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Into our first winter. 3 nannies pregnant.
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Please Note
I wouldn't get attached to the goats you may see featured in my blog. Part of the reason I got them was because I was tired of paying shipping costs odering goat meat from California.
I realize some of you have a problem with that and I'm sorry we disagree. But I didn't claw my way to the top of the food chain to just eat vegetables. And goats are the most widely eaten animal on the planet.
The deal I make is to give my livestock a comfortable life and, if it comes down to it, a quick, humane death. These animals are not pets. They have a job to do and the final act in their employment will be a trip to the freezer. The working conditions are great, the retirement plan is a little unpleasant.
Day 2 - Experiment Terminated
Just one day later we had to suspend this experiment. It may not be permanent, haven't decided yet. Couple mistakes I made are common to rookies. The barbed wire sections of the fence need a lower wire and my electric fence charger is inadequate to the task. Solar chargers may not work well for goats because of the duration between pulses. It's good for the dogs and keeping animals from leaning on the fence, but the goats slid under the hot wires and it didn't even slow them down. For goats you need an attention getting fence charger that inspires fear and dread.
So it was no surprise to goat owners that we came home to find our herd trotting down the street and grazing in the neighbor's yard. Fortunately they didn't do any damage. But it was difficult keeping them under control. If one of my buddies at the fire department hadn't been delivering some fence panels, I wouldn't have had any way to contain them. I'd tempt them back into the yard with grain, but they would run across the yard, barely breaking stride going under the fence. They'd take the electric fence hit, didn't seem to bother them at all. It was a bruising and depressing experience. Building that fence took weeks of work and cost thousands. It was sad how easily they squirted through.
It was really fortunate buying these from friends who could take them back until I could fix the fence. Keep this experience firmly in mind if you're a first time goat owner. It's a really good idea to keep five or six 16 foot fence panels and a handful of steel posts on hand in case you need to make a temporary pen. Another option is that orange temporary type fence you see at construction sites, sometimes used as snow fence up north. Either way a bundle of steel fence posts, a mallet and fence materials are really good things to have handy. Besides that I keep a roll of barbed wire and unbarbed two strand wire around to make quick repairs.
Another tidbit I picked up during this experience was that the white electric fence material that looks like tape...know what I'm talking about? For horses, fine. For goats, forget it. Use wire and a charger that can throw a spark across a decent gap. Experience with my goats indicates the tape is a mere inconvenience. There isn't enough metal surface area to get spark through their hair before they slip under the tape. Goats will duck any wire higher than 3 or 4 inches and they'll climb anything not electrified, but they won't jump. Coverage on the first 2-3 feet is critical, above that is for keeping things out.
