Goat or Ducks??

[debrac69]

We are thinking about getting a little farm life going here. I would love to get a goat. I've always loved goats. I've also always loved pigs, but I'm not sur if they're allowed. We know we can have a goat or several ducks/chickens so I'm also thinking about a few guinea fowl.

Any advice on being the first in the neighborhood to even consider farm animals much less have them? What are some of the things I really have to think about before bringing a new animal here? Should I talk to my neigbors first? What is the cost difference between housing/food/health care for goats vs hens? So goats need more attention like a dog does?

We're just thinking about it but John said he'd be fine with having a goat or hens, Joey would love it, and I think it would just be the coolest thing ever!!!

I've been told by several people that I belong on a working farm not in the suburbs on Long Island ~ regardless how rural of a suburb I may live in!

[Danaus29]

Guinea fowl are LOUD!!! Very loud all the time. We set up next to someone that had guineas at a swap meet once. They left pretty early and quiet never sounded so good.

How much land do you have? How easy can it be fenced in? Do you have a companion animal for a potential goat (not including Emma, goats are rough and I wouldn't want one to hurt Emma)? How about a good local vet? (goats are very demanding critters, shelter, vet care, shots, paperwork, etc) Do you have or can you get good predator proof shelter for chickens or ducks? Is your yard fenced? Do you have a feed store nearby? Feed sacks are heavy and any animal will eat a lot, you need to have access to critter feed. How close are your neighbors? How close will your critter shelter be to the property line? Can you put in a fenced area for poultry?

Goats need as much attention as a dog. Maybe more. The poo is great for the garden but goats can and will eat anything except the weeds you want them to eat. They are great escape artists, noisy if not fed on schedule or given as much attention as they want, they will be rough and butt and jump, even around fragile people and little kids.

Chickens are noisy and dusty. They don't need a lot of vet care, usually by the time one looks sick it's too late to save it. They can be friendly and let you pet them but roosters can be nasty once they mature. They eat a lot of bugs and scratch up your yard. They can get feather lice (easily treated with sand or diatomaceous earth placed where they can "bathe" in it. They can get stinky. Pens will need to be cleaned but the poo is great for the garden, even better if it has sawdust or wood shavings mixed in.

Ducks need water. They can be smelly. Some breeds are very flightly and won't let you get anywhere near them. They eat bugs and plants, especially plants you want to keep. They smash down more vegetation than they eat. They dig holes in wet or loose soil areas. Some are noisy, Muscovies are not. They are active all night, whereas chickens sleep when it gets dark.

Do some research. The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emory and Backyard Livestock are good books to start with. Your local library is a great place to start. Do you have a local Tractor Supply? They have a great selection of books on chickens, ducks, and goats.

As for your neighbors, if the animals are permitted you don't need to talk to them. You just need to check with your local zoning department to see what the actual regulations are. I know of someone who was told they could not have chickens only to find that they could. Some locations limit the number of animals, others set limits on how close the shelter and pens are to houses and property lines.

[petal*pusher]

Whew Rhonda! I sure agree with everything you said! Mom had chickens when I grew up.....and for about 6 years, we had lambs first....then 2 goats.

Those chickens can be pretty smelly if not taken care of...and I remember a few roosters who gave us problems...but we always had plenty of fresh eggs! I loved waking up with the rooster crowing! (my 4 brothers did NOT!)

The lambs were so much easier than those 2 goats...but, of course, the grew up. I remember throwing grapevines in with the goats when making wreaths...they'd eat all the leaves so the twining was easier!

Rhonda...I wish more people would consider all those thoughts you put into writing before purchasing! Deb...the memories your children would have and the chance to teach responsibility is a great opportunity, and Rhonda gave you great input!................p

[Danaus29]

Pam, I've ended up with rabbits that people never put any thought into before buying them. I wish more people would think about and ask about animals before buying them.

Mom has a hair sheep (not sure what kind) that plays rough with the Pyrenees. The sheep runs toward and then head butts the Pyr, knocking her off her feet. Dumb dog just stands there and takes it. No wonder she is limping. Mom has had a couple goats, both were a lot more trouble and work that she thought they would be. I will admit that my ducks were a lot more trouble and a lot more mess than I thought. Now I am kind of sick of them, but then I go out and watch them eating the crickets and slugs and coming up to me wagging their tails and I think about how much fun they are.

[debrac69]

I ALWAYS ask lots of questions, do lots of research, and ask for tons of opinions before I decide to bring an animal home. It's probably why I'm so active in Aussie Rescue and why I tend to butt heads with so many backyard breeders.

Thanks for all your input Rhonda. I knew you'd "give it to me straight" which is just what I like to hear!

I don't mind working to keep an animal well-cared for and happy, but I need to get a little something back in return. I need a kiss, or a hug, or a little wiggly butt to make it all work while. I know that much about myself at least.

[Dog Mom]

Have you considered a minerature horse or shetland pony? They would be great companions for your family, and Aussies are wonderful at herding horses, great for Emma!

[Danaus29]

Then if you were closer I would give you a few of my female ducks, no drakes unless you want to learn how to butcher, they multiply like crazy! I've got some that follow me around the yard and beg me to dig them up some treats or pick off a slug or two. Give them a handful of Japanese beetles and they will follow you all over the yard (but not into the woods, they don't like the woods).

Good luck in your search and research. I hear there are some chickens that become very friendly (Mom has one that has to be petted every morning). Goats and sheep have to be purchased at very young ages or bought from someone who has raised them as pets in order to be very friendly. Mom's weaned sheep still has not tamed down and wants nothing to do with people. A warning about ducks though, most will run screaming from you no matter how much time you spent with them when they were babies. The Muscovy though will tame down quite easily, especially when hand raised. Our little Kahki Campbell still will not let us get close to her and we did baby her quite a bit.

[greenasagourd]

Hmmmmm, a herding dog & chickens. Reminds me of a story ...

At one time we lived on a farm complete with chicken coop, kennels, hog lot, all the proper structures for the animals. We also had a border collie named Hickory. One hot summer day when we were at work, Hickory killed 75 out of 100 chickens! This dog had never killed before. It's herding instinct told it to herd the chickens & he tried to pick them up with his mouth when they wouldn't obey. Of course, chickens are very dumb & they die if you look at them sideways. When we drove up the drive after work, we found dead chickens scattered all over the ground & a huge swarm of yellow jackets all over the chickens. It looked like a horror flick. I was stung all over my feet while running from the car to the nearby house. My feet ended up so swollen I couldn't wear shoes for a week. Poor Tommy ended up cleaning up the mess. The smell was horrible! He was stung too. He wasn't too happy with Hickory. That's our story of the Jonestown Chicken Ranch Massacre!

Okay, that was an extreme story. My SIL currently lives on a chicken farm & they raise hundreds of chickens. They have dogs. No problems with their dogs & the chickens. They have lots of animals. She did have a miniature goat & she dearly loved it. However, in the end she decided the goat was just too much trouble even in her barnyard scenario.

Of all the animals you mentioned Deb, I lean toward the pig. Pigs are a lot smarter than goats or fowl. How about a pot-bellied pig? I keep hearing they can be good pets.

[herasday]

Some more thoughts on goats. We had a goat a couple times when I was a kid. (no pun intended!!) I love to watch goats play, and I like the way goats look like they have intelligence behind their eyes....watch out....they do!! LOL. But they aren't fun to play with...just to watch. That is my remembrance. I don't remember every "playing" with the goats we had. They weren't interested. And if a goat isn't interested in what you want, you can forget it.

Words I would use in description of goats.

Cute to statuesque to lovely. Crafty. Ornery. Self-interested. Garbage disposal. "Laid the earth bare". Escape artists. Jumpers. Head butters. Biters. Kickers. Fearless. Prefer foliage and bark. Actually, I think they do not eat hard bark, but remove it to get to the life giving cambium layer, perhaps). Will eat ornamental grasses after eating all foliage and bark off all trees and shrubs in reach. Ingenious. Able to leap fences in a single bound. Able to leap tall fences using minimal bounding off places (lawn chairs and tables, stumps, woodpiles, decks, concrete block, branches of trees, family dog, birdbath, doghouse roof, shed roof, garage roof...yes, if it can find a way to get UP to a garage or house roof, it will have not problem leaping one leap of ten or twenty feet down from it on the other side of the fence, even if there's no intermediate steps going "down". ) Intelligent. Able to learn commands. Not interested in following any commands. Bottomless pit. Ready, willing and able to ingest, masticate and swallow leaves, bark, grass, cloth, leather, paper, rope, clothesline, cardboard, plastic sheeting, rubber. (They cannot digest all of these things and some can cause severe gastric problems, but they remain willing to try if it looks like a good idea at the time). Goats do NOT eat tin cans despite their rep...they do eat the labels and glue off them...they love glue, apparently. Ready, willing and able to bite, kick and butt intruders.....and anyone else they perceive as being in their face. Stinky. Remember, when you think about the pig versus the goat. You are apt to hear someone say that someone else LOOKS like a pig. But if they really want to insult them, they'll say they SMELL like a GOAT.

There is nothing cuter than miniature goats playing on a jungle gym, I admit. I watched some, including adults and tiny kids playing on a jungle gym for a couple of hours and could have watched much longer. I wanted one. Hell, I wanted six. But that's another thing to think about. Goats are active. They played and played on that thing, and it was a jumble of concrete and wood structures, about 20x20x20, with ramps, ladders, leaping platforms, ledges, and slides. They were at it continuously for the whole two hours, running, leaping and bounding up and down, going to the top, sliding down the slide, and running around to clamber and leap up it again. Played tag and butted one another off the platforms. Stopping only to get some water, and I bet they continued til sundown.

And about your yard. Neighbor's who bought the old farm next to my Dad's house needed to clear out pasture lands that had grown up to all manner of trees and shrubs and herbage so it could not be planted to grass for grazing anymore. They could have gone in with chainsaws and brusheaters and taken all summer to clear it out. They rented a small herd of goats, instead. They rent goats specifically for clearing land of shrubbery and vegetation, Deb!!

Those goats stripped the leaves off every shrub and tree, and then girdled saplings by eating the bark, killing those too. It went from thickets of underbrush and groves of sapling trees to barrens in a couple months so it was easy to take in a bucket loader and knock over the dead trees and take them out.

[Daylilydayzed]

Wow, that makes me glad that I live in the city and the only animals you can have here are cats, dogs, birds but no farm animals.