david c wrote:
I've never kept goats, being a city boy, but wouldn't a tether work? I suppose it depends on how many goats you are talking about. Drive a sturdy stake into the ground near where you need the goat to do it's work, and tether him there with something he won't chew on.
One of these cork screw type Dog Tie-Out Stakes might do the trick. I have one for my dog that I use while camping, and it is near impossible to pull out.
http://www.amazon.com/Super-Duty-18-Dog-Tie-Out-Stake/dp/B001ELMBEM
I suppose the biggest issue would be shade, water and whatever else the goats need. I understand your desire for letting them roam and take care of themselves.
David, here is where it's beneficial to have access to people who DO have experience with goats, LOL!
First of all, I've tried the cork-screw dog tie-outs, and even my dog (75 lbs.) could pull it out of the ground. I wouldn't even attempt it with a 125-180 lb. goat! I think they do work in some kinds of soil, but unfortunately, in a lot of places, the soil won't hold them. Here, in the summer, the clay soil is baked so hard that you can't get one of those things into the soil in the first place; when the soil is soft enough to screw the tether into the ground, it isn't hard enough to hold it. And I've tried them in looser soil, and again, it pulled out.
Second, goats don't generally chew on things like dogs do (it's a very common mistake for people to equate goats with dogs, since they are around the same size, but they are VERY different animals). I HAVE had goats destroy their
shelter by chewing and tearing at it -- one of those tarp-over-frame carports; they very quickly destroyed the tarp. But it wasn't the same kind of chewing that dogs do.
Third, NEVER tether a goat unless you are going to stay where you can see it! If something scares the goat, it will bolt, hit the end of the rope, and break it's neck (had that happen to one of my milkers one time -- that was the last time I used tethering for goats). If there is any way they can get tangled up, even on a clump of grass, they will, and then have no
feed, and usually can't reach their water. Being ruminants, they need to spend quite a bit of time each day eating, unlike dogs, which can bolt a bowl of food in a few minutes and then not need fed again until the next day. And, being small prey animals, they are extremely vulnerable to predators, even your own dog who just wants to 'play.' Tied, they can't get away, and without fencing to keep them out, any dog that comes along is going to be able to get at them. If you tethered inside a dog-proof fence, you might be able to get away with it, but if the fence is dog-proof, it's probably goat-proof as well, so you might as well just eliminate the tether!
It is, or was, common practice in some areas to tether the household
milk cow, but cows are not nearly as vulnerable to loose dogs as the smaller goats are. (A single dog attacking a cow is likely to end up very sorry that it tried such a stunt.)
Leaving the horns on the goats isn't going to help much -- they do use their horns somewhat for protection, although they have several other functions that are probably more important in wild goats (horns radiate heat, are used as back-scratchers, and are used in dominance fighting and displays). But horned goats are killed just as readily by dogs as disbudded goats are. And horns are prone to getting caught in fences and so on, which has it's own set of serious problems. (It amazes me that they can get their heads through the fence, but then can't figure out how to get the same head and horns back out!)
It was a good idea, one that many people before you have had, but unfortunately, with goats, it just isn't a practical way to deal with them.
Kathleen
Hateful job though.
