Reply To: Pigs OR Goats?

  • Jen-in-Ok

    Member
    October 14, 2022 at 6:28 pm

    I’ve had goats for decades. they are hard to keep in sometimes. they are smart. don’t let them see how you unlock the gate, if it doesn’t absolutely have to have thumbs to open…. from my experience, pigmy goats, no matter how short and fat, are actually excellent climbers and jumpers. we’d had some that would regularly go over a 4′ fence – only touching toes to bounce to the other side. angora goats aren’t as smart. they are more like keeping sheep – they stay in the fence well (but like sheep, look for stupid ways to die). nubian goats are also easier to keep in a fence – as long as the fence is strong enough not to lean over if they stand on it ( i would highly recommend an electric fence to keep them off of it) one of my nubian bucks could stand on his hind legs and reach up into the trees as high as i could – but he never got out or gave me problems. Nigerian dwarfs, pigmys, and my mutt goats are active, intelligent, and just beg to get into trouble.

    I would recommend making a fence worthy of fort knox before bringing goats home. I like stock pannels with 2″×4″ welded wire wired on top of it, with a hot line a foot inside to keep them off. that seems to work the best and is movable if i need to. they will get their head stuck in anything they can put it through. they will tear up the fence from pushing on it if they can reach through. surprisingly large goats can actually squeeze through a stock pannel square. the 4″ square “goat pannels” are weaker than cattle pannels, more expensive and you trade adult goats getting stuck with baby goats getting stuck in it.

    if you have a good enough fence from the beginning, goats are a joy to have. they are smart, trainable, funny, frendly, the milk is delicious, they are tasty as meat too….

    but if you don’t have a good fence – you, your neighbors, your garden, your orchard, the wireing under the truck, the hood/top of your car and your flower beds will all hate them….