Pet Goat

COMMON NAME: Goat

SCIENTIFIC NAME : Capra hircus

DISTRIBUTION : Domestic goats are found worldwide, especially commonly in the tropics

HABITAT : In close association with humans, as they are keptto provide milk and meat

ADULT SIZE : 90 cm-1.60 m (3-5 ft) in length

GENERAL : Goat-keeping should not be undertaken lightly. Goats are difficult, suicidal, cantankerous animals that cannot put up with damp, so you will need plenty of room and time if you are absolutely set on keeping goats. A goat proof fence is the first essential. Goats will jump, climb, push and nibble, so you must supply such a fence, and a damp-proof shed.

Goats need to be part of a group so most people start by getting two female goat lings which are over a year old. They will be ready to mate the following autumn and thereafter you will have to mate them periodically if you are to have a regular supply of milk. They will usually produce two kids. If they are females you will be able to sell them.

If they are bullies they will be almost impossible to get rid of and most will have to be killed at birth. Bullies may occasionally be kept as pets but they are big, strong, hungry animals and, unless castrated, they smell extremely pungent. There are several distinct breeds of goats and you should choose one of these rather than 'scrub goats'. If you keep all the food for your charges somewhere in the same building in which they live, do ensure that the lids of the bins are absolutely goat proof, which is more difficult than you might imagine. They must also be rat proof or these rodents will soon be everywhere. If you want milk from your goats there is no option to having them mated every so often which means the inevitable problem with kids. When you start to milk a goat, try and persuade a friend to show you how to do it before you try for the first time The nanny will begin to get bored if you take too long and once she has lost interest she can make life pretty difficult for you. Before you decide which variety of goat to get for yourself, go to a few herds and sample the milk; it is surprisingly variable from down right rank to absolutely delicious and there is no point bringing home a milking goat if you have to throw away pints of the liquid each day.

Some people who take up goat keeping complain that they end up with too much milk, but even if you can't sell it, you can make cheese and yoghurt and ice cream.
FOOD: Hay and a mixture of concentrates or special goat nuts area good basic diet which should be supplemented with root vegetables, hedge trimmings and wild plants, being careful to avoid anything poisonous like laurel, yew, rhododendron, spurge and foxglove. Goats are not sheep and should not be thought of as living mowing machines for the lawn. They browse far more than they graze and will strip any plants that they can reach through their fence.

HOUSING : Goats should be housed in a damp-proof building which can be divided into separate stalls for each goat. If you intend to milk the animals inside the shed, it is a good idea to make a separate milking stall with a raised platform so that the udders are raised to a convenient height, or you will end up with an aching back.

The walls between the stalls and the fence around the paddock should be nearly as tall as a man - goats can scale fences like a mountaineer.

BREEDING: Nannies come into season every three weeks for two days during which time they make enough noise to drive you mad. Mate them in the spring and they will kid five months later in the autumn, or mate them in the autumn for a spring birth. Generally two kids are born.