Frequently Asked Questions

They are not too difficult to care for. Essentially, they need grass, water, and shelter. Additionally, they should have a mineral block. We easily keep about 10 goats on three acres which has a ¾ acre tank on it. A good fence is mandatory. It should be a woven wire fence with 4” maximum squares to help keep them from getting their heads stuck. I also put an electric bottom wire on the fence to discourage trying to put their heads through. Gates need to be tight fitting and low to the ground to keep them from getting through. To date, we have had zero escapes. They seem to be very parasite tolerant. We do not de-worm our goats on a given schedule (like our horses). The vet told us to watch their eyes for becoming cloudy to indicate the need for deworming.  At a minimum, goats should get a CD&T shot. The vaccine is very inexpensive. You can give the shots or have your vet do it.

  Every goat is a little different. Ours are on the small side. I’d say they are about like a medium dog – probably 25-30 lbs fully grown.

  We keep 2 miniature donkeys with the goats. We have a lot of coyotes but have never lost a goat. We got the donkeys at the same time we got the goats. The donkeys were less than 6 months old at the time. They have all bonded very well and hang out together. When the goats feel in danger, they naturally run to the donkeys. This protection scheme has been very successful. We had our horses in with the goats for a while but they’re just so big compared to the goats, I was worried about someone getting accidentally hurt. There are other protection schemes with dogs or llamas. I know some people pen their goats at night. I’d say that you need to go into goat ownership with at least some sort of thought about protection.

Most goats have 1-2 babies, with the gestation period being around 5 months. One of our goats, Jasmine, just had quadruplets which is quite unusual.

8 weeks is normal.

Goats are very gentle and quite intelligent. Ours can be around small children with no major concern. I think about ours like lawnmowing pets. That said, I don’t think they would make very good indoor lap pets….I’m sure someone has done it.

What do they eat? Ours eat primarily grass and any other plants that are growing in the pasture. We occasionally feed them some grain or square bails of hay when grass production is low. They love cookies. We buy generic brand vanilla wafers for $1/box and feed them a few cookies regularly. This is a good way to train them to come to you and allows you to catch them for a vet visit or other interaction.