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civilengr3

free-range goat?

civilengr3
13 years ago

I have 5 wooded acres, and a small shed. Looking at getting a nigerian wether, but I have no experience with goats. first question: can I keep him on my property without tying up or fencing in, or will it tend to wander?

Comments (11)

  • oberhasli1
    13 years ago

    He will wander and he will be lonely. Goats are herd animals and always do better with another companion. He would need to be fenced to also keep predators out of his area. Your goat would need to be able to keep out of inclement weather in a shed or lean-to type of arrangement. I would do some research on-line and find out about Nigerians and goat diseases, vaccinations, hoof-trimming, etc., before you take the plunge.

    Bonnie

  • lilbitfarms
    13 years ago

    all goats need another goat, especially the little ones. we have 2 nigerian wethers. they are wonderful pets, but definately need to be fenced. they typically will not wander too far from their shelter, but a lone goat or even 2 will stray as far as they please with out bounderies. they do require vac, worming and hoof trimming all of which you can do yourself, as we do. depending on the weather where you are they will need shelter, they do not handle the rain and any cold very well, they are tiny. i hope you find this helpful we love our little ones and i wish you luck.

  • lazy_gardens
    13 years ago

    A free range goat = coyote dinner

  • oregonwoodsmoke
    13 years ago

    There are two free range goats in my area. Or else someone dumped them off to "go and live on a farm" like they do with unwanted cats and dogs.

    They are going to be road kill or coyote dinner very soon. They wander around in the middle of the road, and nobody drives slow.

    I can hear the coyotes singing every night. It's not going to take them long to discover those goats.

  • lazy_gardens
    13 years ago

    Oregon - can you catch them?

  • oregonwoodsmoke
    13 years ago

    Why should I? If they belong to a neighbor and I take them, it's rustling, which is considered serious in my cattle country area.

    I sure don't want the boogers anywhere near my place. They kill every plant they can get close to and I don't have any fences that don't contain plants that I am trying to keep the deer away from. I'm not fencing out the deer and then putting destructive goats in there.

    The humane society charges money to take animals. $30 apiece. I'm not paying $60 to take 2 animals whose owner doesn't give a flip about them.

    I will probably shoot them if they come down here onto my property.

    Note to those of you with "free range goats" not everybody loves your goats.

  • greendesert
    13 years ago

    wow Lazygardens, I'm near Phx too. I wish there were some goats wondering around my property. I'd turn them into lawnmowers. I had a landlord that would tie a goat to a stake, and the thing would eat a perfect circle around where it was tied, then he would move it. hmm... you could make some pretty interesting "crop circles" with them.

  • laturcotte1
    13 years ago

    Oregon-You don't have to claim them to report them. Cetainly if you don't care about what happens to the goats you should care about the person driving the car that swerves to miss hitting one and slams into a tree.

    Sorry for being so negative.

  • calliope
    13 years ago

    Report them? I don't understand what is to report if a neighboring farm chooses to free range their goats. I pick up that woodsmoke doesn't think it's a good idea to freerange goats anymore than anyone else does, but that doesn't necessarily make it a reportable offense anymore than free ranging chickens as long as they remain on their own property.

    As an aside, if livestock wanders out on the road and somebody has an accident when they hit them......the owner of said animals could be held liable. It might make a difference if they escaped otherwise carefully kept fences but would be pretty damning if the owners let them roam with no regard to safety.

  • oregonwoodsmoke
    13 years ago

    There is no one to "report them" to. Animal control will not drive all the way out here and maybe find them and maybe not.

    The free range goats seem to have disappeared. Since I think they belong to the same people who own the two free range Newfoundland Dogs, the owners don't believe in fences.

    In fact, if the animals belong to the place I suspect owns them, they don't actually have any fences.

    The goats most likely made a nice coyote dinner. The pair of Newfies is a bit large for the coyotes to tackle, so they are safe enough until the coyotes get really hungry this winter.

    If you'd like to ferment some resentment amongst your neighbors, a good way to do it is to move out to the country and turn your animals loose to roam. It's a sure fire way to get yourself thoroughly disliked.

  • citytransplant(zone5)
    13 years ago

    I had two Nubians and free ranged them. I do not know why oregonwoodsmoke's neighbors goats are all over the place, my goats loved to be around people and would not wander too far. In fact they were up on my porch, my car and eveone's elses car and that is why I had to fence them in. Their little hoofs made scratchs.

    I got the goats with the hopes that they would eradicate the poison ivy all over the place, but found out that they are very leary, always on the lookout for preditors and would not go into the woods not even into the bushes. They stayed out in the open.

    They do need a shelter, even if just a lean to that will keep them safe from the rain and wind. If they were caught in the rain, they were very mad at me. And yes, they really need company. As much as they would follow me all around the property, they loved humans, (it was sooo cute) they would always be together. I tried to separate them once and they both went crazy.

    So you decide, poop on your porch (and everywhere else, they never stop) or a fenced in area. Either way you get a lot of fun.

    PS I too thought they would "mow" the grass..nawwww, guess there was too much for them to "control"

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