Nigerian Dwarf goats

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rockyhillrabbits

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I have the opportunity to buy a young doe and buck for a very good price I think. $150 for the buck and $100 for the doe. Hubby is thinking they can stay in the rabbit barn until we build them a goat pen. Our perimeter fence is only barbed wire and will not hold a goat. He thinks it would be a good investment if we get them and let them breed and sell the babies.
I'm worried about them trying to mess with my rabbit cages, them escaping the barn and running off, or them getting out and the horses, not knowing what they are, killing them.
My cages are all hung on the side of the barn, except the biggest is on blocks on the ground.
Any ideas? I don't even know if I want to add a couple goats and would have to do my homework as I have never bred goats.
I'm thinking if we get them to build a decent sized pen for them just off the barn. Would they be worth the hassle though?
 
I don’t have goats yet but I do have sheep and the few times they’ve been out and around my rabbit hutches was a nightmare. They LOVE rabbit pellets, to the point of pawing at the feeders on the front of my lower hutches. They knocked the feeders off my hutches so they were left with escape holes instead of feeders, I had to do some emergency reorganizing. They also eat any dropped pellets on the ground in the rabbit manure, they paw and make a mess. I don’t want to dissuade you from getting goats as they would probably be fun, but speaking from experience, get your fencing done BEFORE you bring them home.
 
I have Alpines, Lamanchas, Nubians, and crosses of the three breeds. They’ve been into my rabbit barn before and it was a disaster. I use hanging wire cages. The goats knocked down the barrels where I kept my feed and other stuff. They also ate the hay a pellets that fell to the ground from the rabbits’ cages. And they also knocked down the rabbits’ J feeders’. My poor rabbits were super scared, I quickly got the goats out, and they’ve never will go back into the rabbit barn. I think getting started with goats is a great idea! Just don’t put them in you’re rabbit barn.
 
Goats rub on things, including cages, good for their coats, bad for cages (and fences) use electric fences, and give them something safe to rub on (and preferably 4-5 feet long i.e. longer than their body.
You are better of putting them in with the horses (but seperate), those stalls are build sturdy enough. There are people who have goats as companion/emotional support animals for horses and those that keep a mixed flock/herd (flerd) for better pasture mainentance and to keep intestinal parasites down. But mixing species requires time and observation along with keeping the possibility to keep them seperate for feeding and so on.
Train goats to be on a pin (stick in the ground with a rope to their collar) and put them to work trimming back brush and such stuff that otherwise requires your time with noisy machines. Move them daily and stall them at night, you don't want animals "tied" like that without regular checks and important! no other loose animals like other goats or horses in the same area, gives trouble with hierarchy or tangling the rope itself.
 
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