Goats/Goats as Pets

Goats make great pets. They are loving and sweet. If they are bottle fed, which you should not do unless you have to, they become dog like. Bottle goats like to go on walks and be petted. Do not bottle-feed unless you have to. Goats can get something called bloat if overfed, and it can kill a goat in less than 24 hours. Another problem goats can get from being overfed is scours, or diarrhea. Scours can kill goats in less than 24 hours. If your goat has scours make sure to give it lots of fluids, goats with scours get dehydrated fast and can die from dehydration. If your goat has bloat or scours, call the vet immediately. Goats eat hay, sweet feed, and goat food. You can graze goats, but make sure they don't eat too much grass. Goats are very curious and smart. They are loving and gentle. If you don't have a goat, you don't know what you're missing! Your goat can be your best friend! Goats are truly the dogs of the livestock world.

• Automatic goat waterers?
  • Duramate is a good water or you could just have a timer that turns on a small hose to fill a bucket for them
• Automatic feeders?
  • QuickFeed is a good automatic feeder but expensive
• Goat feed: quantity/week? price? where to buy? how heavy are the bags?
  • wethers need about cup of feed, does need the same amount if they are not pregnant, increase there feed by 1/2 cup for the first 6 mouths of pregnancy and another 1/2 cup for the last month
  • The type of feed you buy at the local feed store can be pellets, grain, sweet feed
• Goat "minerals"? Same questions as above, plus: what's in it?
  • salt, copper, iron and other unavailable minerals that they need
• Do we need to buy hay/straw? How much? Price? Where to buy?
  • you should if they don't have access to a land for browsing, about one bail and it costs about $10-$40
• What are goat "worms"? How likely to get it? How bad is it?
  • they are like tapeworms and can hurt the goat overtime so see the vet to deworm them and it's cheap
• How much does a hoof trimming cost? Is there a 4-H group that will help me learn it?
  • Probably, it costs nothing to a vet visit and they could teach you
• What will a goat area look like? Find example videos/photos.
  • It should have grasses, bushes, leaves and lots of vegetation and if its small the grass won't grow in places
• How to build a welded-wire fence? How to add a gate?
  • Get some stakes in the ground around the area for the goat and make sure they are pretty close to give more support. Just add hinges or ask someone at homedepo
• How much do we have to worry about predators? Find info about fencing to protect against bobcats, coyotes, etc.
  • If the fence is good enough to keep them in then the predators should not be able to get in
• How to build/buy goat shelter? Specific links.
  • It should be about 20 square feet per pair, draft free, and have their loose minerals, extra hay and feed incase of rain
• How does one transport a pet goat?
• Is milking optional, or a mandatory chore?