Question on miniature goats ?

[ibquackers20]

do they eat the same as a miniature horse would / hay mix with timothy /alfalfa/brom - plus a mineral block and a salt block ?

How good are they around small kids,dogs and my mini horses - do they have to be kept seperate or can they be together ?

Is there any special needs or care that is different from a mini horse - doing my home work first before getting one.

 

[Margaret]

I have had a female nigerian dwarf goat (miniature) for a couple of years now. She just loves to run in the horse pasture and see what she can find.. She likes all of my horse mineral and salt blocks, and gobbles up my alfalfa/burmuda horse pellets when ever she can.. She will graze in the summer, if I take away her pellets, but really prefers the leaves and weeds, and the unusual insted. I dont really buy any goat food as she seems to keep herself in plump condition. (hence the name Snowball

) There is a very safe grain/pellet goat wormer that is ok to use on a monthly basis-if desired, that I use once every few months, and she allways gobbles up her portion and looks for more. -That is the only special thing I get for her. She eats both types of my grass hay (timothy and burmuda) and anything she can sneak into-so you have to be careful......This winter she came into her 3 day heat cycle, and was so determined to find a boyfreind-that she found a weak spot in my reinforced fenceline, and went thru to the full grown "whether" next door and pestered him all night long. Since she has done this on her last three heat cycles, I finally relented, and took her over to a Nigerian goat breeder, to have her bred.

( when I got there he had a set of quads on the ground!

) She has allways been a friendly goat,with people and kids, and isnt skittish at all, but sometimes she is unpridictably spunky. I am glad we got her allready de-horned.

 

[ibquackers20]

well hubby was even thinking on a mini donkey as well but I would rather stick to mini horses since I do all the cleaning and work with them.

 

[Sonya]

I have two mini goats - a pygmy and an nigi cross. Mine have horns, so they are not with the horses at all (those horns are belly level on the minis)...I have a really friendly one and the other one (which is a rescue) is scared to death of people, not aggressive, but scared.

Mine are both wethers (gelded male)...I would definately not start out with a buck...they can be aggressive and they stink to high heaven.

Mine do not eat pasture grass, they eat weeds and leaves/tree branches...I always say they eat more like a deer would than a horse, so their pasture is primarily woods. They do eat a mixed hay and goat feed (not a grain, it is a pellet with a little corn in it)...they also have salt block available to them, loose supplement and baking soda (for bloating)...

They are really cool and alot of fun - I'm getting a couple more next spring. The do need wormed regularly, but not quite as often as a horse, ivermectin. Some people use paste wormer on them, but my vet said no, it has to be very accurate, so I get the shots from my vet and administer them myself (overdose can kill a goat)- about 3 times a year. They do need their feet trimmed every couple months, but this is very simple to do, the vet can show you how, you use prunning shears to do this.

I love my goatees, if you want more info, feel free to PM me...I could go on and on...

 

[lilfoot]

We've always had small goats around our minis. They are so gentle & good natured. Even with their horns we've never had a problem...quite the opposite actually...the horses rule! The goats will graze & nibble hay at feeders with the horses but can move pretty quick if they aren't wanted. As I only have does, I don't know if a buck would be more aggressive?

 

[ibquackers20]

I saw a really tiny goat at my town fair and it was soooo cute, If I was to get one or 2 I think I would find one like I saw it was (I think full size)and only came about just my knees - does anyone know what it could have been.

 

[Little Wee Horse Farm]

We had a little billy pygmy goat who was 14 inches at maturity. The babies are sooooooooooooooooooo tiny, it's unreal. My kids really liked the pygmies "constant smile." They really do look like they are smiling all the time.

But, like I said in the other goat post, they ate my horses' manes & tails so had to go.

 

[Margaret]

A nigerian dwarf.

That is what I have.. Snowball only comes to my knee's, and is a three year old. Thes types of goats come in all colors, (including tri's) and even with blue eyes. You should be able to find a breeder, around you with a search...............Or maybe for a better price check out the feed stores and see if their are any posted ads on their bulleten boards- listing them for sale by owner. (this is a good time of year to find them around here)

 

[Sonya]

saw a really tiny goat at my town fair and it was soooo cute, If I was to get one or 2 I think I would find one like I saw it was (I think full size)and only came about just my knees - does anyone know what it could have been

Both of mine come below my knee - it could of been a nigerian dwarf or a pygmy. pygmies tend to have the larger, more round belly. Pygmies hair tends to be a little shorter than the nigi also. Both can come in different colors. Pygmies seem to always get the bad rap when it comes to goats. I just love mine, he is like a dog - follows me around, sweet as can be, has never escaped or tried.

Can you tell he's my favorite!

 

[minisaremighty]

I have nigerians (9 does and 2 bucks). I personally would never put them in a small area with my mini. That's just my opinion. He doesn't like them in his space anymore than they like him being in their space. It's not a safe situation for the goats, at least at my farm. I adore those little goats too much to put them in harms way. My goats are all super friendly and love humans, however they are afraid of the minis. I do allow them all to be in our big 2 acre pasture because they can keep a safe distance from the horse and feel safe.

Nigerians are my FAVE goats.

I've had 7 different breeds and they are the one I finally settled on breeding.

 

[Marion]

We have up to 35 goats before mostly pygmies. Now we only have one. She has been with us for 9 years. She was our bottle baby, and she doesn't know that she is not human or horse. We have had her by herself for awhile but she got depressed, so we put her with our weanlings. She eats in her own bowl and they eat in theirs. She doesn't try to get out and destroy things. She is fun to play with and loves for her head to be scratched. When we let her out in the big pastures with the other horses, she stays with them and doesn't wander off. She will sleep under the carport and not get out of the way when cars come that was our only problem with her.

 

[Black Magic]

Our neighbor has 43 acres of goats... every kind and size. They also have a mini donkey. Our mini HORSE... just hears the noises and gets all sorts of upset. He starts acting like a donkey himself and kicking everything in sight. Our kids ride him, and one things for certain... can't take that boy over to their house. I know some of their goats sell for like $1800 for one of the little ones. They pick them up, love on them, kiss them all over.... (think they are pygmes).. but they wouldn't dare let any of them near any of our minis.

God Bless,

Lynn W