We know that are certain things that must be figured out. In the meantime, our little goats are joys!
The first day the goats were scared and wouldn’t venture off into the tall grass much. In fact, they still don’t do that. But they don’t seem scared anymore. When the kids walk the trail on our property, that gives the goats courage enough to follow and begin to eat down the weeds. We wish they would do more of that eating! For the most part, they are hanging around here at the house — on the pad, in the driveway, in the shelter, and in the adjacent grasses (but not venturing too deep).
Napping/resting on the pad in front of the house…
Jeff never did build a shelter. Instead we sectioned off one part of the garage, which is really a barn. Only we haven’t ever called it the barn because we have a pole barn, too. Now though, this garage may become the real barn and we’ll call the pole barn the shop. Anyway, that garage/barn is a big dirt-floor building with three bays. We gave the goats one section, separated from the others by cattle panels. Those panels are so handy!
The shelter is really working out. The first night, the goats didn’t recognize it for what it was. They were trying to sleep up here on the pad by the house, but every little sound distracted them and we believe they were scared. So Jeff and I got our shoes on after 10 pm and walked them down to their section of the barn (I’m calling it barn now) and slid a cattle panel across the opening so they would stay. Otherwise, they would have followed us out. They laid down and went right to sleep and were sleeping when Jeff went to open up the barn at 5 am the next morning.
Getting in and out of the driveway is too funny. The goats want to go everywhere with us and they are usually waiting at the gate for our return. This morning, when Jeff and I went for our walk, little Annie followed us in the rain to the gate, where we went out, and then she trailed us along the fence, calling to us as we walked the 500 feet of our road that parallels the front fence. She’s the one who was bottle fed by the neighbor because her momma wouldn’t nurse her, and is more attached to trusted people than the others goats are. It is hard to walk away from her, she’s such a sweetie.
Little Annie…
All of these issues are bringing home the fact that we really need to get cracking on separating the “goat” areas from the “people” areas. To be honest, we thought the goats would roam more but they spend most of their time in the people areas. That is, when they’re not following one of us around somewhere else.
Following Jeff…
… and still following Jeff!
So, very soon, we would like to complete the fencing up the driveway and around the buildings, to keep the “people” places separate. Not that we don’t love the goats! Just that it would be better for everyone — us, friends, delivery people — not to have the extra difficulty of trying to get by very friendly goats when coming, going or staying.
I know I’ve been talking about our goat preparations for some time, but to be honest, all my energy (indeed, all OUR energy) has gone toward getting the fencing done. We haven’t settled what we are going to feed, whether we are going to vaccinate, or whether we are going to de-worm at all or choose an herbal wormer instead of a chemical one. I believe we will not be vaccinating. We aren’t fans of that for people, so why animals? The worming, though… I guess I need to research more. I have been reading at Fias Co Farm, where Molly, the farmer, runs a healthy farm using a holistic approach and does her own vetting. It is very interesting! She sells an herbal de-wormer that sounds wonderful.
Then there’s the milking issue. We’re swamped and haven’t gotten to that. Thank you to those who suggested a milking stand. We will have to do something like that. I appreciate your thoughtfulness in making suggestions to help us out!
I think they will adjust; it’s good that they retain enough
instinctual sense of self-preservation to know that tall
grass is dangerous, that’s where coyotes can get them the
most easily. I think most people mow tall grass before using
it for graze, because of this. But, they’ll relax as they learn
their new environment, herd animals are always wary of change
at first. They’re hard-wired to prefer routine and consistency.
You can always tether them during the day, to give them a
grazing “project” to tackle. Portable electric
fencing works well too, because if you have a ton of graze,
they’ll just browse here and there, mostly trample, & not really
chew things down the way we like for clearing. If you retain
them in a smaller area until *you* are happy with their mow job,
you can convince them to eat things down a little more before
letting them move on to literal “greener pastures.”
I’m enjoying reading about your experiences with goats. I’ve not had much contact with them outside the petting zoo at the fair and zoo. I’m very much a city girl living in a more rural setting.