Is having only 1 Goat a bad idea? Will she get lonely? Nigerian Dwarf

[ABHanna4d]

jilbpooh, your profile picture is pretty small but what is that that your goats are playin on? Did oyu make them a little ramp...it sure looks like it would be super fun for them!

 

[jlbpooh]

ABHanna, yes, I made it for them. There are 3 platforms and 2 bridges. The bridges are made from deck spindles with 3 heavy pieces of rope stapled to the bottoms of them to support them. It is all made from recycled deck materials that I have accumulated. I also have 2 cable spools, and some very unique, very heavy retaining wall blocks that they can jump on too, but those aren't in the picture. If and when it ever dries out around here, I will be expanding their jungle gym. We have had an extremely unusually wet winter around here. The goats are not happy about it at all.

 

[ABHanna4d]

ABHanna, yes, I made it for them. There are 3 platforms and 2 bridges. The bridges are made from deck spindles with 3 heavy pieces of rope stapled to the bottoms of them to support them. It is all made from recycled deck materials that I have accumulated. I also have 2 cable spools, and some very unique, very heavy retaining wall blocks that they can jump on too, but those aren't in the picture. If and when it ever dries out around here, I will be expanding their jungle gym. We have had an extremely unusually wet winter around here. The goats are not happy about it at all.

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/468_bridges.jpg

WOW!!!! That is amazing! I love it I'm sure they just have a blast on it too.

 

[jlbpooh]

They love to play on it. The only problem is that people driving by enjoy watching them and don't always have their eyes on the road.
I need to put a sign out that tells them to keep their eyes on the road. We have one person that will drive past and the sit on the road and watch them until a car comes. They will drive down a little ways, turn around, and sit and watch them again until another car comes and they turn around again. I can't tell you how many times they did that one day. We have seen them do this numerous times now on the weekends. The ditches on our road are deep, and there is really no shoulder so they block the road when they do this. One of these times someone is going to be watching the goats and miss the curve and run right into the railroad crossing gates. OOPS

 

[Marta]

Please take this as advise from someone who has only got 1 goat.
Marta is a darling to the best.... she is friends to anyone that wants to take any notice of her, she follows me around the house grounds and even the allotments, down the street she is at my heals, If she sees someone walk near her she will be begging them to stroke her, if I go to cut wood up or trim the hedges she is there....I would not change a thing apart from GET HER A FRIEND.
If I am not there she screams the house down, If I walk away and she does not notice until Ive gone she screams the grounds down, the only time she is happy is with ME (not Tanya or Kolya she is fine) but left with the goats in the commune down the road she does not want to know me, she would rather run away from me, I go to bring her home in the evening she goes off at 600 miles an hr in the opposite direction,

Do goats need a mate a buddy a friend of their own kind I shout when I say yes she does. I am longing for her to kid if its a doe she will be kept to milk and work, if its a buck its getting castrated (unless I get my way and he keeps his private parts, but I have a long way to go to change Tanyas mind about the smell when in rut) No matter what the sex its staying as a mate.
Im going as far as building a small pen for the billy?!!!!!!! (hope its a doe)at the end of the orchard thats split in 2 so she is 1 side and he is the other.
I cannot stress this enough YES they need 1 of their own kind.

 

[ABHanna4d]

Please take this as advise from someone who has only got 1 goat.
Marta is a darling to the best.... she is friends to anyone that wants to take any notice of her, she follows me around the house grounds and even the allotments, down the street she is at my heals, If she sees someone walk near her she will be begging them to stroke her, if I go to cut wood up or trim the hedges she is there....I would not change a thing apart from GET HER A FRIEND.
If I am not there she screams the house down, If I walk away and she does not notice until Ive gone she screams the grounds down, the only time she is happy is with ME (not Tanya or Kolya she is fine) but left with the goats in the commune down the road she does not want to know me, she would rather run away from me, I go to bring her home in the evening she goes off at 600 miles an hr in the opposite direction,

Do goats need a mate a buddy a friend of their own kind I shout when I say yes she does. I am longing for her to kid if its a doe she will be kept to milk and work, if its a buck its getting castrated (unless I get my way and he keeps his private parts, but I have a long way to go to change Tanyas mind about the smell when in rut) No matter what the sex its staying as a mate.
Im going as far as building a small pen for the billy?!!!!!!! (hope its a doe)at the end of the orchard thats split in 2 so she is 1 side and he is the other.
I cannot stress this enough YES they need 1 of their own kind.

Thank you so much!! it is good to hear it as fact from someone who is experiencing it! I've been going around meeting some various goats and can really see that they do need a friend...of their own Kind.

 

[ABHanna4d]

Jibpooh - I love your goat playarea and I would probably be one of those people stopped beside the road watching!!!

 

[jlbpooh]

I don't mind that they watch, I just wish they would pull in my driveway and safely stop. They can watch the goats all day if they want to then. I do have a lock on the gate though so no one can go in by them without permission. There was someone somewhat close to here that had their 5 year old daughter's goat stolen one night. Today my guineas decided to go in the road and thankfully one of our neighbors was curteous enough to slow down and beep her horn to scare them out of the road so no one hit them. There are a few people around here that are rude enough to speed up and purposely hit them. They aren't scared of vehicles because they will stand right in the way while I am coming at them if I move my truck. The only way to get them to move is to beep the horn.