Goat question

I have 2 boers and a Nubian, 2 wethers and a buck, theyre great for pasture/woods management. Lol I know I've already posted but I have to share their last pics..

My Boer wether, Pow is about 90 pounds+.



This was teken about a month ago.

My Bucky, Riot is supposed to get over 250 pounds, but I can still carry him around like a baby...



Aint he the cutest!? His ear tag came out that's why theres a hole in his ear.

You don't have to if you don't want to. Just don't breed her. If you do want to though you only have to milk once a day. If you aren't set on a dairy goat why don't you go with a boer? That is what I would do anyhow..

Am I reading that right - you allowed your dogs to attack the goats for four hours?? Surely I am misreading that.

Surely you are. They chase them outside the fence, Only Marcus and Misha are a loud to visit the goats because they are calmest. Actually, the dog who "attacked" them (Marcus) likes to lick Pow.

OK, thanks everyone What an informative group! A wether sounds like the way to go but what is this smell thing? Do the females smell bad?
I have a little over 1 acre fenced in with no climb horse fence all the way around the house. That's where I plan on putting it. It will have to share the space with the dogs. Do you think I would be better off with a baby and letting them get used to it, or an adult that can defend itself. All of my dogs have been around puppies a ton so they are used to babies.

Uncastrated males that are 5 months+ REEK. Especially in whats called rut. Rut if from August to February I think, and its the main breeding season for goats. I have a buck, he's 5 mo and already smells . Females do not smell...

Get a baby. And "adult who can defend itself" could do some harm to your dogs or if they tick the dogs off enough, the dogs will harm it.

Goats with horns do damage, I mean, Marcus got butted in the head by Pow and was bleeding.

I suggest you get a goat that is polled (born hornless) or disbudded (dehorned by humans as a very very young kid.). I would not ever suggest dehorning an adult goat, it is a very long, bloody process.

I say this because Pow almost gave me stitches in my lip. He was fighting me for food and I was trying to poor the buck in the feed trough and he got his horn hooked under my upper lip and threw his head back, almost ripping it. It was punttucred on the inside and it hurt really bad.

Not trying to scare you though .

If theres food inside the fence they wont care. I have wielded wire and my goats have never gotten out that way.. but they are escape artists. Get a bond with them, my wethers AND buck come when I call their names, its great :):).



Anny

Doodle berries. Hahahahaha!

As stated, it is only the Billys that smell. When I had mine, I didn't notice it though because he had lots of room and was away from the house. They lived outside 24/7; never stalled. Didn't even have a shelter other than trees and a tractor tire. They can become amazingly tiny when they curl up!

I don't know about "no climb horse fence". Do you have a pic? Goats can climb dang near anything.

A baby is easier to bond with, but don't go too young. You'll never keep it behind a fence if it decides you are it's mama rather than it's friend. I once took in 2 2yrold goats that had never been handled. They quite literally ran up the walls and across the ceiling of their stall to evade capture! But, within a couple of days they were eating from my hand and in 2 weeks I had halters on them and could lead them around.

Personally, I like horns on the billys and wethers because they are great handles when the goat gets too playful, but ilovemyphilip is right that you need to be aware of them at all times. You can put a 100 lb billy on the ground with his horns if you need to.

Good luck!

Actually you can get a "billy" (in the boer world they are called bucks and does) with his beard, horns are scary... Im going to start disbudding kids.. lol

Anny

Interesting, I never thought of trying to grab a billy by his beard. I'll try to remember that.

Sorry, but I have to stick with billy and nanny because here if you say buck or doe you are talking about deer and deer only! Major hunting territory here! I'd totally confuse the neighbours otherwise.