Tell me about Goats?

[shanti]

So, I really, really want a couple of goats. Husband absolutely does NOT want goats. Everyone I know is telling me I'm crazy for even considering it.

Are they really that bad??

 

[blitznbobs]

Yes - they are evil little bxxxxrs who eat literally anything and are fabulous escape artists.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Someone I work for saved 5 from slaughter (I believe simply because they were as above!)
They were a nightmare! To be fair they made me laugh but I wasn’t the one having to round them up constantly or clear up the lasted destruction.
I have photos somewhere of the yard when I turned up to do evening stables once
I failed to see the humour in it all when they ransacked me and the feed barrow and knocked us all flying one freezing Sunday evening in the dark though.

Maybe try a rabbit….

 

[poiuytrewq]

That said a guy in the village has 3 in a perfectly fenced paddock and they are lovely. I never see any trouble there!

 

[rabatsa]

Dairy goats v pygmy goats?

Nice calm dairy goats are ok but the other little backsides are well avoided.

 

[babymare]

We had a goat some years ago (a Billy goat my dad rescued) and he completely ate my shetlands mane and tail so be very careful if grazing with horses

 

[little_critter]

My YO has 2 goats. She has nicknamed them A$$ehole and Ba§§ard and they live up to their names.
Constantly trying to get into areas they shouldn’t be in, peeing on rugs, picking fights with you ‘just because’

Don’t do it.

 

[Singing Dawg]

I've had goats, two British Alpines, that I milked. They didn't mix with the ponies at all, they had free range of the farmyard, and apart from having to make the garden fence six feet high, they were no trouble. They both met sad ends, the youngest broke her neck jumping on bales in the Dutch barn, the other poisoned herself when they got in the garden and she ate rhubarb leaves if you get kids and train them, they're great fun.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

They smell, they eat anything and everything ,they climb on anything (tyres, trees..cars) they escape, they poo and poo and poo..and did I mention they smell lol!

 

[TheHairyOne]

Our yard owner got some.

They didnt stay very long. Utter nightmare. Escaped everything, ate everything (except what they should have done) and were a complete pain.

I also think goats are really quite cute. I will never own any.

 

[Pinkvboots]

I worked at a yard that had 3 yo would come out the house and let them out of the pen having no regard of what was happening on the yard, on occasions I have been feeding the yard and they literally attack you to get to the buckets, they rear up at you boxing away butt you chew on your clothing, and if they got in the feed room it was carnage you just can't get them out they just tip all the bins over get in them.

They chew everything we couldn't leave anything outside stables or it got chewed, why the yo thought they should have the run of the place I don't know it was miserable and liveries did leave because of them.

I wouldn't ever have them.

 

[dottylottie]

my aunty has 2 in the back garden - didn’t cause too many issues besides jumping up at you for food (like a dog!) and head butting if you dared go near one of them, but recently one of them butted my cousin whilst him and my uncle were playing football. nowhere near the goats at all, very unprovoked attack, so now they have a fence in the garden to keep them at the top end

they don’t seem a very rewarding pet to me, these ones in particular aren’t very friendly despite having them from kids, you can’t walk them or anything to spend time with them that way, and they don’t even help keep the lawn down because they don’t eat the grass! for all the trouble sheep are to keep, i’ve always known pet ones to be much friendlier and better gardeners

 

[Esmae]

Goats are like everything else. If you don't manage them properly and provide proper fencing etc then you will have problems. If you provide proper accommodation, diet and care then they are very little trouble. Pygmy goats are dreadful escape artists. I wouldn't have them but a couple of Golden Guernsey wethers would be lovely. I kept a herd of dairy goats, 40 of them, for years. They had routine and were well managed and gave me very few problems. If you are just going to let them wander about doing what they please then you deserve everything they will throw at you. Goats are fun. If I were younger I would still have some but they are work and now I don't want or need it.

 

[Abacus]

I had some and agree with most of the above. If tame and friendly they are fun, cute and entertaining. But they need serious fencing not to mention quite a bit of care - feet, delicing, and you need a holding number. I’d actually do it again, I used them for grazing a steep bank and they did an amazing job but I couldn’t handle the constant escapes and hassle, it was also trickier to get people to look after them if I was away. So I sold them and bought a strimmer.

 

[paddi22]

we had two mini goats, I still have post traumatic stress disorder from them. I love animals. I love ALL animals. but I grew to hate these goats. and they were so cute. I can't bring myself to type the litany of destruction they brought, if you do a search for mini goats it's on here. do not get goats. never ever get goats. no-one should have goats. I don't know how I can stress this more. they ate through my brake cables and I nearly crashed. the ate through my coolant pipe and destroyed my jeep engine. they broke the satellite dish on my roof, then jumped off, breaking a leg and ending up in a vet hospital where they escaped onto a university campus and broke a man's arm who was trying to catch them. Jesus im having flashbacks again. don't get goats.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I had 2....never again!!

 

[vhf]

There is a reason the devil is depicted with horns and cloven hooves.
Entire males absolutely stink. Females don't until you send them to the male (which you do if they are milking animals) then they stink for days afterwards and their milk is tainted for the duration. Castrated males serve no purpose. Their life's purpose is to be where they should not, ideally at the exact worst possible moment. Our old British Alpine was a fan of waiting until you'd just finished milking but not quite moved away and then doing some kind of contortionist act to put her foot in the milk. She also climbed 5ft vertical walls to get where she shouldn't, chased the ponies, and destroyed the neighbour's orchard. We took to tethering her so she would frequently tie the chain around her legs until she could no longer move, then fall over with her head in a ditch/water bucket and make you think she was dead by staying utterly immobile - until you got there.
But the kids are adorable, they are real individual characters, they will clear rubbish ground (if you can keep them there) and the milk is nice if you manage it very carefully.

 

[Ratface]

Give me sheep over goats any time for the above reasons.
We had both and, from experience, I know that of which I speak.

 

[Nudibranch]

What Esmae says. I have sheep and goats. In terms of management, if you have the right set up, i.e. decent fencing and things to keep them occupied, they are actually less trouble than sheep. No need to shear, dag, treat for fly strike, etc. My fields are hilly which they like, and there are low hanging trees and trunks, etc, plus lots of hedgerow. I can let them eat the hedges or not - they do a great job trimming them but you do need to be able to close them off again.

They need good shelter and decent fencing but mine are kept in with a mix of stock fencing and electric. I have no idea what they'd be like on a flat postage stamp paddock though. If there's not much natural enrichment like slopes, banks, etc then you can put in logs, tyres, benches and so on for them to climb on. That reduces their desire to escape.

I've kept Saanens, British Alpines, Toggenburgs and Anglo Nubians - the most I've had at one time is 26. The Anglos are probably my favourite. GG's are the most chilled and a couple of wethers (castrated males) are ideal pets. I've no experience with pygmies but I believe they are the escape artists of the goat world. If you have wethers don't give them concentrates or they can end up with really nasty (fatal) urinary issues. Diet wise it's not that different to horses; lots of forage and not too much rich food but give a mineral balancer. I just give mine a handful of cattle (dairy) nuts each day and drench every couple of months with a mineral liquid. They need copper in their diet but those will give them all they need. Hay in winter.

Goats love to browse tall plants and hedges but they will graze grass even though some people say they won't. They also eat ragwort seemingly without ill effect although I wouldn't want to risk them on an infested field. You can worm count and if they need worming use a sheep wormer at double the dose, but if they're not in contact with sheep and you can rotate grazing and cross graze with horses you won't have any issues. My 4 all walk on a lead so I can take them out and about to browse. They make short work of garden weeds.

Anyway I'm very pro goat. As I said on another thread, I didn't even like goats most of my life but I wouldn't be without them now. Looking forward to spring kidding and lambing already!

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I work at an agricultural college and we have goats there; blimmin things are a total nightmare. And by golly they are STRONG with it too: have regularly seen two students trying to "handle" one goat.

Think Satan Personified, and there's your average goat. The Devil Incarnate. They eat everything (and I mean everything) - apart from what you wanted them to eat which was the grass - and if you erect a fence they won't regard it as a barrier, oh nooh they will regard it as a mere challenge to get the other side of it by hook or by crook, and in the most destructive way possible.

They will nibble at everything they can get to; and that will include your clothing, your nice jumper you put on the fence, your horses' rugs, that nice little headcollar that you hung on the gate that Aunty gave you last Christmas, the lot.

Yes sheep are a PITA - but at least they are stoopid with it and not devious like goats.

 

[Esmae]

Important to note that goats are not really grazers. They are browsers by choice so if you want something to keep the grass down then get sheep or a lawnmower. Goats would not be my choice for grazing paddocks. Anglo nubians are just the best. I had about 40 and they were marvellous. Entire males do have a very strong aroma which is great for clearing a queue at the bank or similar but does nothing for your close friendships.

 

[Melody Grey]

I had two….they make Shetlands look like a walk in the park!

Think Shetland escapism and then some with the athletic ability to jump a 5ft fence. Great entertainment!

Would fancy my chances more at fencing in a cat!

 

[planete]

I loved the goats I had when I lived in Snowdonia. I herded them for weeks when I first got them until they had established a grazing route then weaned them off my company to let them carry on on their own. They had a shed with a raised bed and hay, came home to kid and into the kitchen to be milked every morning and always enjoyed off lead walks with us. They were however a bit of a nuisance at times, going down to the village in the valley when looking for a mate or eating the nearest neighbour's climbing rose. Maintenance wise, foot trimming and worming were all they needed.

Unless you have the run of a mountainside as we did or 7ft strong fencing (they will jump vertically and bounce into the fencing as high as they can and bring it down otherwise) around varied terrain and mixed vegetation, I really would not bother to get a couple of goats. It is not fair on you or them.

 

[vhf]

Anglo nubians are just the best.

We had AN's, and AN Alpine crosses. The AN's were not in the same league of sheer destructive force, but still lovely characters. I've been out of goats for years (OH is quite keen though) and the golden guernsey's look to have similar temperaments. The pygmies would really tempt me if didn't know better...

 

[Boughtabay]

OH works with goats (among a mixture of other animals) and if I want to wind him up I tell him the kids are really cute and I’m getting a few for home… enough said!

 

[Caol Ila]

There's a few at my yard which seem to stay put most of the time and don't cause much bother. No idea what breed they are.

I worked at a dressage barn many years ago which had a few goats. They were a pain in the a*rse. It was one of those barns where the horses only got an hour of turnout per day, so I had enough work to do without chasing goats around and trying to catch the little feckers with baling twine.

 

[Tarragon]

I love these goat stories! They do sound like real characters. Not for the faint hearted though

 

[blitznbobs]

They are lovely in curry ….

 

[little_critter]

I had two….they make Shetlands look like a walk in the park!

Think Shetland escapism and then some with the athletic ability to jump a 5ft fence. Great entertainment!

Would fancy my chances more at fencing in a cat!

And with pointy bits

 

[vhf]

They are lovely in curry ….

Also roast/chops, if they're young. Better than lamb, less fatty.