Anyone have goats with horses?

[scr]

So, my boyfriend decided that goat would be a good companion for our yearling colt. He's in a paddock by himself and you can tell he gets bored and sometimes toys just don't seem enough for him. So, we have a friend that has 1/2 boer 1/2 Kiki goats. They get to be about 70 pounds so they would be shorter/smaller than the minis. We even took Baroque to visit the goats and he was VERY interested in them. The goats were scared of him. But, we thought if got a young one, they would become accustomed to each other (yes we would de-horn the goat).

BUT, my friend warned me to definitely NOT get a goat as they would eat the minis tails off! WOW. That would be horrible.

So, my question is has anyone ever used a goat for a companion for their minis? And , if so, were there pros and cons?

 

[Reble]

Sabrina our pygmy goat thinks she is a horse, and might just be luck but no tail chewing here.

Now that I say that,

Yes, buy a young doe and not a buck they stink to much.

Make sure you get horns removed, wish we did..

Here she is when she was a baby..

Out in pasture with my minis.

Now waiting on babies...

 

[Slinkky]

We have 2 goats and a Llama out with our horses . We have never had any issues either. Everyone grazes together, but I can always see a small separation between the two groups. The Llama and goats kinda keep together and the horses and mule stay together.

The one time our mule (6 mths old) tried to chase the goats, the Llama stepped in and chased the mule off! He was one scared baby, but taught him a great lesson. He just ignores the goats now.

 

[HGFarm]

My observations with goats around horses is yes, many of them do eat the hair right off the tails - and manes if they can reach. Boer goats are bred for meat and can get pretty big- especially the males. I had one goat back in 1974 and that was enough!

My personal experience with goats is that they will eat anything they are NOT supposed to- cat food, dog food, the bark off your trees, flowers and shrubs in your yard, your GARDEN, but your weeds LAST,and only if they have to. They will go to any extent to get into your feed barrels that are enclosed in a cow stall in the barn, though they have 50 acres of grass to eat, and eat as much cat food and grain as they possibly can in a night. They will mow you down when you bring the grain bucket for the broodmares and cram their head in it so hard to eat as much grain as they can get as fast as they can, that you can barely hang on to it and cannot force their head from the bucket. They will use your vehicle as a trampoline. They will climb on the haystacks and poop all over everything. They can be very tough on fencing and are adept at getting their heads (with horns) stuck in the most ridiculous places and then will scream until they are let free. However they are wonderful in a pressure cooker with rice or on the grill.

 

[Bluerocket]

I currently have 2 yearling wether nigerian dwarf goats (neutered males). They do not stink at all. They are dehorned but grow scurs that break off and bleed a little bit. They should eventually be about 75 pounds.

Up until 2 weeks ago they lived with our 2 dwarf mini's - and got along beautifully with them. The dwarf minis are now gone to their new home in Colorado -- so now the goats live with our herd of 5 minis (geldings and mares). So far everyone is getting along fabulously.

The dominate horses will chase the goats a bit - but the goats are more nimble and stay out of reach easily.

Soon the goats will be moved to their "job" which is weed-eating the outer sides/top of our lagoon system -- a fenced in area where they will be separate from the horses. They will have their own water and shelter. I will leave them in there 12 hours and in the barn 12 hours. They will come in for bad weather.

They now both wear goat halters and lead. They LOVE poison ivy and blackberry bushes and are eating some of the other weeds in their lagoon lot as well.

They were bottle fed and are very people friendly. I have insisted on manners - and they only butte each other - not people -- horses trained them not to butte them either.

JJay

 

[Miniv]

We have one goat who was a rescue. He's half pygmy, half fainting and not fixed (yet). "Isaac" was raised on a horse ranch and doesn't know he's a goat, so he stays with the horses. We've not had a problem with him chewing on tails.

I think we have a unique situation, though. Isaac does smell because he's still a buck, but he stays in our filly group (his choice) and thinks he's in love with a couple of particular girls there.......so he's happy, and we are happy because he's not too close and he doesn't wander!

MA

 

[runaway ranch]

We have 2 Fainting does and a buck in with our yearlings and they get along fine. We found some other breeds weren't as docile, but I love the fainting goats.

 

[The Dynamic Duo]

My experience with our two goats is they love to trip you when your carrying a heavy item! I don't really have anything negative except Tater Tot, the one thats so big he gets mistaken for a dog, is a master at squeezing in and out of pens at feeding time.

 

[Jill]

We have four Nigerian Dwarf Goat whethers ("gelded" males). They are great pets -- so playful and they adore people. HOWEVER, YES they can chew the tails and manes off horses. Mine managed to do so THROUGH the fence! So, obviously, I had some horses who cooperated with the hair cuts. For this reason, and others (including that goats should not eat horse feed and horses can founder from some treated goat feeds), I do not keep goats and horses together.

 

[disneyhorse]

I'm not sure I would keep a goat IN WITH a horse due to eating of manes/tails... also goats should not have anything with copper in it, I think... and some horse feeds do have copper and say to not feed it to ruminant livestock such as goats or cows.

However, it is somewhat not-ideal to have a horse all by itself in a yard. Having a goat or other critter nearby will help your horse feel like it is all by itself and removed from a "herd" but I don't think it actually has to be IN with the other animal.

Andrea

 

[Kim~Crayonboxminiatures]

It can work well, I own both goats and horses, but don't often run them together. Feeding is just easier keeping them seperate. I have more years of experience with goats than horses, and have owned a wide variety of breeds.

If you want a "pet" goat, especially a more docile one, I wouldn't recommend a Boer cross, they tend to be less friendly and harder to handle. I would also highly recommend a dehorned goat, it's just easier to deal with. I'm not familiar with the Kiki breed, but I have owned some Boer crosses. I would go with a Dairy breed if you want a larger goat, or the Nigerian, or Fainting goat etc. if you want a smaller one, those types versus the meat goats have more docile temperaments.

I have heard they chew tails/manes but none of ours ever did, and I kept them with full size horses also.

 

[shoeboxstables]

We kept a goat with our mare before we got the other minis, and he worked great! We got him young, so he grew up around her. He is a Nigerian Dwarf whether. It was definatly a good choice for our mare, but do make sure they're dehorned! He did start hurting her when he got rough. We've never had a tail-chewing issue with him, the colt is worse with that! Since we moved to the farm, he's been a free-range goat, and everyone who visits falls in love with him! I would say go for it- but those Boers do get big, and I've seen them be pretty mean. Overall though, I'd say goats are great with the minis- ours evens hangs out with the big horses!

Good luck!

 

[Suzie]

I have two tailess horses due to goats. I bought them that way. Finally they are growing back!!! So yes, goats will eat tails....

 

[iluvwalkers]

[SIZE=14pt]had a goat that would get in with the minis and one day ate the forlock off one of them and had started on her tail... ...the goat had never done anything like it before but once he got started there was no stopping him

. just my experience but goats are fun we have 2 now that we don't let near the horses. Nikki[/SIZE]

 

[Gracie]

I have 2 goats ( Nubian ) females and a llama who THINKS hes the goats mommie, the goats think he is there mommy too.

I do NOT allow them in the 20 acres with the large horses as I have NO DOUBT they would get killed at feeding time by a horse.

I do have a buckskin mini gelding who likes to hang with them for a SHORT time, they dont chew his hair but they do start head butting him and he is scared when they do that.

Now we let my mini stallion with them for a short time and he finally got tired of them head butting him and started grabbing them by the neck and not letting go, now if he is near them he immediatly charges and grabs them so he isnt allowed with them either.

So YES goats are fun but NO i dont like to mix em, also the goat did take a bad kick to the head one day had it been a full size horse would have been dead goat.

and goats are VERY HARD on fences, I just ran a hot wire about 2 feet high and so far no damage again, yeeaaa

 

[CheyAut]

I absolutely LOVE goats. I have 4 Nigerian Dwarf wethers here, and I have a deposit down on another and a mini oberhasli doe that will be shipped next month when the wether is old enough. They are GREAT FUN!

Mine don't cause any trouble... they do poop anywhere, but it's just little pellets, like all the wild bunnies we have. I really enjoy watching them play and run and jump, and they LOVE attention

I don't have them in with the horses, though. I just had one goat at first and tried to keep him with various minis, but each one I tried was mean to him, mainly at feeding time, so now they're separate. But he never tried to eat their manes/tails, but I'm sure some might.

Jessi

 

[Maxi'sMinis]

I had 2 nubian (100+lbs) goats for 13 years, they never chewed tails but they eat everything in sight, especially ornamental plants, trees the fav. They died of old age and don't plan on getting anymore, they get out alot if they can and head right for your flowers. It's also more hooves to trim. One totally preferred the horses to humans (horses thought she was one of them), the other loved people and was a fun pet (horses didn't like her) and the big ones can be hard to handle and catch if they get out, they have a mind of their own. One thing for sure is if you raise them with a horse they become fast companions.

M

 

[Margaret]

I took a 37" mare in for breeding this year, and told her owner that the only place I had left to keep her mare in was in my large 50x100 ft dry-lot with my 6 month old Nigerian dwarf buckling.

Normally I have lots of places -but we were foaling out at that time, and were full.

Within the dry-lot I had an "extra pen" that the goat could scoot in if he wanted to be alone.

The owner told me that her mare had been around them in the past so to go ahead with the idea.

Well I never could have anticipated the out-come..

This little de-horned buckling fell in love with this mare, and became her best friend! She also returned the affection and nuzzled him often, and enjoyed his company..

:

They became inseperatable! Even at breeding time we had to chase him out of the dry-lot so that he would not get in the middle of things while we were breeding. lol

They two of them allways ate together, always even tho I put out two seperate piles of food.. When I turned out the mare on pasture they went out together!

(We never had tail chewing problems with any of my goats- even with these two lovebirds.)

When it was time for the owner to take her mare home, I almost wanted her to take my buckling, because he adored her so much.

: They sure loved each other's company!

This may not be the norm for mini goats and horses, but it did happen here., and was very touching to observe

:

 

[Shari]

At the old farm, I had my goats & sheep in with the minis. Wethers and does. No tail chewing at all.

If you make sure they have the proper vitamins and minerals..you are much less likely to have that kind of problem.

Theia loved playing with them.

But make sure they are de horned.

I wish I could have a couple of goats here but until I get more fencing up it will have to sadly wait.

 

[Sun Runner Stables]

I've got two, both pygmys, bottle raised from a week old, who are great, they've been w/ horses all their lives, don't chew manes, and are just Great pets. I ended up moving them in with a big horse due to the grain issue, as my male is nutered, he can't have graain, it'll block his urinary tract, but that big horse dosen't share. Horns were no prob for us, our's don't butt us, and the horses are very tolerant, but will tell them No very sharply. I Love my goats, good handeling and training go a Long way. Mine both come when called and walk on a leash.