renting to buy this property and that's what they had laying around so at first we used those cattle panels because Bootsy and Sugar (my Sanaa x Nubian and Alpine x Nubian crosses) were smaller and less bold. We want to change their gate exit, right now its about 5 yards away from the back of the chicken coop. I just noticed tonight they're rubbing themselves against the chicken run wiring and we'll need to fasten that better to the end posts.

Thanks everyone!!

livluvgoats · #8 07/09/15, 07:02 PM

fix the fencing up abit so they cant get out and keep the chicken feed up high so they cant get to it. and if you cant get them back up bribe them with some of their feed

livluvgoats · #9 07/09/15, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by V-NH

Fencing isn't super expensive. Go to Tractor Supply Company. Buy six cattle panels for $21.99 each. Buy 18 t-posts to go with the cattle panels. For $200 your goats will never escape again.

when they grow up ( I have problems with this) they might thy to climb it or lift it up. I had to do ALOT of renovations so my goats could not excape lol they r bad smart goats

terri9630 · #10 07/12/15, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by livluvgoats

when they grow up ( I have problems with this) they might thy to climb it or lift it up. I had to do ALOT of renovations so my goats could not excape lol they r bad smart goats

I use the cattle panels for my buck and the horse panels for my does/kids. I haven't had any problems with climbing or "lifting". Just make sure it's properly attached to the posts. I did have a problem with my buck jumping the cattle panels so I just added a hog panel on top of the cattle panel to make it 8ft tall.