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J&J Acres

Big Family on a Small Farm

Keeping Goats – Options Without Fences

Goat on a Lead Eating

Our buck goat happily eating down weeds while on a wire rope lead. Photo by J&J

There are times when even the best of us let the cart get in front of the horse. Times when a great deal comes along and we jump on it, knowing all to well that we likely shouldn’t, but still the thought that it may never come around again weighs on us, and we do it anyway.

This is what happened when we started to keep goats. We wanted to have them to clear our property. We wanted the milk. However, of all the things we wanted, there was one thing we did not have – a fence.

Maybe you are in a similar situation, but for other reasons. Perhaps you need your goats to clear a specific area, but they roam elsewhere. Perhaps you have a fence and it was damaged, or proved inadequate for your smart and determined goat.

Whatever the cause, I would like share with you a few of our experiences and lessons learned.

You can, in fact, keep goats on leads, runs, ropes, chains, tie-outs, etc. There are things you need to know, things to expect, and ways to work around them.

If you would prefer to watch this information, please view our video series here.

Learn About Goats:

Before setting your goats to pasture on leads and runs, there are a few things to understand about goats.

  • Their feeding behavior is much more similar to deer, than their close relative, sheep. While goats will graze a pasture, they will seek out the trees, thorny plants, and other such foliage first.
  • They are very, very, strong. This is not to say that you cannot handle them, far from it. However, you need to consider this when choosing any material or hardware being used to restrain them.
  • While each goat has their own habits, expect any natural food source that would be within reach of most tie-out type of systems to go quickly. Because of this, you will want your set up to be easy to move, or be prepared to provide forage to the goat.
  • Access to water is critical to the health of all animals, and cannot “wait” until you pen the goat up at night.

Let’s first focus on the feeding behavior. This is all about location, location, location. A location that not only provides ample forage for your goat, but also ensures that you do not loose any trees you plan to keep.

A goat can, and will, “walk” up a 20 foot tall sapling, bending it over as it goes, and eat the leaves – perhaps even snapping your tree while doing so. This is an important consideration to us as we recently discovered Black Walnut trees on our property, and we want the saplings to live.

Keeping the goat out of reach of these trees, as well as other ones we have planted, is a primary concern for us.

Choosing Hardware for Livestock:

Next, consider what type of system you wish to use, and what components you will need. We have had success using T-Posts, short and long runs, and of course, trees. No mater what your plan is, expect to use “heavy-duty” stout hardware that can stand up to the abuse a goat will put on it.

For example, how do you plan to attach your goat to the lead? We use large, thick, nylon collars which are marketed for use on extra large dogs. These work great and we have never had a problem. We did – once – use a less expensive leather collar, which one buck was able to easily tear apart – right at the D-ring.

Use heavy latches – the type you would see at the end of a horse lead. A typical latch like on a dog lead would have a small nob on it that you slide down to open the latch – DO NOT use these. The goat will, at some point, rub up against a tree or get stuck on a vine and open the latch. You want the kind you have to pull out in order to open them.

To be clear, take a look at these pictures:

This is a good latch

This is the type of latch you want to buy. It is called a Bull Snap. Photo by J&J

Wrong type of latch

Do NOT use this type of latch for goats! Photo by J&J

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continue Reading for Page 2: Pasturing Goats

Pages: 1 2

Filed Under: Raising Goats Tagged With: Fencing, Goats, Starting Homestead

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Comments

  1. Annie @ MontanaSolarCreations says

    March 30, 2013 at 3:00 pm

    This is really helpful to know! As we’ve been shopping for a home with a little more land with the hopes of getting a goat one day I’m trying to learn as much as I can so I can be a bit more educated when the day comes we can actually get a goat!

    Reply
    • Jared Stanley says

      March 30, 2013 at 8:11 pm

      Thank you Annie. We appreciate you reading our blog. I would definitely say you are off to a great start by reading up and educating yourself on them before jumping right in 🙂

      Reply
  2. Samantha Burns says

    July 15, 2013 at 6:51 am

    Thanks for sharing your experiences regarding goat-keeping! This is some valuable information!

    Reply
    • Jared Stanley says

      July 15, 2013 at 9:07 am

      Thank you for taking the time to stop by and read it! 😀

      Reply

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