[mzgarden]

I'll share as a 'lesson learned' in case it helps anyone else.
We keep a baby monitor in the barn in case of...whatever. We have goat kids in the barn during the day with their moms.
One of our pens is not being used but the gate has been left opened to give everyone more space, and in that pen is a metal hay feeder hanging on one wall. When the girls are in advanced pregnancy, they use this pen. Now, the hay feeder is left empty to keep chickens out of it. This morning we heard a distressed yelling - clearly a different sound. I ran down the lane with my shoes half on and no coat, in the pouring rain to find one of the goat kids had somehow hung himself up in that empty hay feeder. He got his head in where the slats are farther apart, slid down and was now hanging. He was easy to get out, I calmed him down and his mom checked him over. No injury, but had I not been home, had I not had the monitor in the barn, he would have hung there until he died.
That pen gate is now closed and locked. Lesson learned - don't make my mistake.

Edited later -- with more time now, we simply removed the feeder from the wall and stored it up in the barn loft.

 

[Danaus29]

WOW! That baby goat was lucky you were around to help him. It would have been heartbreaking to find him there too late to save him.

Is there any way you could put some horizontal slats across the slats on the feeder to close the gaps and keep curious babies out of them?

 

[Snowfan]

Glad you got there in time.
There are so many potential hazards on the homestead that we never see until it's too late.

 

[muleskinner2]

That is why I never use a feeder that has rails, or slats. I have seen horses get their feet hung up in those feeders you see hanging on fences, and barn walls. The only feeders I use are for grain, and these are rubber tubs that sit on the ground.

 

[mzgarden]

WOW! That baby goat was lucky you were around to help him. It would have been heartbreaking to find him there too late to save him.

Is there any way you could put some horizontal slats across the slats on the feeder to close the gaps and keep curious babies out of them?

We just removed the feeder from the wall entirely and stored it up in the barn loft. It didn't need to be there and it's easy to put up and take down.

 

[hiddensprings]

So glad you were there and able to help. It is amazing what the little ones can get into...the adults as well. Thanks for sharing the story, always good to know things to avoid.

 

[BadOregon]

If they can find something to get stuck in, hurt themselves on, or otherwise make you crazy they will. I go through my barn about once a week with an eye out for anything different, interesting or changed that might be hazardous. Always hoping I find it before they do.
Glad you were there, my baby monitors have saved their fuzzy behinds several times.

 

[Pony]

Goats are so good at showing us the error of our ways.

When we very first acquired goats (one doe, one buckling), the little buckling was eager to show me the flaw in my milking stand design, by catching his foreleg in a space on the stanchion and snapping the bone right in two.

That was the day (morning, actually, about 2 a.m.) we learned how to splint a broken leg. Thank God that DH sleeps so light, or he'd have been dead by the time I woke up.

Have to think like a goat in order to protect the goats.

 

[Texas23]

We had a kid get it’s head stuck in a feeder (as pictured below)
Instead of trying to pull it‘s head back, she tried to escape by going forward like a snake. She had a full recovery but a bit traumatizing for the kid and my wife who performed the rescue.

 

[Pony]

We had a kid get it’s head stuck in a feeder (as pictured below)
Instead of trying to pull it‘s head back, she tried to escape by going forward like a snake. She had a full recovery but a bit traumatizing for the kid and my wife who performed the rescue.

View attachment 119028

Wow!

We have used this type of feeder for 14 years, never had a problem. But we will be keeping a close eye on them now!

 

[altair]

Great idea with the baby monitor and that the kid was okay.

We at first had dog collars on our goats until another goat owner mentioned breakaway collars in case they get it stuck on something. So, I got the breakaway plastic link collars and had them for a few months. My husband and I were outside watching the goats. Two goats were headbutting and the tip of one doe's horn got caught in the gap of one link and it wasn't breaking. As she was trying to free her horn, she was tightening the collar on the other goat so we quickly intervened and all was fine.

Had that been a day when we were at work, I bet we would have had at least one dead goat. Some animals are just kamikazes (or idiots).

 

[BadOregon]

One of the many reasons my girls do not have horns. I have heard the excuses about how they "need them to cool themselves" "they need them to protect themselves", phooey. After the horror stories I have heard (and experienced here) none of my goats will ever have horns.
Glad you were there to prevent a tragedy, though.

 

[altair]

Me too. They do make nice handles and I do think in a less modern setting horned goats do well. But with now-time fencing and barn accoutrements, it's less compatible.

 

[mzgarden]

I'm glad you were able to intervene. These are the goats that try men's patience, lol.