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| Goats Get a Bad Rap |
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| Article: Goats Get a Bad Rap |
| I saw an ad in the paper for some Nigerian Dwarf goats and decided I might want to look into what it would take to raise a couple of small goats. When I told my neighbor I was thinking about getting a couple of goats for pets, she just rolled her eyes. I asked, what's the matter? She started in on all the reasons goats wouldn't work out for me. They stink, they eat everything, you can't keep them in a fence. I didn't know anything about goats, I could only remember as a child going to the zoo and seeing them there. I remembered one small black goat in particular that I especially liked because he would follow me around the fence and let me pet him all I wanted. He became my favorite animal of all at the zoo. I thought about what my neighbor had told me and I decided I still wanted to get more information so I went on out to the goat breeder's house and talked with her. I did buy two goats, a doe and a wether(neutered male). After having them for about six months, I was hooked and wanted a herd of my own. Here is what I learned. - Bad Rap #1: Goats Smell: Goats are actually very fastidious animals.The does and wethers do not have any offensive oders. The 'bad' smell associated with goats comes from the musky scent glands of the buck. If kept in a clean environment, the buck smell is not even that bad. I find the smell of other types of livestock much more offensive. The musky buck smell is what attracts the attention of the does and gets them excited for him (wink). A goat keeper trick is to rub a bandana on a buck, put it into a closed jar, and take it to a herd of does. The scent of the male will sometimes throw the herd into heat. A lot of people decide to only keep does and wethers and take their does to mate with a buck from a local farm. Breeders generally keep their bucks penned in a separate areas. Sometimes wethers are kept with the bucks. Its a better idea to have buck together rather than bucks and wethers because the bucks have the higher hormone balance and tend to be more aggressive. Never pen a buck alon, the bucks need herd mates too. If the male is allowed to run with the rest of the herd, he will rub up against each one and impart his smell to each. Bucks left around milking does will impart a strong unwanted flavor into the milk. - Bad Rap #2: Goats eat everything: You've probably heard that goats will eat anything, even tin cans. The tin can idea has got to be a comic exaggeration since a tin can is probably the most indigestable thing anyone can think of. I have seen my goats eat the paper off paint cans ~ paper is after all made from trees. Goats are browsers, like deer. Browsers eat mostly leafy plants, weeds, and woody plants. They take a nibble here and a nibble there and it does look as though they would eat anything. They even frequently nibble on clothes. I have a wether that loves to grab hair. When they nibble at plants they are determining which plants they can and will eat. This sampling process is officially called "memory triggering". If you are looking for a goat to 'mow' your lawn, you will be disappointed. They eat very little grass. When I bought my goats Purina Goat chow, they picked around and ate some but left behind other parts of the preparation. But, then again - at another time of year they ate those same parts they turned their noses up to before. I have offered oats to my goats and they would not take them. But later, they would decide to eat the oats. I'll give fruit and peels to my goats. Some of the goats will eat them and some won't. Same with carrots ~ the mule and two of my goats love the carrots but the rest won't touch them. There is a lot of information out there about what the goats will and will not eat, read as much as you can. There are some poisonous plants that should be avoided. There is a good link on my goat resource page about the poisonous plants. Cherry leaves are poisonous and should be avoided. I was very happy to find that my goats eat those thorny plants, stinging nettles, poison oak, and poison ivy. They have helped to clear my land of all these obnoxious weeds and stickery plants. I was unhappy to see that they thought my most expensive landscaping bushes were very tasty. In the winter, they will eat the bark off any trees that are in their pen. I think you should watch your goats and get to know what they will and will not eat and make sure there are not poisonous plants in their pen. If they have a balanced nutrition plan, they should be safe to go on walks and getting out of their pen under your supervision. What is a balanced nutrition plan for your Nidgerian Dwarf goat? A balanced nutrition plan consists of 1>a combination of Forages - hay and browse, (legume hays such as alfalfa, clover or peanut, oat [when available]) (avoid Bermuda hay [fine grass more suitable for horses]). NEVER feed moldy hay! Hay should be fed in a manger or rack so the goats don't climb on top and contaminate it with feces. You also don't want the hay up too high where it will fall down into their eyes causing eye infections. 2>Grain feed (preparations for goats can be found at your local feed store) 3>Nutritional supplements *minerals (selenium is an important mineral for goats that may be lacking in your area - check with your county extension agent about the selenium soil content in your area). Minerals are given free choice. *salt licks, - free choice *baking soda(bicarbonate of soda) - free choice Additional nutritional supplements to consider are brewer's yeast and kelp meal. Jeffers Supply is a good place to get mineral supplements. There is a link to Jeffers supply at the bottom of this page. I use Sweetlix which supplies selenium and other important nutrients. Click on the Jeffers link at the bottom of this article. 4>Fresh Water. In cold weather, goats love warm water (I call it goat tea). In warm weather, they like cold water. Goats are sensitive (like other animals) to abrupt diet changes. This could be in feed amounts or feed types. When purchasing or selling a goat, be sure to get (or give) some of the grain that the goat is currently accustomed to. Goats love snacks - some of the snacks mine have liked are sunflower seeds, peanuts (shells and all), fruit, vegetables, peelings, corn chips (in moderation). - Bad Rap #3: You can't keep goats in a fence: Fencing is definitely a very important consideration when owning goats. You must have a fence if you own goats for two major reasons - to keep the goats in and the predators out. Neighborhood dogs love to chase the goats and the dogs get very mean very fast. The goats don't have any defense accept to run. They will butt the dogs and sometimes scare the smaller ones off for awhile, but it is very cruel to leave them unprotected. A good link for fencing supplies is supplied at the end of this article. Fencing is definitely the major expense when keeping goats. Ideally you should have about a 5 foot or taller fence. Some people prefer to run a line of barbed wire across the top. Some people like to use electric fencing. For more information about building the fences, go back to the goat resource page and check out some of the links in the goat care section. It's true that goats can be difficult to keep in. If there is a way out, they will usually find it if they want to. Wait - there was an if in that last sentence. My experience has shown me this. If the goats want to stay in, you don't need a lot of fence. My goats stay in a 4 foot fence they could easily jump over if they wanted to. I stumbled on a solution by getting a mule. My mule stays with my goats, and my goats stay with the mule. The mule protects them and scolds them if they get out of her sight. The mule doesn't try to get out of the fence and so neither do the goats. I also let my goats out of the pen to roam my unfenced property on sunny days when I can be out there with them to watch out for dogs. They are always happy to return to their protected pen when I am ready to put them up. I think that letting them out while I am there satisfies that urge to roam so that when they are penned they stay put. We have found the mule to be very effective for us and the goats seemed to have brought new meaning of life for the mule. A guardian animal isn't necessary, but it helps. There are specific dogs bred to guard and protect livestock. Llamas also make good companion/protection animals to keep with your goats. You should do your own research as to what kind of protection/guardian type animal you might want to get. |
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