# anybody keep Goats



## footsoulja (Dec 11, 2008)

hey guys 
i am about to get a couple of baby goats in a couple of weeks, and i am just wondering if anyone has any goats on here, if so post up pics of your goats. also how are they to keep, are they friendly, do they have different personalities, anything to look out for.

thanks, jamie


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## Vixen (Dec 11, 2008)

Shouldn't you do that research before you even think about getting some?

I wouldn't mind some myself but I am waiting until I have a bit of land for them. Also want an alpaca.


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## aliveandkicking (Dec 11, 2008)

not really any different from sheep, the'll be pretty good on a plate too.


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## jas468 (Dec 11, 2008)

You just gave me an idea for dinner. Thanks


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## slim6y (Dec 11, 2008)

aliveandkicking said:


> not really any different from sheep, the'll be pretty good on a plate too.



They're very different from sheep - especially when it comes to bucking! 

Taste - less fat, more juicy!


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## Dodie (Dec 11, 2008)

slim6y said:


> They're very different from sheep - especially when it comes to bucking!
> 
> Taste - less fat, more juicy!


 
Bucking is a typo isn't it? :lol:


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## ihaveherps (Dec 11, 2008)

slim6y said:


> They're very different from sheep - especially when it comes to bucking!



I would take his word on that..... he is a kiwi, and they seem to all have the low-down on "bucking" sheep.


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## aliveandkicking (Dec 11, 2008)

slim6y said:


> They're very different from sheep - especially when it comes to bucking!
> 
> Taste - less fat, more juicy!


 

Bigger horns to hold onto though. Plus side is goat's milk is tasty and goats are pretty 'lax for milking too Just remember, goats have TWO teats, if there is only one you'll be in for some trouble.


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## Australis (Dec 11, 2008)

Haha.. damn kiwi's


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## Scleropages (Dec 11, 2008)

hahah simbo stop bucking goats!!!


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## aliveandkicking (Dec 11, 2008)

but its legal in Lebanon


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## slim6y (Dec 11, 2008)

That's right - talk about bucking goats just once and no one looks at you the same ever again... 

You're all so one tracked...

Cows buck well too!!!


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## Kirby (Dec 11, 2008)

VixenBabe said:


> Shouldn't you do that research before you even think about getting some?
> 
> I wouldn't mind some myself but I am waiting until I have a bit of land for them. Also want an alpaca.



shouldn't you do research before even thinking about getting them. 

to OP, i think google would help more then this lot... unless you want to know how well goats buck?


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## Australis (Dec 11, 2008)

Its a goat ..about as hard to look after as woodies... 
well i know thats a little hard for some


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## the.badger (Dec 11, 2008)

Oh come on guys, he's asking about their personalities, not their feeding and housing requirements.


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## horsesrule (Dec 11, 2008)

They eat anything and everything including clothes on the line.

Be carefull what you leave out where there being kept!


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## falconboy (Dec 11, 2008)

If they are pet goats and not for breeding, get 2 females. Male goats can be particularly nasty, in particular once they mature.

Only get goats that have been debudded (horns removed, usually within a few days of birth). Goats with horns are dangerous to themselves (can get stuck in fences) and especially to other goats and humans, even when playing. Don't assume that if they are adults and still have horns you can just get them removed - its not quite as easy a task when they are adults as they have blood vessels etc running through them and its a fairly expensive vet operation that if botched (not a lot of vets experienced in removing adult goat horn) can be nasty - a lot easier and safer if they have already been done. 

I think goats are adorable, although I haven't kept them myself (not great for suburban Sydney).

They tame up very well with daily around the property contact etc but don't expect 'dog tame'. You can even house train them. There was a very tame house trained goat ended up in our local council pound a few years ago, something you don't see often. 

Theres an *excellent *book that your library might have, called 'Barnyard in your Backyard' which goes into excellent detail for non farmers interested in keeping small farm animals. 

Good luck.


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## Lewy (Dec 11, 2008)

We have always had a couple of goats around. Talked about getting rid of them a couple of times. They love to jump on the bonnet of the car during their fun play times - the bonnet is like a slippery mountain! Fun for them - not for us. We had just had the bonnet of one car repainted and forgot to lock them away when we got home only to hear the lovely scratchy scraping sound of dancing hooves on the bonnet only minutes later. 

Back on how much fun they are, I love having them around. One (the black and white one - Tou Tou) is a very tame little darling - prob bottle raised. She loves scratchies around her lips - she goes to sleep. Very cute. She will come straight into the house if you leave the door open and leave her little pill poos everywhere. Have found her asleep in the open boot of the car once. She does have one little hang up - she cant stand kids. She will rear up at them whenever they come into the paddock. Not sure if she would ever hurt them. Not an issue to us - we dont have kids.

The other little brown girl (Kahlua) is very shy - partly because the other girl is so bossy. She was also bottle raised but in bulk with heaps of other goats. It didn't quieten her down at all - not enough personal attention. She was dehorned when she was young but that sure went wrong - the horns grew back in full, all crooked. I dont believe in dehorning goats at all unless your a feedlot meat producer who may be worried about horn bruising intense and crowded conditions. You dont remove the teeth from your snakes - you learn how to behave around them. Same thing. As long as you dont handle them by their horns unless necessary for vet or treatment restraint, and dont stir them up they wont head but. The only goat we ever had that would have bit of a go was an entire male buck.

Never get a buck! They pee in their mouths then preen that through their coats to attract the ladies - stink! The list of reasons not to get a buck is huge.

Females are great except they can be noisy when in season. Tou Tou had me searching the paddocks in the middle of the night during one season - wouldn't shut up. 

Desexed males (wethers) can be the best. We did loose one to urethra stones once though. If they desex them too early the penis doesn't develop properly and the vet couldn't get to it to check. We took him in for surgery to check after listening to him moan (in the laundry with a bed and heater) all night. Unfortunately he died on the table. Apart from that - which isn't common, wethers would be the best.

Sorry to go on for so long - I love my goats.

Sue


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## Vixen (Dec 11, 2008)

Kirby said:


> shouldn't you do research before even thinking about getting them.
> 
> to OP, i think google would help more then this lot... unless you want to know how well goats buck?


 
Ah? Of course I would do my research I am not getting them anytime soon..


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## timpye1 (Dec 11, 2008)

they are very harty animals.. easily fed.. they will climb/ jump on anything. eat absolutely anything. and are very friendly.


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## Lewy (Dec 11, 2008)

falconboy said:


> Only get goats that have been debudded (horns removed, usually within a few days of birth).
> 
> Good luck.


 

Dehoring goats is a practice which is commonly stuffed up. The goats skull is not as thick as people believe and debudding (usually with a hot iron debudder) can quickly burn through the skull and effect the brain. Cattle have very thick skulls at the point of dehoring which is why it is totally safe to hot iron dehorn them. I got his info from the livestock vet at my work when I was telling him how our goat Kahlua was acting very strange.

The people who dehorned our little goat are stud breeders who have dehorned plenty of times and still stuffed up.

Also our goats love to have their little head butting competitions which they couldn't do without their horns. Horns are also an excellent protection against dogs. 

If you are worried about the horns then a goat is not for you.


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## Lewy (Dec 11, 2008)

Goats will not happily eat anything. They will only eat anything if they are starving. They are browsers and do best on a diet of mixed shrubs and deep rooted plants. If forced to eat grass only they will need regular worming as they are very susceptible to worms. This is because they would not normally consume worm eggs in their preffered diet as worm eggs are passed onto the ground / grass.

Our goats favourite tree is the she-oak. They will strip the yummy plants from your garden if given the opportunity because this is what they are meant to eat. If you are chasing lawn mowers sheep would be best.

Sue


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## falconboy (Dec 11, 2008)

The other problem with not dehorning a goat is if the goat grows up to be a bit of a headbutter, then its a little too late......

There could be six pages of ongoing debate 'APS style' with debudding just as there is with so many other fors and againsts in this place, however I feel (if done properly) debudding is the safest option. 

You've heard both opinions, up to you to make up your mind. 

Good luck with them.


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## kakariki (Dec 11, 2008)

What sort of goats are you looking at? Maybe I should ask, why do you want a goat? Milk? Wool? Or just to keep the grass down or eat the weeds? ( Which, chances are, it wont!)
I used to breed Anglo Nubians & Cashmere goats & I miss them much more than the cattle ( also bred Jerseys). The Nubians, which are the ones with the Bull Terrier-like nose & big floppy ears. They are usualy spotty & have the creamiest milk. Temperment......friendly, curious, playful, fussy eaters. Health wise goats are fairly hardy but they don't like to get wet. They do need a shed or shelter of some sort. Disbudding is advised. Goats with horns injure themselves, other goats & the owners ( & sorry Lewy but I disagree. Hornless goats DO play headbutt. It is just much safer for all concerned.) They will need vaccinating against, the common sheep diseases ( 5-in-1-vacine is available from vets & rural stores BUT be aware that some goats have a bad reaction to the vaccine. They go into Anaphylaxis & need a shot of adrenalin immediately. I literally had one young doe die on the end of the needle!)
Feeding is good grassy feed, hay ( oaten &/or lucerne) & if you are milking, you will need some concentarted feed containing grains, chaff, molasses etc. Feel free to pm me if you want to. I can't upload any pics as they are all on film & my printer / scanner is broken.


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## Lewy (Dec 11, 2008)

I guess if you want to de-teeth your dogs, snakes, rats, etc debeak your birds and declaw your cats then of course you would also want to dehorn your goats.


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## rash (Dec 11, 2008)

we got a very young pair of goats and woke up to one of them crying at night. Ran down the back yard and i presume it was a snake bite cause the poor thing was dead 10mins later foaming from the mouth and having fits. Was going to give the other back to the goat farm the next afternoon but before we could get her into the 4b, she fretted and died in our garage. (just after i dug a huge hole and burried the first one...) 

Wasnt a nice experience but they are real nice animals and a lot stronger than you first think!


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## falconboy (Dec 11, 2008)

Lewy said:


> I guess if you want to de-teeth your dogs, snakes, rats, etc debeak your birds and declaw your cats then of course you would also want to dehorn your goats.



Unbelievable! What ridiculous comparisons


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## Lewy (Dec 11, 2008)

falconboy said:


> Unbelievable! What ridiculous comparisons


 
No its not you see we believe in having a pet the way they are meant to be, Not cutting things off them for the just in case factor, That's what is ridiculous


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## kakariki (Dec 11, 2008)

Lewy said:


> I guess if you want to de-teeth your dogs, snakes, rats, etc debeak your birds and declaw your cats then of course you would also want to dehorn your goats.



Not the same at all. Have you ever seen a horned goat hook another goats front leg & twist it? I have & the poor goat involved nearly got a broken shoulder. He screamed, it was dreadful. Have you ever seen a horned goat hanging by his horns from a fork in a tree? I have. That wasn't real nice either. Want more...how about a Buck who, after getting tangled in an electric fence, almost cut through his horn every time a shock went through him? I could go on, kids with split spleens dying in my arms after being horned.......I quickly learned that disbudding was a must! Horns are dangerous for all involved and it's the same with cattle & sheep. Why do you think that Polled strains have been developed? I was one of a handful of Stud Breeders who chased the Polled gene for my Jerseys cos I got sick of the cows stabbing & ripping pieces out of each other. Horns, when removed properly, with local ( or as I used to, a total knock out) is safe, effective & the best for everyone! They don't need them, when kept in a domestic situation, & it can't be compared with removing teeth, claws, etc. JMO, after 20 + years experience with horned & polled / disbudded cattle & goats!


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## kel (Dec 11, 2008)

heres mine its a feral hubby caught it out hunting, was about 1 day old, shes about 1 week old in this pic, i guess shes a months or so now, shes not our first goat, shes a friend for my horse, shes still on the bottle too, thats the best way if you have the time to hand raise it yourself mine thinks im its mum but is happy to stay with the horse and has learnt to stay out from under her feet


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## kakariki (Dec 11, 2008)

Gee Kel. That pic brings back memories! She looks like a real cutie. Round off the nose & double the length of her ears & she'd look like a Nubian! Muuuuum.....lol.


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## footsoulja (Dec 13, 2008)

thanks for the replies ppl, i am in the process of building the shed at the moment, it is about 3m x 3m, and it is interesting that they like to climb on cars because my mum had some goats and she said the same thing, so we have put the padock basher in their padock.

with the whole horns and no horns thing, i am buying the goats from a breader that sells them for both meat and pets, so i assume they would have either chopped the horns off or left them on depending on what there experiences have been like with their goats, in regards to safety and all that. The type of goats that they will be are boer goats.

thanks again for the replies, and thanks heaps for all the pics, they look awesome and the baby ones are so cute.

thank, jamie


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