Mini Goats

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

A while ago we met a lady at the local market who does the petting zoo, she had the most gorgeous mini goats.

We got her number & she called to say she will have some ready in two weeks!

We are going to get 2!

At this stage they will have the chicken paddock to graze which has lots of food for them, they will be locked up at night in a room in the chicken shed.

Once they are older we will also let them out into the areas with blackberries & the like!

They are going to be pets aswell as lawn mowers.

I know they can be escape artists so we will be fixing the gate to the paddock, they will have fresh clean water & shelter.
Bottles when they are young!

Is there anything else we NEED to know about goats (or mini goats) at this stage it looks like we will end up with 1 boy 1 girl!

I can't wait to see the girls faces!

[Teeki]

We want some too! Have been planning for about a year, just need a fence so they can't get under the veranda and to the house.

It was aaaaagggees ago that spoke to our local breeder, but she did say to be careful when they're kept with chooks, as chicken food isn't good for them?? I have no idea why! I don't remember properly what she said. It sounds like a girl and a boy are ideal - girls cry when they're on heat, to the point that this woman clips the hair around the boys areas and makes "boyfriend bags" and the smell calms them. And boys fight. So hopefully yours are great, good luck!

[Astrid]

You will need more than just a gate Fencing will need to be tight to the ground, really tight, amazing what the little ones can push through, especially if there is a teeny dip in the ground under the fence.

As for lawn mowing, well they prefer the weeds, the fruit trees, your veggie patch. So great for weeding!

Are you keeping the boy intact?

[Teeki]

Oh apparently they can jump really well too - we were told they can easily jump 5 feet from standing. I'd love to see it lol.

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

The fencing down there seems ok, a few patches the chooks escape under so I will peg these bits down properly.

Hadn't decided about if we are going to keep him intact yet, are there reasons for / against?

Lets just day the hill in that paddock is more weeds than grass

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

I'm going to look around and find a wall mountable trough for water & food for in the room.

Also see where I can buy them the little jackets to stay nice & warm!

We need to refix the gate (the post has snapped) and also the hook. Peg down some of the chicken wire.

We have 2 trailers in that paddock, the breeder says as long as they have plenty of food they WON'T eat the wires etc... Should they be ok?

[kateo]

I found good sheep fencing with electric strands worked fairly well with my herd of milking goats. Don't underestimate how much food they will need and remember their stomachs work better on high roughage diet which is why they get a rep for eating anything.....it is a search for roughage not a willingness to eat anything. Well kept goats with a good balanced goat diet actually are not too destructive.
They can and will climb over most things including fences that aren't hot. They will push under fencing and they will work hard to do so. They love being with people if they aare hand reared so they will attempt to come into the house if at all possible.
They need their feet trimmed a few times a year and a good worming program.
The boys are stinky, really stinky, so unless you are planning to breed have them cut prior to getting them. Two girls should be perfectly happy together however.
Chook feed can cause bloat in goats. This can kill them. Be careful about grain type feeds. Even though they have an "eat anything" reputation they are just as delicate as the next animal if fed the wring thing.
Good luck.

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

Thank you, they will have acces to plenty if weeds, blackberries... What other 'roughage' & food should we supply when they are locked up at night?

[kateo]

Is there a reason you are locking them up? Can you provide shelter in a paddock?
I understand if there is a dog/ fox problem but just curious.
The blackberries will be great. Mine LOVED milk thistle and any "gone to seed" plants from the vege garden. I also supplied 1st cut hay for them (usually Lucerne as we picked it up when we got a load of horse hay). I found 1st cut to be higher in roughage than the softer 2nd and 3rd cut. We found the goats useful as "cross grazers" as they like long rank grass that the horses don't like so much.
It sounds like you will have a great time with your goats. They are really easy to train to walk on a lead like a dog and we also trained ours to pull a little cart.

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

There is an open shed there but we thought they might like a nice warm fully sheltered room to themselves.
In with the chickens for company!

Also on the off chance our naughty pup jumps the fence we want them to be safe.

[kateo]

I would find out what sort of shelter they are used to where they are from.
Mine had a deep shed in the paddock with a low roof (which they loved to stand on sometimes!). I tried bedding but they ate it mostly (straw and hay) so I mostly put in some rice hulls; which they also ate some of; but were not that keen on.
I used to graze them in the bigger paddocks during the day and put them in with shelter in the evenings (the fence was more secure in that paddock too). This made fetching them for morning milking easier and kept the dry (non-milking) ones nice and gentle 'cause they were handled everyday.
I found the ones I had to be extremely hardy and during kidding they'd rarely be using the shed when I went to check on them at night .....keep in mind I didn't check on them at night when they weren't kidding; I slept instead.
If I had poddy goats they'd live in a dog crate on the verandah to make night feeds easier and as they got older they'd go to the night paddock in the day with some other goats then gradually in with the herd.
How old will yours be when you get them?
Just as an aside I had a chook killing goat who'd chase the chooks silly then get them in a corner of a fence and stomp them!

[raffy]

It would be best to get the male fixed as adult male goats become quite rough and frisky to both humans and other goats, when bottle feeding make sure you don't feed them to much, animals like goats are prone to 'bloat' which can make them very sick and can even be fatal. I work at an animal park as a keeper and we have an abundance of goats and kids, they are mainly fed roughage such as hay, roo cubes, grass, dirt and cracked corn and will appreciate any other greens and things as a treat. They are known to become very attached to humans to and can be great pets

[Miss.September]

We have 2 trailers in that paddock, the breeder says as long as they have plenty of food they WON'T eat the wires etc... Should they be ok?

I wouldn't risk the trailers. We had poddy calves here, well fed calves and they ate the trailer plug on our caravan plus damaged the front padding with their horns. I'm guessing the goats will be the same. If you've got somewhere else for the trailers where they'll be safe, I'd move them. Better to do that than have to organize an auto elec or something to repair the trailer damage.

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

I have messaged the lady this morning and she has advised there will be NO INTACT boys unless we want them intact which is great as we don't.
She is having them de-horned and everything before we get them, I am also going to buy a couple of little coats off her too.

We will definitely watch how much they are getting, thanks for that advice.

We have been buying hay off a local farmer to use for chicken bedding, I might get some more and have a block in their room for eating, jumping and sleeping

They can share scraps with the chickens but they will be separated from the grain feeds at night so that shouldn't be an issue.

I like the idea that while they are so little they be in the room where it is warm & safe, as they grow though I will probably allow them to roam around and just use the outside shed at night.

The girls are going to love them, I will have to buy them a collar so we can tether them in some of the unfenced areas and so the girls can take them for walks

I might even talk to DP about running some wire around the trailers, we have 3 trailers down there at the moment and no-where else where they can't be seen or easily accessed.

[AnyDream]

Everytime I see this thread title I think it says Mini GOALS. What is my psyche telling me? Off to start a thread.

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

Haha MD.... New thread here she comes!

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

We checked the fences yesterday, DP fixed the gate we just have to put a new post in to tension part of the fence so the gate & fence actually meet.

There are a few spots we need to pin down the bottom of the fence but the ground is quite soft so we will hit in some extra star pickets.

DP's not 100% sold on the idea but the girls will love them & it's free weed removal

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

We've had our goats for a little while now & they are gorgeous, on 1 bottle a day and spend the day on the yard with the dogs.

Still need our post fixed but they are in a room in the chook shed over night!

Loving them!