Our First Livestock Animals: Adopting Goats

I really wanted goats. I'm not entirely sure why in retrospect. Perhaps I had a certain idealisation of what goats were like, influenced by all the videos of cute playful baby goats I've seen over the years. Here's what I thought I knew about goats:

When Anita spotted a trio of goats up for adoption as pets from a farm sanctuary, they sounded perfect for us.

This taken directly from their adoption post:

They are cheeky (looking at you Griffin!), friendly and love to be on the receiving end of scratches and endless snacks!

They love to be around people and will gladly take whatever veggies and Weetbix you have to offer them and help you do the gardening!

Seemed like we had so much in common! I like snacks and scratches too! And with that, we made arrangements to meet them. When we arrived at the sanctuary, they suggested meeting some other goats first, a family of five, which was a couple more than we bargained for. But three were still kids and, oh so cute!

Once we had spent some time with Griffin, Gruff and Hazel (at that time named Mumma G), we were both pretty confident we'd found our goats.

They were a little nervous with us, but they took Weetbix from our hands and Hazel seemed to be so affectionate. We realised we had to get our act together on the goat proof fencing!

The fencing project was a bit of an ordeal, mainly because we weren't certain what we needed. We really didn't want the goats escaping, so we decided it was better to be overcautious. The fencing we selected explicitly stated that it was appropriate for goats, and on top of that we added two electric wires. That should do the trick!

Three weeks after first meeting the goats, the fencing was ready for testing! We had our three new goats packed onto a livestock trailer for the 30 minute journey to their new forever home. We were excited to have them, but apprehensive, because we're both new to keeping goats. We'd done some webinar courses, so we knew most of the basics; how to look after them, feed them, reduce the chance of them getting sick. We were just going to have to learn fast.

The fence was ready, I'd half buried a few old tires and placed a few wood stumps for them to play on, I'd built them a hay feeder from a couple of old wooden pallets, and we'd picked up some fresh hay for them. Wow that's another thing to learn; how to select decent hay. That leads me to the debunking of my first false assumption: They can be fussy eaters! They are picky with what they eat, and as soon as it touches the ground, that's it, ruined. No five second rule. Ruined. Hazel seemed to be the fussiest eater of the lot. We started preparing different snacks for her, as she didn't love the fruit as much as the other two did.

The three of them do seem to enjoy being high up. I placed the few tree stumps on the top of a little hill in the middle of the paddock, and it brings me joy to see them meerkatting on those bits of wood I struggled to cart up the hill.

The tires I spent hours digging into the ground, on the other hand, I've never once spotted them using those.

A few weeks go by, we are getting used to the new routine, and we have never had an escape. Perhaps we become a little complacent, or perhaps just absentminded. We forget to latch the gate, and leave it unlocked overnight. We wake up the next day, notice the gate, and of course panic. Where are the goats? Oh they're in their pen of course. They have food, they have water, they have shelter. They've got it pretty good really. Our goats; not escape artists!

Not much to say on the final point, our goats don't really smell. I'm sure some goats do, probably a lot more so if kept in a smaller space.

There is certainly a lot to learn, keeping a species you are unfamiliar with. Try to learn their mannerisms and the sounds they make, trying to understand what they need. It's been enough time now that we see how different they are, their personalities, food preferences, temperament. Diving into the world of goat ownership may feel daunting at first, but with a bit of patience, you'll soon find yourself knee-deep in bleats and belly rubs. Embrace the quirks, the accidental hornings, and the occasional nibble on your hair, because at the end of the day, these caprine companions really become part of the family.