Goats? As a pet? Help?

[whatthewhatthewhat]

How good a pet is a goat? How hard to look after? Can you get just one? What about with a toddler?

Are you kidding???

Someone who lives in my area has a pet goat. They take it to Pets at Home in the car to stock up on whatever goaty things Pets at Home sell. DH knows the owner but I cant remember the goats name.

Of keeping them I have no knowledge other than the Male goats (billy) have a bit of a stink.

@Beachbodynowayready haha 🤣

Goats eat anything. One ate my anorak circa 1980.

Absolutely no! We looked into it as we had hens & ducks at one time and fancied something else farmy. They take a lot of looking after etc.

My recollections of my friend's goat is that it ate everything it could and it would bite, they are also escape artists. This was on a farm. No way I'd have one as a pet.

You've goat to be kidding.
I'll get my goat, oops sorry. I mean my coat.

God, I bloody love goats. They look like they're on a massive piss-take (like me) and give no fucks.

Pygmy goats feature in my 'when I win the Euro Millions Lottery' fantasy. Along with huge dogs, lemurs and a swimming pool. And a chauffeur to do the school run.

As you were.

I have pygmy goats.... They are cute and silly but they are greedy and need to be in a secure field with a cozy shelter. Also, should be in pairs..... And don't get entire males... They stink!

They can be agressive if you don't get ones with a good temperament. Horned animals don't make great pets for toddlers so you might need to get dehorned or naturally polled ones. They are extreme escape artists so you need very good fencing or you will fall out with all your neighbours. Also, they're not really pets.

And no, not just one.

I have 2 female dwarf goats. They are great! Very easy to keep but need stout fencing as they will squeeze through the smallest gap. Wouldn't be without them.

@Sarahlou63 so cute

I knew somebody who had a pet pygmy goat. Imaginatively named Billy.

He used to take it out for walks on a harness. Very sweet thing - but it terrified the local ferals' untrained Rottweilers, as on first meeting them, one tried attacking and Billy knocked it spark out.

His only advice to anybody thinking of keeping them is as follows;

No fence is too high.
Make sure you are on good terms with your neighbours.
Hide your teabags.

I have a friend who has a couple of very nice sheep but they seem like a lot of work, friendly though.

You can’t only have one. They’re herd animals.

Omg sarah your goats are so cute.

My dad had goats for 30 odd years. I loved them, but they are a huge amount of work, plus you can't just take them for a walk - you have to register as a smallholding, fill out movement records and so on. And they hate the cold/wet, won't eat anything they have stood on and are very intelligent and naughty.
We did acquire a castrated male pygmy goat at one point, and he was great fun. But dad could trim his hooves, vaccinate him, worm him etc and we had the appropriate vet - and you often can't take livestock to a large animal vet as they are set up for being called out which really racks up the price.

I’d love a goat! Wouldn’t unless I had land though, even the friendly ones chew everything

Our family friends had a pet goat. They were farmers but the goat lived in their back garden.

She was absolutely bonkers. She loved it if you pushed her forehead really hard with all your body weight. When you let go she would then jump onto her back legs like a horse bucking! She was hilarious and yes,she'd eat anything in sight.

The little ones look so sweet.

I'd love a couple of goats, but I think you have to register with Defra to have them?

Wow. You have to have at least two. You need to have a holding number and a herd number. You need to make sure that they are ear tagged by whoever you buy them from and that you complete the movement licence correctly. Oh and they need to be transported appropriately.
Once you've done all that you then need to actually learn how to keep them happy and healthy, which is not easy as they can be surprisingly delicate.

Sounds harder than having a kid! Lol