Goats.  Sheep with brains.  Reputations for being grumpy, smelly, eating tin cans and destroying any plants they get near.  Why would anyone want a goat as a pet?

Because, if raised correctly, they are intelligent, loving, playful and can become wonderful members of your family, that’s why!

We have two female Boer Goats – Milly and Molly – twin sisters.  And they are the nicest animals you could ever hope to meet!  They follow us around like dogs, eat from our hand, give little kisses and licks and love to climb trees with the kids.  In fact they are wonderful with the children as whenever we go for a walk they tend to pick a child each and shadow them, walking three or four feet behind, just like they are their hairy protectors.

Of course, goats can be a lot of work and you need to have the right space set up for them.  So here  are some excellent tips for keeping goats as pets.

 

What Goats to Pick

*Hand-raised goats are a must.  We’ve had friends who had goats as pets which were part of tamed flocks and while mostly docile were not above giving the odd butt or bite if in a bad mood.  You want goats that have been bottle fed and have spent lots of time around children.

*If you have not raised the goats yourself, make sure you take ownership of them at around 6 months of age.  Any later and they will not imprint on you to the extent that you want.

 

Habitat

*Have a tall fence.  We have a 5 foot tall fence running around our little goat paddock.  And even then twice Milly has decided she is going to jump it!  Thankfully she seems to have forgotten she has that ability and has not done it since.  A 6-foot fence is to be preferred but make sure it is at the least not lower than 5.

*Have adequate shelter.  People laughed at me when I built my goats a little house.  But here in the Mallee we get 45 degree days in the middle of summer and during the winter we even get the odd hail storm.  And goats are smart, they are not going to stay out in horrible weather if they don’t have to.  I made my goat house out of wood and painted it with a solar-reflecting paint in order to minimize the heat inside.  Build it with corrugated iron and all you have done is make an oven for them.

 

Food and Drink

*Have adequate water.  We have a big dam in our goat paddock so ours are fine but you may want a trough at the least and keep it topped up.

*Goats will not eat just anything.  They will eat most things, and not all those things are good for them.  We feed our goats the following (ration down when still young):

-Lamb pellets.  Calf pellets will work as well.  2 cups per goat every second day.

-Lucerne.  A small butt every second day (alternate with the pellets).

-Weeds.  This is where your goats are useful!  Anything you don’t wanna throw on the compost heap throw to your goats and the majority of the time they will love it!  They love roses and rose trimmings in particular.  They won’t eat all plants and if fed enough will happily shun what their instincts tell them is no good for them.

*Provide a salt lick.  Not a major necessity if they have a good diet but I find having one in there gives me piece of mind, knowing the goats can go have some if anything in their diet is lacking.

 

Exercise

*Have materials for the goats to climb on and to wear their hooves down.  Goats are smart and smart creatures need stuff to do.  I propped up a fallen tree as well as built a tower out of old wooden palettes.  These serve several functions.  One is that goats love to jump and climb and it gives them exercises and lets them indulge their climbing instincts.  The other is that if goats do not have hard surfaces to wear their hooves down on the hooves keep growing.  This means they can in-grow and you need to clip them yourself which can be a real hassle.

*Take your goats for walks.  As mentioned, our goats will follow us around like dogs and taking them for a walk means it breaks up their routine and you get some extra bonding time with them.

 

Other Tips & Troubleshooting

*Goats will ruin trees and plants.  I had a few low trees around my dam, they are well and truly gone now. If the goats get into your garden they will try and eat everything.

*These goats will be your pets. This means you need to pat them and talk to them daily just like you would any other pet.

*Do not overfeed your goats.  They will graze and you then supplement that with things like lucerne and pellets. If you give them a ton of pellets every day they will develop stomach issues.

*Be careful with little (human) kids.  Be careful with your own eyes too.  Unless you dehorn your goats it means they have two long big prongs sticking out of their forehead.  If your goats are affectionate they will like to rub up against you.  This means if your kids are small or you are bending over, there is a danger of a horn in the eye – not a pleasant experience.

*Be careful with other animals.  Once goats are a certain size, unless it’s a pack of wild dogs nothing is going to bother them.  Goats are more than capable of seeing off a fox or solitary dog.  Sadly this can mean that your pet dog (we have a Shetland Sheepdog who is very submissive by nature) might end up on the wrong end a butting goat if it gets too close and is perceived as a threat.

*Goats really love to climb.  Combine this with being naturally inquisitive and I’ve had to shoo them off the bonnet of my ute more times than I can count and even had them all over my kids play equipment and our patio table!

 

And that’s pretty much it.  Goats can make beautiful, loving, well-natured pets and can be lots of fun!  Just make sure you have enough space for them and know what you are getting in to before you bring those cute little kids home – they sure do grow!

 

Got any comments or extra tips to add to the above?  Would love to read them in the comments section below!