Goats ..

Montyforever

Montyforever

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Well i reaally want a pygmy goat! haha
Trying to convince my mum!
Soo they eat goat mix, hay ect right?
Jump and climb (Proper fencing a must? lol)
My friend has some so i know how big they get.
Can you get insurance for them?
Hmm, help?! :P
 
All I can say is do not get an entire Billy. The stench is disgusting and lingers on everything. I was given a goat as a companion for an old horse I had here. Great idea I thought, until it arrived and with it the most horrific smell, the kind person who gave him to me had told me they thought it was a nanny. The horse hated him to the extent of lying down and refusing to move in his direction from about 100yards away. THe dogs hated him. He hated my OH and would butt him in the back at any opportunity but loved me and followed me all over the place, simply jumping 4ft fencing to get to me. I had him three days and took him back and it then took me about a month to get rid of his smell.
 
Pygmies are very funny
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- they will need a shelter of some kind as they don't do rain.....
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Well i think, if i do manage to convince my mum!
It will be kept in the stable with or without my mare (shes not that keen on coming in
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And tetherd in the field during the day as we have very crap fencing and i cant afford to do aaaaall the way round the field and the 4 other liveries wont help! haha
 
To be frank you can't tether a goat in a field with other livestock incase they run through the rope, hurting themselves and throttling the poor goat.

A goat can be tethered in a safe area if you are going to be there all the time to check he has access to water and shelter if the weather changes. Goats do not have a waterproof coat so they must have access to shelter.

Of all the goat breeds pygmies are the most sociable so it would be kinder to have a few of them.

if you are determined to have pygmy goats I would constuct a small paddock for them with good fencing. Don't forget that they still need worming, protection from fly strike, their feet trimming and other standard care. You also need to register with DEFRA.... lots to think about.

I've just got two goats to help with weed control and my horses hate them because of the smell so you might want to check before putting one in the stable with your horse. If you need more advice just ask
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. Alternatively you could buy a stable mirror if your horse has anxieties.
 
Hi,

May I please just ask that you don't tether a goat in a field with horses. Not only can it not get away if the horses decide to chase it, which they may well do, but the tether could also be a hazard to the horses.

I have a goat, mostly he lives in a paddock with my mini, they get on pretty well, but there are times when the pony plays a bit too hard and the goat needs to get away. He has a section of the shelter that only he can get into.

Some horses (how big are yours?) love goats, others hate them, if they hate them then they are more than capable of killing them, and an 18" pygmy goat doesn't stand a chance. My big horses hate my goat, yet I had a boarder here (16h Quarter Horse) that loved his goat and it did sleep quite happily with him in the stable.

Goats can be kept in with electric fencing, so the books say, none that I have ever had have read that particular book. Mine is always tethered or in a stock wired paddock.

Orange Empire obviously knows her stuff as she has said most of what I wanted to say. Goats are fun, sociable, entertaining little creatures but they can, and will, escape from everywhere, even gates have to have mesh on them, they can be very, very vocal. They also need to be protected from stray/visiting dogs, although they are capable of protecting themselves (one of my pygmys lamed my pony by butting it) they don't stand a chance against a determined dog, or coyotes in my case.

I don't intend to put you off, far from it, I love goats, but there is more to goat keeping than just getting one and tying it up in a field. Oh, and they prefer good pasture grass, clover, flowers, vegetable gardens etc, to brambles.

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I look after two pygmies at work... They are hillarious! but to echo above. Shelter and good safe fencing a must. I wouldnt like the idea of keeping one on its own either, they like their mates. The girls at work love polos, and on the odd occasion the horses have been let loose in the stock yard with them, they tend to run and hide! If it rains, they will NOT come out of their stable...the really hate it.
 
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