Starting to think about some goats

[Happy Valley]

I would like to have some assistance keeping the undergrowth down in the woods around my home and farm. Someone suggested goats. I know NOTHING about goats other than that I think they are cute. I've been told that they are good for what I need, but I've also been told that they are hard to keep in. I don't want to buy trouble. They will be pastured with my minis. Will they compete for the "good" stuff, or will they eat what the minis leave? Will I need to put up special fencing? What sort of feeding requirements do they have?

This is preliminary research. I'd like to hear what experiences you have had, and what sort of goats you have had experience with.

Thanks in advance!

Stacye

 

[Lewella]

In my experience it somewhat depends on the goat and the breed. Nubians are picky eaters and only want to eat the best stuff in the pastures. They wouldn't touch the brush in my pasture but they did stay in. Toggenbergs were more inclined to eat the brush (and any branch on any tree within their reach!) but also had no qualms about finding a way to escape and then standing on the nearest tall object - usually my husbands SUV :new_shocked:

 

[Boinky]

I'm not sure about goats for hte most part..i've only had pygmies and nubians....but i know my shetland sheep were the BEST for eating brush and weeds! they cleaned out all the growing up that was occuring in my pasture. best pasture matainence! they did eat grass..but only as last resport. Look for a breed that is known to eat brush and you'd be better off!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Goats will eat anything....that is NOT to say they will eat everything!!

They they are pretty picky eaters unless well fenced in- by which I mean bury the fence and have it six foot high or tether (not recommended!!)

Tethering was the only way I could contain mine and it was a pain in the neck as the goat then wound itself round the tether post (which was a special on me that stopped this happening ) and then stood there bleating pathetically.

Personally I would invest in a bushwacker- you do not need to fence them and you can leave them in the garage all winter

:

 

[Happy Valley]

Personally I would invest in a bushwacker- you do not need to fence them and you can leave them in the garage all winter

:bgrin Jane, I always enjoy your sense of humor! Actually, I've thought about that, but there is SO MUCH to keep clear. We'd like to have someone come and trim the limbs up over head height and clean the woods up some, but the cost is prohibitive and if we tried to do it ourselves I think it would be to start over about the time we got to the end.

....but i know my shetland sheep were the BEST for eating brush and weeds! they cleaned out all the growing up that was occuring in my pasture.

Do sheep require shearing regularly? I'm trying to go with a "low-maintenance" option.
Stacye

 

[EquineLover]

Have any of you had problems with goats chewing your horses tails?

 

[Jenn]

Sheep are much better than goats in my experience. Also much less inclined to escape and destroy valuables.

 

[Shari]

The old farm was a tangled mess of plants. After we got it fenced...for the goats safety...we bought some nice doe goats. You do not need does but they were more saleable in that area. Saved us a lot of work.

Goats worked very well for us.

Decided to raise sheep and did so for many years. Never had a problem with them chewing on tails. Did make sure they had all the vitamins and minerals they needed. Found over the years..makes all the difference in the world.

I can't have them here because I do not have a big barn and the predator base is too high.

 

[Warpony]

Have any of you had problems with goats chewing your horses tails?

I sure did. pygmy goat, full sized horses... you could tell how high she could reach by how short their tails were. I loved her anyway.

She was a picky eater, so she would have done terrible for keeping down under brush. She actually left my pasture looking scruffier then when she started.

My grandmother had sheep and they always left the pasture looking like a mowed lawn. She raised a LOT of sheep, for meat and wool, so sheering was just part of the routine. I've considered sheep, and we had a local 4Her who was going to sheer them in the spring in exchange for getting to keep the wool to make into hand made yarn for her 4H project... but that was years ago and she probably has KIDS in 4H now, lol.

I've considered asking around to see if there are any 4Hers who just need a place to keep their sheep. But that is a ways down the road for me.

 

[Boinky]

sheep need to be sheered but there are some breeds like Kahtadins that are natural shedders.. i dont' now how much brush they eat..but would be worth looking into which ones do..

 

[EnJay]

I think goats may work for you, and if not they are wonderful pets! Goats are similar (digestive wise) to other ruminants like sheep and cows which are grazers and eat grass, but goats are considers "browsers" and more related to deer. A browser will take a nibble here and there, and in my experience in our previous home and 10 acres of pinion pines and underbrush, they did just that. Goats are considered a poor choice as "lawnmowers" for this reason and (I think) sheep are better at that job. (The only sheep experience I have was when I was little my dad brought home a baby lamb...."Snowball" lived in our city backyard, right in the heart of St.Paul ...neighbors thought we were nuts!!) Anyway, goats will strip bark though so I would fence around any "good" tree you want to keep

I feed my goaties a choice of alfalfa hay, some alfalfa/bermuda pellets and a little sweet feed/grain. Always keep free choice baking soda and a loose mineral designed for goats (Goats usually wont spend the time to lick a salt block so loose minerals/salt is best....and something about not feeding a mineral formulated for sheep, something about copper....can't remember right now the details of that) And NO alfalfa cubes, they can choke on those...

For fencing the best I found was the cattle panels and T-posts but that was for pens so I'm not sure about a large perimeter fencing other than no climb and pipe....Ijust had smooth wire (4 strands) and they could get right under but they never strayed to far from home base..

I would would say breed wise, I am partial to Pygs and Nigerians, but if you have a large property then maybe Nubians or Alpines or crosses? An I'm sure you know, but make sure you get only hornless goats, either disbudded when they were kids or polled (naturally hornless) And bucks stink.....bad... :new_shocked:

Good luck!!

 

[Katie Iceton]

My goats are really picky, they eat mostly the stuff we dont want eatin! But I love em and wouldnt trade em for the world!

:

 

[Bess Kelly]

Mine were fantastic browsers! :aktion033: Had Boer & Nubian/Nubian-Boer crosses. All vines, scrub, etc, and the small branches/leaves of trees were kept manicured by them. They stood on hind legs to eat the tree branches and it looked like we had measured the lower branches of the trees and hand trimmed!

This type scruffy stuff was their pleasure. They usually ran for the weedy stuff first but, when gone, ate grass. Mine ran with the horses and I had no issues. They had free choice baking soda & loose vit/mins at all times...never chewed my horses. Copper needs to be controlled for them, thus, goat vitamins.

Now, most times they remained within my fences (chain-link, or board with hot wire, or no climb wire) BUT occassionally they got out (can't imagine WHY with all they had to eat inside!

: Adventure, I guess) but I can tell you that when called for "dinner", they came back in through the same hole they escaped out. Sure made it easy to find "the spot" :bgrin OH, I live in a large peanut growing area and was able to get free hulls from the processing plants. They LOVE those things!!!!!!!!!! high protein, good oils, and free.

I miss mine but, they were large animals. In fact, some were bigger than my minis :new_shocked: I like the little horses and the goats were often as tall and heavy as the horses. Usually they herded to their own kind. AND the males do smell during breeding season but the boer is not as smelly. Pygmies are the strongest, IMO. WOW!!!! Very bad.

OH, they DO like collards and pansies ----

: ----a neighbors garden was raided! I replaced them & apologized.

 

[Warpony]

AND the males do smell during breeding season but the boer is not as smelly. Pygmies are the strongest, IMO. WOW!!!! Very bad.

this week we were following a truck with a big dog kennel in the back and I couldn;t figure out what was in it... I could only see it's back... as we passed it I got a huge whiff and said, "I'll never forget THAT smell! They have a billy goat in there!" we could still smell it in the car when we got home.

My husband thought that was funny.

:

 

[RnRs Lilnickers]

I have pygmy, fainters and pygorias and have had no problem with them trying to get out, I have cattle pannel fencing, I did have to put chicken wire on the bottom part of the fence when we first got them they were small enough to squeeze threw the squares. They cleaned up a bunch of weeds in the back and keep them down. I don't have mine in with my minis since some of the goats still have horns and I don't want them to hurt the horses. They say the fainters don't try to escape as much as the others do. They are fun to watch!

 

[capall beag]

Goats are wonderful, IMO!!

I have Nigerian dwarf goats and they are very easy to contain. They eat everything in their enclosure....even hubby is impressed

:

Then they are as sweet as pie too!!

Now I am not partial to sheep..........growing up in Ireland sheep are everywhere and not exactly the brightest and I mean they are sheep!!!!!!!!!!! I am only teasing but I wouldn't be bothered with sheep.

 

[jess]

My goats could get out of Alcatraz(sp). They are very cute and amusing but darn lucky my daughter and boyfriend love them to death or I'd take them down to the Orchard come spring and stake them to the trees for the Orchard workers to turn into goat chops. Just Kidding but on a more serious note then can be a handful. Mine eat everything except their food, climb on anything and everything, bowl you over everytime you open the door trying to get into the house or vehicles, Attack you if you walk out of the house with any type of food or beverage, eat the horses tails and their grain, chew extention cords and get stuck in deep snow banks and blat until you come rescue them when it's 30 below outside. However they also are the funniest creatures on the face of the earth. Mine play with my dogs and are always doing something to make you laugh. They go on trail rides with me and go for walks up the road with me and love swimming in our stream during the summer. So the good and bad are pretty balanced if you don't care about hoof prints all over your vehicles and flower beds with no flowers. I've watched my goats stand directly under the bottom wire of my horse fence and actualy saw blue sparks arking from them to the fence and they just sood there getting zapped munching hay with the horses with not a care in the world.....I think they were given extra stomachs in place of brains. Here are my boys the weekend we brought them home. They'll be a year old in June.

 

[Ashley]

We have both sheep and goats. Both are good for keeping weeds down. You can tell there pasture as there is not a weed in it. That said the sheep stay in, the goats seem to always find a way out.