# Goats. ..



## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

So I finally gave in and let bill get goats.
He has been building a 5 x 6 goat house. We are getting 3 male goats in sept. All 3 will be 12 weeks old. One is a Nigerian dwarf goat, and the other 2 are mini lamancha /Nigerian dwarf .

The goat house


























































And the 3 amigos.
Inky










Dopey










Moose










They should be ready in sept, around 12 weeks old

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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Get ready to have fun. Goats are very smart. Very, very smart and they like humans a ton.

I hope he's going to install a heavy metal grate over that window because one of them will bust it out. Their curiosity knows no bounds and an unprotected window would be a perfect curiosity point. 

After my old horse had to be put down his companion goat went to live with my vet. She lived in an old farm house, the kind with a dirt basement you accessed from outside. Seems Billie, the goat, got the door open and let himself and a heifer in to the basement area. That area only had enough room for someone to work on the furnace and hot water heater. So they got stuck. When she got home she found both of them in the basement with all of the AC ducting torn out. 

Before he went to live with her he broke in to my feed room, never figured out how. Got the feed bin open and ate until he made himself sick. Had a belly ache that just went on and on and he cried about it the entire time.

That animal was a hoot. And I knew every time he got out of the pasture because Max, my horse, would start hollering.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

I love goats! They're so much fun!

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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

I've never owned a goat, dont know much about them. But if I ever decide to get one, I'm glad there's people here that could answer any questions I might have.
I know about chickens, hogs, and bulldogs (UGA's.) lol.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Oh thank you!!!I will have bill put wire up over both Windows so they can't break out

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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

They are going to grab your heart from the get go. They want to know about everything you're doing. Mine would get jealous if I brushed Max too long and would head butt me in the behind so I'd brush him.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Lucky you and Bill!!!I had a billy goat and we would wrestle each other to the ground.I usually won because I was 3x's bigger but he usually started it by sneaking up on me from behind.He was fun.If you have trees you like,protect them.Mine took off all the low branches of my pine trees.They are excellent for cleaning up vegetation like out of control blackberry patches that other animals won't touch.They go for head high or higher stuff,usually ignoring the ground vegetation.I'm seriously thinking about 3 Nubian goats for myself.They produce a really creamy milk,they can carry packs and pull a cart.I still have to convince Dale...


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

CQ, you reminded me about the vegetation clean up. It was amazing how much he accomplished. The one thing I learned years later though, if they are not raised where that kind of forage is part of everyday fodder chances are you won't get them to eat it.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Bill is doing great with his research, he said he is putting up wire over the windows.. I was impressed, I told him to do all the research and he is..Hmmm the babies are on grass. I didn't see that many weeds though

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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Mini goats are cute,almost like a dog and they are lap size.I read most people bottle feed the babies so they don't get a disease(?),at least that's what I remembered.Bill needs to get his goats and bottle feed them and bond with them.Then he'd be Mama Goat.LOL


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Noooo no bottle feeding... then I'll have 3 in the house lol.. they are super friendly now. My friends handle them alot. Moe will eat goat turds nooooo

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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

And he built a goat closet in their house tonight....that's insulated too










































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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Put a lock on that door if that's where feed is going. Mine should never have been able to get in my feed room but he did.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

He will have 2 locks on it, it's not finished yet. He still has to put bars on the windows and all handles and locks on everything

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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

I just don't have the heart to tell him the closet took away room for 3 goats for sleeping. He still has to makee their raised bed in there.

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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

And are you going to help him figure out a fix if it ends up just a tad tight in there?


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Noooo. He will take out the closet he made it to be removable. The goats are all dwarfs and a mini, so they should be fine, if not ge will remove the closet

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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

LOL I get the sense you're staying far far away from this. If that's true, once those babies are there you'll be hooked.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Oh no. I'm all excited . I just can't say anything about the building part, I just don't say a word..it takes him twice as long to do something, so I can't say anything.

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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Insulation up on bottom half, goat raised bed started, they can sleep on top or under it, bill still has to put a step so they can get to the bed, still work to do. .










































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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Maryellen said:


> Oh no. I'm all excited . I just can't say anything about the building part, I just don't say a word..it takes him twice as long to do something, so I can't say anything.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900V using Chicken Forum mobile app


Got it. In other words it will get done before Sept as long as you're just a spectator.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

They should be the size of a medium dog and come this winter,they might be happy in tight quarters.You get worse winter weather than I do and it can be brutal here.I was reading about deep litter for the geese this winter and found out it produces heat.Now I know why people do it but I don't think I will.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

I did the deep litter for the chickens, I didn't like it but it does work.

He researched and found out they shoukd be 29 inches tall once mature, he said he can always add to one wall and remove the planks if need be. 
Yeah robin I just let him do his thing, it's better if I don't make suggestions.

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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Dale is sooooo slow,too.His friends nick named him "Snail".I have to keep on him to get started on things but once he gets going,it's done right.I'm trying to get him to build the goose house now so I can get them out of the grow out pen before they turn it into a pond.Yesterday I made a slight change and told him we're leaving a bigger space between the coop and goose house for the goats next year.He had no comment.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Bill is slow due to his TBI..it makes doing things slow and frustrating.

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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Lights, fan, electric.....and he is going to hand dig the trenches for the water and electric


































































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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

OK, where's the AC? And heat?

I did see one thing, a new toy. The pull string hanging down from the light fixture. If it's long enough I can guarantee one will be standing up against the wall grabbing it. I'm telling you, these guys are curious about everything. 

Mine watched the special access my dogs had to get to the enclosed porch into the house. It was setup in a way that no one would know it was there. Billie watched the dogs and one day I heard hooves on the wood floor. I have never figured out how he got his horns past the uprights on the handrail.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

The string for the light will be shortened, bill just left it long for now while he is working on the house. He is installing a fan that is on top of the closet for the A/C ..










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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Electric working , water next .
The light on the side is motion sensored, and the one by the door goes on when it gets dark out automatically










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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Water AND electric!You gotta let me borrow Bill one weekend.LOL Their house is looking nice.Is Bill going to put siding up or paint it?


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

He is making it easy for me for food/water and night checks lol... he painted one side but doesn't like the paint .

Lol everyone wants to borrow him for projects now.

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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Are you getting excited about the goats?I would be....


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Yep I can't wait. We go visit them every weekend at friends house

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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Have you named them?


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

They have names but I'll probably change them... inky, dopey,moose

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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I always liked naming animals.Sometimes a name pops up and fits,other times it's not so easy to find the perfect one.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Clear roof so the sun gets in the porch

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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I need to get cinder blocks and plywood(it will take multiple trips).Then start putting the goose house together and get them out of the grow-out pen.Water out there would be nice but the hose reaches out there.I have an extension cord running out there but real electric would be nice.Dale and I need to learn some new skills.


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