Newbie goat help needed! Please!

[smcjoj3]

Please don't judge or yell at me....
My husband brought a goat home yesterday afternoon. He claimed he 'rescued it' from some people living out of a camper that were feeding it dog food because they couldn't afford her.
Fantastic right? But we have never had a goat before. I have no idea about goats. -Well, i know a little because we had planned on getting 2 NEXT spring when we move to a bigger piece of property, & I had started researching/planning...but I am no where near 'schooled' in goat care they way I feel I should to actually have one in our backyard. - yes..its a normal backyard! 1/2 acre! this is seriously not enough land for a goat, right? We are planning on fencing off about half for her to have some space to mill around, but still...not enough land??

Like for instance. we didn't have a pen/enclosure for her before my husband showed up with her. HOW STUPID is that?! She keeps breaking out of the pen my husband built. Like aggressively barreling through the wire fencing & I am afraid she will hurt herself ! And she is a solo goat, so in addition to her being freaked out at the new enviroment, she doesn't have a companion to make her feel less anxious.
She is stressed, I am stressed. - do I need electric fence...or what are your thoughts on that?

We have hay & 'goat feed' from the feed store. Obviously fresh water, I know the hay needs to stay dry, we probably neeed to pick up some alfalfa. But I have no idea about how much of what. Or how sensitive is her digestive system? I know to keep the chickens away & vice versa because of parasites and chicken feed being dangerous.

We'd like to keep her if we can get this all worked out, but I am being selfish & is it awful for her? Should we consider getting her a companion (once we figure out what the heck we are doing!) ? or is that ridiculous seeing as we are short on land?
Oh also, she is a 10 mo old 1/2 Boer 1/2 Nigerian Pygmy bush goat? Anything note-worthy I should know about the breed/s? or age? Are they overly stubborn or overly loud breeds? or is she just acting loud and upset because of this situation? (my guess)
Yes, I am going to spend all day researching goats today - but what can I do today/next few days while we figure out what to do to help her feel less stressed?

Thanks for any advice in advance. I am not a implusive 'lets bring a animal home randomly' type of person.....so this is a little over whelming for me!

 

[20kidsonhill]

she is upset, goats don't adjust well to new homes, even if the last home wasn't meeting her needs. You need to build a better pen for her. When you say she is busting through the wire, what kind of fencing are you using?

Lots of hay will be good for her or know. Often times when they are used to dog food ,and have never been fed normal food it takes them a while to adjust, start out very slow with the grain, like 1/4cup and go up every few days. If she is overweight she may not need any grain just good quality grass hay.

She will need a friend, but you she may or may not like her new friend. Some goats can be very stand-offish, especially if she is used to being by herself. You may be surprised how much she dislikes her new friend. Make it the same size as her, the best you can. Don't get some 4 week old kid and think you will beable to keep it with her.

Loose goat minerals would be good for her. You can get a small bag at the feed store. Most any of them would be better than nothign at all.

She probably need her CD&T vaccinations

and if she starts to look like she is loosing weight and rough coated, the stress of a new home, could have started up a worm or coccidiosis bloom(increase of worms), so you would need a fecal done on her if that was the case.

She needs her feet trimmed every so often.

 

[Goatherd]

I don't know if you're a drinking kind of woman, but if you are, pour yourself a stiff one, gulp that down, and then pour yourself another. If you a coffee kind of gal, switch to decaf! Deep breaths also help.

Always remember no one has ever had a goat before their first one! The fact that you've done some research says your still ahead of the game and you are definitely not goat illiterate. You almost seem to think your husband wasn't telling the truth about his "rescue."

Regardless, you have a goat and you want to make it's life and yours easier for the both of you. That's what it's all about.

Fencing 1/4 of an acre for one goat is definitely not animal cruelty. Some people keep groups of goats in far less than that! Ideally, the most area you can give a goat would be great as well as a companion goat would help too. But since this goat has apparently lived on it's own to begin with, it really isn't missing another goat at this point. And I seriously doubt it had a lot of personal grazing space from where it came.

If your husband's homemade pen is not keeping her confined, could you afford to purchase a chain link dog kennel? If so, that, combined with a dog igloo or dog house could provide safe and comfortable accommodations for your goat. Fill the igloo with straw for bedding.

A good quality goat pelleted food, quality hay, loose minerals and clean water would more than suffice at this point to get your goat started on a better, dog-food-free diet. Yes, goats can have delicate constitutions when it comes to changing foods, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say your girl is going to be able to tolerate and adjust to the new diet with ease. Just be observant of her bathroom habits and watch for poop that isn't the normally pelleted type.

Medically, you will want to consider worming your girl. A fecal exam done by a vet would help, but if that isn't possible, a general worming would at least get you started with eliminating potential parasites. Ivermectin could be one choice. Vaccinations can come later if you're so inclined.

Don't overwhelm her at this point as she is definitely stressed by being in a new environment, even though it has to be better than the former. She doesn't know that yet. All she knows is that she is not where she was and with people that are unfamiliar to her. I don't know that her loudness is due to her breed, but more the unfamiliarity of her environment. I'll guarantee you she will settle in shortly and feel at home.

These are basic baby steps for you to consider and hopefully it will make both of your "adjustment" much easier. It's great that you are able to provide her with a safe and loving environment.

Now go mix that drink!

 

[20kidsonhill]

Some metal t-posts, and 4 -foot hog panel, with a couple strands of electric running on the inside would keep her in. Electric is very helpful when trying to contain goats, She may not be familiar with it at first, but she will learn quickly to stay away from it. We have found the hog panel to be more affordable than the goat panel. the squares are bigger in the hog panel allowing them to beable to get their heads stuck in it depending on the goat. But we dont have electric on all of ours and it does well. It need to be right on the ground, goats like to crawl under.

They also like to jump and climb on climbing toys, so giving her something to play on away from the fence line, so she doesn't use it to jump over the fence would keep her busy.

1/4 acre for two goats would be acceptable, But you would have to provide hay and feed all year round for them.

 

[smcjoj3]

Let me just tell you, between my husband and the goat, I need that drink! Do you think my children would notice Mama was sipping on a margarita during our preschool & reading this am?

Lulu the goat's pen, which is basically the bones & roof of a no longer in use shed, is enclosed with some sort of steel green fencing, that looks about 5ish feet tall. She jumped over it of course, so my husband made it higher and no it basically resembles a jail cell. In a good way?
So then when she couldn't jump out, she is battle ramming the wire fencing off the posts. which makes me nervous she will cut herself or get caught. Right now she has a semi-enclosed corner with some straw, I was planning on having DH construct a box or some sort of 'more' enclosed dog house type of thing this weekend for her to hide in inside the pen. If she keeps busting out of it, we had discussed going the dog kennel route, it would just be a smaller area for her to pen in.

In my previous life, before I became a stay at home mom, I was a veterinary technician, so I have some knowledge or parasites, vaccinations and deworming. And I am comfortable handling stressed out animals, which has been helpful so far. As far as I can tell she appears to be a good weight, good eyes, good ears, her fecals even seem pretty normal. Though I was told when my husband was chatting with the previous owner's they were feeding her a hotdog while they stood their talking. :/ during their conversation it was brought up that once upon a time she lived with her mom and dad goat, but they had been killed by wild animals. ??? seemed a little bit strange to me, but who knows.

So if we get our goat issues ironed out, and she calms and adjusts to her new home....we would probably like to get her a friend. But i completely would have gotten a younger goat so he/she was raised around us. Not a good idea though? Will the bigger goat bully the smaller one around the way chickens do? what kind of problems would getting a younger goat companion for her create?

We do have large wooden spools for her to jump and climb on, but we havent introduced them because of her breaking out and determination to escape.

Thank you all for the responses, I am feeling a little less crazed now!

 

[redtailgal]

c

 

[smcjoj3]

Yea, thats sort of what I was thinking. A hot dog?! Really? .... poor goat, I am surprised she doesn't have raging diarhea!
My Husband is implusive occasionally and sometimes I wonder if the part of his brain that controls decision making is fully developed....but I know his heart was in the right place with this, it just would have been nice to be a little more prepared!

 

[20kidsonhill]

When my husband brought home our first 7 goat, 4 of them bred, we had 5 acres , with a fence around it, no shelter, not even a water pan. NO barn at all to store feed or shelter the goats. He set a couple calf huts out in the feild and they grazed and had a pan of water. We have learned a lot since then, but these aren't just pets we breed them and have a production goal to meet, so all their dietary and health needs must always be adequate for best production.

Pet goats that aren't being bred wouldn't require quit as much perfection with health management. For example, goat really benifit from a couple bo-se shots a year(selenium and vit E injectable), but if the goat isn't being used for breeding you may never notice they are a little low in selenium, But you will certainly notice it when they kid out a set of twins or triplets with weak legs.

 

[Goatherd]

Glad to hear you have calmed down a bit!

As far as getting another goat, more of what will determine compatibility is personality and how dominant or submissive each goat is. I do think you would probably have a much better chance with a younger goat, but that isn't set in stone. Regardless, a companion buddy would make a world of difference for the goat you already have.

I think at this juncture, time is what you need right now. Allowing the goat, and yourself, to settle in and get used to each other and the goat adjusting to a new diet and environment is where you are at.

Welcome to the forum and stick around for all of your future questions. Lots of people here to help with many diverse opinions.

 

[elevan]

Wow!

A big pat on the back to your DH from me for rescuing her. No, way in the world is anyone here gonna yell at you for doing that.

You've received a lot of great advice so far. I'll add that I wonder how the fence is attached to the posts? Since she's bashing them and popping it loose then I'm guessing fencing staples? If that's the case can you get some wire and "tie" the fence to the posts? That would make the fence less likely to pop away when she rams it.