# Mini Silky fainting goats Pro & cons



## Jackson62 (Jan 26, 2012)

Thinking about mini silky goats for pets.  Would a 16x16 pen and a 4x8 goat shed be suitable for their size?  We will have browse for them with moveable fencing.


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## autumnprairie (Jan 27, 2012)

I think that would be big enough how many are you getting?


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## Jackson62 (Jan 27, 2012)

We are planning on 2 wethers just for pets.


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## Mamaboid (Jan 27, 2012)

Jackson62 said:
			
		

> We are planning on 2 wethers just for pets.


That should be plenty of room for them.  Good luck, Fainters are GREAT.


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## Whispering Hope Farm (Jan 27, 2012)

I have 2 mini silky fainting goats - Spottydotty and Polkadot. I paid a fortune for them and they are registered and show quality even though I don't show. I had someone give me a couple pygmys (I didn't keep them). Let me tell you I am so glad I paid a fortune for my goats! They are cute, small, very sweet and do great around kids at our petting farm - WhisperingHopeFarm.com and also on facebook. I would HIGHLY recommend them. They have personality. I just need to figure out how do I know when to breed them. They will be a year old in April and I want to breed them. I have someone who has the mini fainting goats and he is going to let me breed mine to his. I want to bring out more of the fainting in them.


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## Mamaboid (Jan 27, 2012)

Whispering Hope Farm said:
			
		

> I have 2 mini silky fainting goats - Spottydotty and Polkadot. I paid a fortune for them and they are registered and show quality even though I don't show. I had someone give me a couple pygmys (I didn't keep them). Let me tell you I am so glad I paid a fortune for my goats! They are cute, small, very sweet and do great around kids at our petting farm - WhisperingHopeFarm.com and also on facebook. I would HIGHLY recommend them. They have personality.* I just need to figure out how do I know when to breed them. *They will be a year old in April and I want to breed them. I have someone who has the mini fainting goats and he is going to let me breed mine to his.* I want to bring out more of the fainting in them*.


Fainters are not seasonal breeders, they can breed year around.  They do grow a little slower than some, so you probably want to wait until they are at least a full year.

The myotonic gene is genetic, and how much a kid will faint is passed on from the parents.  If the mom faints easy and the dad doesn't, you will probably get a 3 or 4 on the scale of 1-6.  If both parents faint easily, you will probably get a 5 or 6, or if they are like my buck Eli, you could end up with an 8.  He falls over if you look at him crosswise, if you try to lead him and he doesn't want to go, if you make a noise that he doesn't understand, or sometimes, even if you just speak loudly.  This can be a pain in the ....lower regions....Getting him to do anything that he doesn't want to do, usually ends up with me helping him back up off the ground after he has fallen over and embedded his horns in the ground.  He is definitely good for a few laughs tho.


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## Jackson62 (Jan 27, 2012)

We are thinking about using cattle panels for fencing will that work?  
We also have lots of trails thru the woods on our property, if we take them for walks do we need to put them on leashes or will they just follow along?  Gotta love the newbie questions!


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## Mamaboid (Jan 27, 2012)

Jackson62 said:
			
		

> We are thinking about using cattle panels for fencing will that work?
> We also have lots of trails thru the woods on our property, if we take them for walks do we need to put them on leashes or will they just follow along?  Gotta love the newbie questions!


Yup, they should work fine.  Fainters are very easy to fence because they cannot jump very good.  When we first got ours we leashed them just to train them.  As they got more and more familiar with us and the property, we put long leads on them, tied a large knot in the dragging end of the rope and left them drag them as they grazed on the pond bank.  That way, if they went anywhere we didn't want them to we didn't need to chase them, all we had to do was step on the knot and they were easy to catch.  Now, we just open the gate to their pen and say "pond bank" and away they go.  They wander around and when they are done they return to their pen on their own.  We, of course, never let them out of the pen unless we are outside with them, we do have bear, bobcat, fox, and dogs to contend with.  They will easily learn to follow but I believe ALL goats should first be leash trained.  It just makes your life easier.


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## Jackson62 (Jan 27, 2012)

Thanks for the info. We are so excited to get our first goats! We are moving to an area with bear,wolves, coyote and who knows what else.  We plan on building a goat shed we can lock them in securely at night and have hot wire around the goatyard at night.   Thank you so much for your help.


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## Mamaboid (Jan 27, 2012)

Jackson62 said:
			
		

> Thanks for the info. We are so excited to get our first goats! We are moving to an area with bear,wolves, coyote and who knows what else.  We plan on building a goat shed we can lock them in securely at night and have hot wire around the goatyard at night.   Thank you so much for your help.


Sounds like you have it covered.  Good luck with them, and of course we will need pics as soon as possible.


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## Jackson62 (Jan 27, 2012)

Thanks, It will be May before we can add the kids.  We live in Wisconsin and are retiring 40 miles from Duluth Mn.  We have a place in the woods on a dirt road with neighbors about a mile away. I can't wait we have lived in the city for 43 years and have had 4 chickens for 2 years.  I want my little minifarm!!!!


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