BarredBuff's Homesteading Shenanigans

[BarredBuff]

Im sure they could I dont know how I manage to do it....

 

[freemotion]

I've heard a lot of good stuff about the electronet stuff. The issues to consider are....shelter and your fencer. The goats need shelter even on a nice day. Bugs get bad, the sun becomes too much, etc. They are designed to eat like little buzz saws then run back to their shelter and lay around, chewing their cuds and napping. Then do it again....dash out there, buzz saw, run back in, cud chew and nap. So for happy, healthy goats, you need to either be around to bring them in and out (which is doable, especially if you can find something to do within sight of them...there is always something to do!) or a portable shelter that you can move with their pen. In reasonable weather, a hoophouse made with a couple of cattle panels, covered in tarps, would work. I have one for chickens, and it would be a perfect temporary shelter for a few goats in good weather.

Then the other issue is electricity....will you run a cord, or get a solar charger? You need a better solar charger for goats, as they are made mostly with horses in mind, and horses are major wimps when it comes to electric fencing. Goats are not, they need a good zap. So don't skimp on the charger if you go solar.

Just some thoughts. The electronet does give you the option of doing some major rotational grazing and also doing some brush clean up around the farm.

 

[BarredBuff]

Thanks free!! I may just tether then when Im home. If I cant leave them out all day then thatd be a waste of money I suppose. When Im home Im gonna just tether them...

Does that sound good?

 

[freemotion]

You won't be able to have them eat brush if tethered, as they'll get tangled up. I really don't like tethering. If you must do it, STAY RIGHT WITH THEM THE ENTIRE TIME!!!! Don't go get some water, a book, a tool, anything. Stay within reach at ALL TIMES. They can get into serious trouble in a blink. I think the fencing would be worth it so you could go get stuff done and the goats could still be safe. JMHO.

When I was a kid we got the goats and a pony before the fencing was done. We tethered them using tractor tires. There were too many close calls and we switched to cutting grass and bringing it to them and hurrying to get that fence done!

 

[BarredBuff]

What we were gona do was create "goat spots" around the yard to tether them in noting obesely grown over.....

 

[savingdogs]

I just "walk" my goats to areas I want munched down. They get to love you and follow you. I just put one on a leash and they stay together. Taking "goat walks" is a fun passtime here, I love it. When I get somewhere I want the brush cleared, I get out my book and sit down awhile.
We also can let our goats out in certain parts of the open areas and they don't leave, they come back when they are full. Of course that might depend on what it is like by you, but we NEVER thought we would be doing that when we first got them. We thought we would be tethering them. We tried tethering but they are too dorky, they are not like dogs and get themselves all hung up and legs tangled up, it is too dangerous. You'd be better off figuring out a portable pen if you can't do it the way I do.

 

[BarredBuff]

That wouldnt be to bad.....hmmmm thanks for the input free and sd

 

[CrimsonRose]

We tried tethering but they are too dorky, they are not like dogs and get themselves all hung up and legs tangled up, it is too dangerous. You'd be better off figuring out a portable pen if you can't do it the way I do.

yep! Goats are TOTAL dorks... we tried it also a few years back it was awful! we did it because the smaller sized goats are evil fence destroyers! They would jump up ontop of it and squish it down and waddle their booties over the top... after a few weeks of this the fence was non-fixable... I finally had to re-home my beloved goaties... because I just couldn't keep them contained... and the tieoff ropes were a horrible idea!

So now we are looking at the electric netting as well now... I've heard good things about it...

for a temp shelter try a dog box... ours was one from walmart it was insulated but still light and easy to move... It was the xtra large one.

Our goat now is huge (I think her grandpa was a horse or something!) so the dog box won't work... the small "barn" we slapped together for me to milk her in is now her home... not sure where I'm going to milk her now... not sure if my mini barn will be big enough... No way she can live there and still have room for a stand... She just looks at the dog box like it's a doll house... hahaha But our pygmy and nubian both fit into it before!

Right now our goat is tethered... BUT she is alone... no other goat to tangle with her... NO trees and such to wrap the cord around... AND she was lead rope trained when I got her... So she knows to stop pulling when the rope tugs at her....

More than one goat... I would never try the tethering again... (and I'm all about the shortcuts when it comes to saving cash...) Fence is expensive!

 

[Javamama]

I would never, ever tether a goat and walk away. Case in point: I tied one of mine to a 6 foot leash at the porch. I walked out to the barn to get something - so less than a minute and when I cam back she had somehow gotten that leash under her front legs and back up around her neck tight as could be - she would have strangled herself. I had a very loose fitting collar on her and it shouldn't have been able to do that, but it did. She has done other such feats since that - while I'm right there with her and it happens so fast I can't believe it. But that's my opinion and food for thought.

 

[savingdogs]

I would never, ever tether a goat and walk away. Case in point: I tied one of mine to a 6 foot leash at the porch. I walked out to the barn to get something - so less than a minute and when I cam back she had somehow gotten that leash under her front legs and back up around her neck tight as could be - she would have strangled herself. I had a very loose fitting collar on her and it shouldn't have been able to do that, but it did. She has done other such feats since that - while I'm right there with her and it happens so fast I can't believe it. But that's my opinion and food for thought.

Yea, when I go on goat walks I keep Ginger on a long lead so that I can stop at a good place and anchoring one goat keeps them all together. But just while I'm SITTING there watching her, she will get herself tangled up a zillion times and usually I get irritated and go home at some point generally because of that, when I've unwrapped her legs and untangled her over and over. She also likes to stand on her back legs and knock small trees and shrubs over so she can eat them, which is fine, but she has hooked her collar on branches. If I had not been there, she would surely have died. Also, what if a predator came along? She would be a sitting duck. I NEVER leave collars on the goats and NEVER leave them tethered anywhere. I have to save them from their own stupidity.

Crimson Rose, your milking area does not need to be in your goat barn. In our situation, we just have too small of a barn and it rains constantly here in WA. So our goats run over to a completely different area to be milked, they happily know their routine and fight to be first at the gate that opens to let them into the milking area, which I believe I already mentioned is inside my house. Mine wait in line fairly politely for their turn to come inside the milking room and be milked. That is the only place I give them goat grain so they associate that room with good things. But it is a good distance from my actual goat housing. My goat housing area gets so dusty and/or muddy, I wouldn't even WANT to milk down there, and the other goats would be underfoot.

Where we bought our goats, the lady had a stanchion sitting outside, under an awning just outside her goat pen. it looked like a re-purposed pergola. So you could use your imagination a little. I really like having electricity, running hot water and a clean counter, washable floors. Milk gets all over (especially at first) and stinks if you don't mop up and wash things down.