Would it be ok to put...?

[Taxi]

Would it be ok to put my about 5month old mini in with 3 goats? One Alpine with huge horns and 2 smaller ones, with tiny hornes? and if not, why?

Thanks, Chelsey

 

[Loren&Rocky]

An older mini might do better with goats that have horns, but I would not put a baby in with horned goats.

 

[Ashley]

No

I would never put them in with goats that have horns. Unless you wanna chance your horse getting goared

 

[royalview]

We have 6 goats on the farm, 5 of them do not have horns and get along fine wtih the minis, one has horns and NO WAY she knows she has horns and can NOT be put with the minis as she threatens them at feeeding time and Im afaid she would pook out an eye. She was great when we just had big horses and now "Greta " is looking for a new horse home with out minis

 

[rosaroca]

I have pygmy goats that are smaller than all but the Mini babies, and they're mostly fine with them. The nannies are, at least. I have had a couple of billies before that couldn't be trusted with them. Now, I have naturally hornless billy goats, and all of my nannies have horns. They get along fine with the minis, even at feeding time.

I wouldn't put little horses with full-size goats, though. At least, not ones that have horns.

Pat

 

[Taxi]

Whoops my bad typing mistake he is 4months old

 

[Jill]

In my book, this is a big time no due to the horns.

I have disbudded / dehorned Nigerian Dwarf Goats and I would not actually put them in with our horses if I had any thoughts to show those horses. I have heard people say goats do not chew horses' manes and tails but ours have, through the fence, so there is just no way...

Additionally, our goats get medicated feed, and that is toxic to horses. I think if I didn't care about the mane / tail chewing the feed situation would be workable by feeding the goats in a pen, but it is a factor if you are using medicated goat feed.

 

[Robin1]

NEVER put a mini in with goats that have horns!!!! I have 2 pygmy goats, if they weren't debudded they would have disembowled my horses on more than one occasion. Not from meaness, their just being goats.

Robin

 

[razzy3d]

I had my 11 year old stallion in with goats, and he did very well. But when I switched pastures, the goats ended up with my yearlings and gored one in the rear. It wasn't pretty, but she is fine now, however, I would not recommend any minis with any goats that have horns. Only one of our goats had horns, so we knew exactly who did it. I felt very bad, and still do, but I learned my lesson.

 

[frekles93]

[SIZE=14pt]I am also against the goat with horns. I dehorn all mine as babies and think more SHOULD. Pygmys for some reason around here get over looked in the dehorning department. I bought 2 new does which have horns but and thinking very heavily about getting them cut off, but with older animals it is harder on them..[/SIZE]

Oh and not only can they gore/butt they can also get their horns caught in TAILS!! They can get kicked to death.Horns are just bad all around.

April

 

[lyn_j]

[SIZE=14pt]We had tennesee fainting goats in with our minis but they ate the mane off of one of my show horses so they came out of there![/SIZE]

Lyn

 

[Little Wee Horse Farm]

We had pygmy goats for a while & just loved them, however --------- I caught them CHEWING my minis manes & tails off! We're not in the goat biz, so they left to another home. They were sooooooooo cute!

But ...or is that butt....goats will butt anything anytime. They're cute in that way, but not when it's another living creature. Ask my dog who was butted right in the middle of his forehead. I swear, you could see the stars circling above his head. There was never a more confused dog. He of course had a hard head, but a mini foal's body? no. I wouldn't do it.

Also, everyone had told me, oh yeah, the goat will eat all your weeds for you -- NOT!! the goats wanted the best grass available. And they could escape from almost any kind of fencing. They're no dummies!

 

[Margaret]

I have a small nigerian female goat named Snowball. (aprox 2 feet tall) She was de-horned when I got her. Every now and then she mixes with the horses, and has fun. Sometimes she acts tough and will approach a mini, and rear up on her hind legs like she is going to do a ram type of charge.

(but its a bluff) ..And other times she runs like crazy when they want to check her out. It is a good mix,as she cant hurt them cause she hasent any horns, and they cant catch her because she is much quicker.

 

[Jill]

I've got Nigerian Dwarfs, and from what I've heard, these kind and Pygmy ones are really different. I was told the NDG's are like golden retreivers and Pygmies are like Jack Russells! I think that may be true. Mine have so far never gotten out of the fence or gates except right when we first got them. We did not realize they could squeaze through one place but fixed it and now they cannot, or do not. ALSO, I wanted ours to eat grass in their paddock but they don't. They maybe eat some but not much. We still have to mow it!!! Yet, they will scarf up the weeds in their lot, even ones with thorns! And love us to feed them tree leaves and honey suckle... I love our goats, but would not ever really keep them with a horse that might show because I know that horse would have no mane or tail in short order. Even though ours are NDG's, so little pet type goats, we got our first two because someone at H's work was taking them, with his meat type goats, to the market! His wife didn't want them as pets anymore

When we got them, for so long I couldn't stop thinking how could anyone betray that level of trust the goats have in people (at least these goats). They just LOVE us to the same level our dogs do. My horses have not ever been so happy to see me as are the goats for any ounce of attention they get. They are just such loving and trusting creatures. But, still, not in with my horses and never with horns.

 

[Sonya]

NO, NO, NO not if they have horns...hornless would be ok, but not with horns! I have a pygmy and what I think is a nigi cross.... The pygmy is much more friendly and people oriented, but I got mine as adults so it was how they were raised.

Pygmy has never gotten out of the fence and he is extremely smart. I tend to like the pygmies better - getting 1 or maybe 2 babies in the spring...can't wait!

 

[lilfoot]

I agree with everyone who has replied "without Horns" but mine do fine with the horses & they have horns. They are abit scared of horses so this works really well! If they were new babies I was buying I would get them dehorned to be perfectly safe.

 

[HGFarm]

I have known some folks too that had horses and goats together, or even next to each other, and the horses ended up with no tails and manes because the goats ATE THEM!!

 

[Miniv]

Add me to the list of "no horns" on goats.......

We've owned pygmies in the past. All but one was de-horned -- he came to us that way. We kept him seperated from the horses.

Here's another way to look at the situation......If you had some goats with horns, would you allow your small children in with them unsupervised?

MA

 

[Taxi]

Thank you so much everyone, I was planning on putting my new little boy with my goats until I heard all the reasons not to and how dangerous it is, who knows you might of saved my minis life!

Thanks, Chelsey

 

[Range]

I guess I'm just lucky. I've had big horses, a donkey, and both my minis in with my goats, all with horns, and never had a problem with the goats. Even had a boer billy in with them. No chewing on manes and tails, no butting, nothing. The goats are actually pretty fearful of the horses. My major problem was the opposite of everyone else's. The first time I let my doe out with her week old kid, the minis tried to chase it down. Maybe it's just luck, though.