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Barnyard Buddies:  Who (or what) do goats get along with?  |
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Carolinagirl
True Blue Farmgirl
486 Posts
Kim
Rutherfordton
NC
USA
486 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 24 2007 : 09:55:08 AM
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I recently read an interesting article on packgoats and am considering goats to add to my hoard of animals (four chickens and two dogs, right now). Will the goats pester the chickens? And what about dogs- do they get along okay with dogs? All would be free (at some point or another) in my fenced yard...
Thanks-
Kim in NC |
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Prairie Princess
True Blue Farmgirl
1075 Posts
Jodi
Washington
USA
1075 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2007 : 11:13:48 AM
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I haven't owned goats, but the family I board my horse with had two of them at one point. From what I saw being out there, they got along fine with the horses, llamas, chickens and ducks. They had their dogs seperated from the livestock, but I think as long as the dogs are okay with the goats, they'd be fine together. Just make sure you know what you're getting into...some people LOVE their goats, others hate them. I have yet to see people feel anything but an extreme for the critter, lol.
Blessings,
Jodi
"Women are like teabags...you never know how strong they are until they get into hot water." Eleanor Roosevelt |
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frannie
True Blue Farmgirl
2246 Posts
fran
bonham
texas
USA
2246 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2007 : 11:20:57 AM
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we have angora goats and they get along swell with the chickens...but do not let them eat the chicken pellets, or any horse food, they also seem to have a great bond with the cats. they also dont seem to mind cosmo the wonder dog, she is a pyrenes.
i love my goats, but whats not to love?
love
fran
(http://farmfolks-frannie.blogspot.com/) |
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janetinva123
True Blue Farmgirl
363 Posts
Janet
newport news
va
USA
363 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2007 : 11:22:01 AM
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I read the article too and when I buy my farm i plan to have goats and will keep the new birth males for pack goats. I think it is a real good way for people with disabilites to camp and hike that wouldn't be able too if they didn't have something to carry thier gear for them.
Jc
http://beloved-creations.blogspot.com
http://beloved-creations.com |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2007 : 11:57:47 AM
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My goats have always got along well with sheep and do fine with my cow. They usually don't trust most dogs.
I keep my chickens separate because of the food issue. Goats get very very sick eating chicken food..and you don't want to take the chance of the chickens roosting on the goat's feed or hay either...chicken droppings wouldn't be real healthy for goats!! I think just running loose with them during the day sometimes would maybe be okay, but not as a permanent home.
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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Carolinagirl
True Blue Farmgirl
486 Posts
Kim
Rutherfordton
NC
USA
486 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2007 : 1:17:32 PM
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What is it about the chicken feed that makes them sick? That would be a major problem since the chicken ark is in the backyard, which is where I would put the goats.
Thanks again-
Kim in NC |
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frannie
True Blue Farmgirl
2246 Posts
fran
bonham
texas
USA
2246 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2007 : 1:54:50 PM
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i'm not sure why they get sick, but they do and we had one that ate so much, he broke into the feed area and helped himself, and well he didnt survive. we learned the hard way that goats cant eat jut anything.
then i got a little kooky about making sure they got this wonderful diet. well i started to make it into like nuclear science or something. (imagine that)
anyway, goats are browsers, they need a variety, and then we supplement ours with a feed, but really i dont know how necessary that is, they have 16 acreas here to browse on and it is a prairie, woodland combination and from what i have read that should be enough. but we are learning as we go, we've had them 5 years and it has been mostly good.
we did have a farmgirl here that i thought was great about answering goat questions, grace.
has anyone heard anything from her. also, try goatworld, i have found it helpful. but really there are some great goat keepers here at the mj site too.
love
fran
(http://farmfolks-frannie.blogspot.com/) |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2007 : 7:02:40 PM
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At the ranch I worked at the chickens are completly free range. When we did feed them anything it was just some of the horse's COB (Corn, oats, Barley) and the goats could eat this as well so there wasn't any problems with bloat or anything. The goats didn't seem to mind the chickens at all, but they would run from the horses who would sometimes chase them if they are sharing the same pasture. They got along fine with the dogs. I think it is usually more up to the dogs as to whether they get along or not- If the dog is harrassing the goats then it is not good. Actually the goats would chase my dog off! LOL She wasn't quite sure what to think of them!
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for typing, one hand to hold Nora! |
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Bluewrenn
True Blue Farmgirl
1122 Posts
Erin
Texas
USA
1122 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2007 : 08:35:24 AM
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We had goats when I was a kid - the goats were specifically bought to serve as companions to the horses, and except for times when the horses were trying to sleep (and the goats were messing with them), they got along very well. In fact, they were inseperable and would get very upset when we took the horses to shows. We eventually started taking the goats with us to keep the horses calm at the shows.
My Angoras now are sharing a pasture with some cows. They have their own pen but have been getting out into the pasture and seem to enjoy the company of the Belted Galloways. These are smaller cows, not the huge gigantic ones, and they seem to be very curious about the goats but not aggressive, and the goats love them. (Go figure!) I think they just like the company since the barn is not that close to the house and until the cows came, they were out there by themselves.
As for dogs, I'll have to train ours to leave the goats alone or they may "worry" them to death. I'd rather not have my goats stressed out and one of the dogs is an extremely HYPER puppy that will positively be a goat chaser. We'll have to nip that in the bud right away or keep her penned up in the dogs' enclosure. I'm hoping that she will grow out of it as she matures.
As for the birds - I'm keeping my bird pens far away from the goats, but mostly because I'd rather not have the fleeces ruined by lots of duck or goose poop.
My Homesteading Journal http://toomyvara.livejournal.com
My craft journal http://bluewrenn.livejournal.com
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Kathie
True Blue Farmgirl
2436 Posts
Kathie
Thonotosassa
Florida
USA
2436 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2007 : 11:23:21 AM
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yep.. Erin is right..
we always kept goats as companions for the horses..
Seemed to keep them calm in the barn or traveling in a trailer for strange reason! Seemed odd really to think that a large animal like a horse would be comfortable with a wirey littly goof ball like a goat underfoot in his stall during a storm or in the horse trailer along a highway.. but it always was.. just having them in the barn or pasture always did the trick..
I never had an animal that the goats didn't get along with..
I DID have dogs onoccasion that were way to interested in the goats though now & then.. ! & it seemed as though when the one would start to chase a goat.. They ALL wanted to chase the goat at the same time.. Like a pack thing or something.. but it was always the same dog.. once that dog was out of the picture.. the other dogs never seemed to think about it..
In a World Where you Can Be Anything, Be Yourself.. |
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Bluewrenn
True Blue Farmgirl
1122 Posts
Erin
Texas
USA
1122 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2007 : 12:10:50 PM
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If you are getting goats to be pack animals, consider getting wethers. The billies we had smelled terrible and they did all kinds of really embarrassing and gross things, like drinking their own urine. And that's one of the nicer things they did. (As a kid, my friends thought this was funny, and I guess our goat liked the attention, because he only did it when my friends were over at the house... but it was really gross.)
My Homesteading Journal http://toomyvara.livejournal.com
My craft journal http://bluewrenn.livejournal.com
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frannie
True Blue Farmgirl
2246 Posts
fran
bonham
texas
USA
2246 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2007 : 12:53:42 PM
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erin,
i think i read somewhere that some of this goofy behaviour that the male goats display has to do with him thinking it will attract the females........what a dooofus, if he would just do the movie, flowers, meal thing......or better yet do some of those things i've put on the honey do list......ooops i'm talkin about dh now, i got a little carried aways there.
love
fran
(http://farmfolks-frannie.blogspot.com/) |
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Kathie
True Blue Farmgirl
2436 Posts
Kathie
Thonotosassa
Florida
USA
2436 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2007 : 2:28:47 PM
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I'd forgotten all about the love thing!!!
How funny!!
We had this one old guy!!
I had named him Atticus.. what a huge rack this guy had..
HORNS you girls!!
Geeeezzzz..
Anyway..
He would tip his head back side way. like to the right.. So he could Pee on his horns & forehead.. Then come over & rub his horns on the back of my legs or boots or what ever..
The Dumb goat was marking me!
He thought I was his woman!
It used to make my Husband SO mad.. Stunk to High Heavens!
I'd walk in from the barn.. & he'd say..
"You've been out there with that goat again.. haven't you!!"
Like i betrayed him because i smelled now & I was with the goat or something!!
It was So dang funny!!!
he'd say.. "Go clean yourself up will ya!!!"
I loved it!!
But God.. what a horrible smell.. huh?
In a World Where you Can Be Anything, Be Yourself.. |
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PlumCreekMama
True Blue Farmgirl
730 Posts
Heather
Iowa
USA
730 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2007 : 2:34:39 PM
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| My goats get along great with my horses. I also have a rogue hen that refuses to stay with the other chicken and prefers the barn and the goats don't mess with her. I feed my horses, goats, and one chicken all stock feed. My dogs are kept separate, but if they do get in by the goats, the goats usually will show them who's boss, especially the ones with horns. |
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frannie
True Blue Farmgirl
2246 Posts
fran
bonham
texas
USA
2246 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2007 : 3:17:48 PM
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kathie,
what a funny story.
my goats have never marked me, thank goodness. i have always thought it was weird too that our male didnt really do all the funny shananighans i had heard about, but he was for the longest time the only male out here. now we have several males and this past breeding time was a little more odiferous!
i dont understand it all, but one of the reasons i like having animals is watching how they act and learning about their behaviors.
occasionally we dont have tv here, when we cant do cable we only get two channels and they are both from oklahoma, and we dont live in oklahoma. dh and i used to take our lawn chairs down to the chicken yard and watch the chickens, he would call it "chickovision" it was really pretty funny and entertaining. one time one of the girls got romanced by the rooster and she apparently wasnt in the romancing mood. when he finished she squacked and carried on and all the other hens ran to her and consoled and lamented to her about the whole business. pretty funny!
love
fran
(http://farmfolks-frannie.blogspot.com/) |
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Kathie
True Blue Farmgirl
2436 Posts
Kathie
Thonotosassa
Florida
USA
2436 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2007 : 4:39:03 PM
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awww.. poor girl.. Can you imagine what they were all saying..?
Maybe they all ganged up on him later with a frying pan!
In a World Where you Can Be Anything, Be Yourself.. |
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queenofdreamsz4u
True Blue Farmgirl
3845 Posts
Stephanie Suzanne
Smoky Mountains Tennessee
USA
3845 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2007 : 5:12:44 PM
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Hey Kim,
Here's some pictures of my Dairy Goat herd that I still hold close to my heart...They are Nubians (long floppy ears) and Saanens (white)
www.dreamkingdomdesigns.com/farmgirl.html
Goats co-exist very well with chickens, cats, a guardian dog...
Horse owners frequently use goats as a companion for Stallions to calm them.
In general goats are very scared of dogs and for good reason...dogs like to "run" goats "to death" in many cases...They can eventually get used to a family dog but you shouldn't turn the dog loose with the herd unless you are there.
So I really wouldn't recommend goats being turned loose with your two dogs for the sake of the goats lives. Goats get stressed very easily.
The packgoats are usually wethers (castraded)..They are larger and stronger and very calm usually.
I had several chickens that would ride around on the goat's back...LOL Goats didn't seem to mind 
What kind of goats is someone offering you? Make sure you know that they have been wormed and vacinated and cared for before accepting them...otherwise you may be inheriting someone else's problem. And make sure you know how often they need to be wormed in your area of the US.
Look forward to hearing about them...Goats are one of the most intelligent and sensitive creatures I ever had the pleasure of "being owned by".
"hold close your inner child and always listen to the gentle whispers" ~queenofdreamsz
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Barnyard Buddies: Who (or what) do goats get along with? |
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Who (or what) do goats get along with?
