Anybody here familiar with goats?

[icymist]

I rent a room from two wonderful people in a suburban area that just ten years ago would have been considered rural. The house here sits on about 1/8 acre (maybe less) and a huge amount of blackberry have covered the rear of the yard. The people I rent from have reached out to (their) friends to find out what can be done to get rid of the blackberry and now we have two old male goats in out yard. Two days ago I walked out the back door and found that we now have goats! The people who brought these two goats over put them on lines, separately, and warned my roommates that the two should not come into contact with one another because they would do, "boy things at each other". Then, my roommates say that these guys ordered that the goats do not need shelter or food from us because everything will be with the blackberry bushes. And that they're goats. They have apparently been let out like this before, for weeks, as one of my roommates' friends referred these 'goat people' to them. This whole thing of the goats don't need shelter doesn't sound right to me as I just went out back to see the two old guys chained to their separate tether lines. They both have really thick fur and I was able to run my fingers under the collars. I have not seen hide nor hair of their owners since they have left the goats here with us two days ago. Is this how we're supposed to treat old goats?

[left-of-center2012]

1. "boy things at each other" -- fight or make love?

"Anybody here familiar with goats?"

Contrary to rumor,
I have never been 'familiar' with goats!

[icymist]

2. I guess fight as I am hearing this from my roommates. nt

[woody44]

3. old goat person here........

I raised milk goats for about 20 years. This is rather cruel in my mind. First off goats do need shelter, they hate rain! They are pretty hardy with cold, but would need shelter from wind, snow, rain and hot weather. Also blackberry bushes alone is not much of a diet for them and they would be suffering from malnutrition fairly soon.

Up to you as to what steps you may want to take to help them.

[Timmygoat]

4. Just like any other animal

Goats need shelter, usually a barn, they also like to have straw in the barn, they need regular food and water too. It seems to me that it is cruel to leave them on lines, any predators like large dogs could possibly attack and hurt them badly. They really can do a good job of clearing a lot of weeds etc.
If you have a young goat they are a wonderful and smart pet, they also need to see a veterinarian too. I raised a baby goat who became almost part of the family, he would come when I called his name, he was mischievous, love to have a saltine cracker as a treat, in fact he came up on my deck at regular times of the day, ate two crackers and drank a bowl of water, which he loved if it was slightly warm. So please treat the goats well!

[handmade34]

5. goats are browsers

and certainly good at clearing brush- including berry plants... goats will probably live ok with no shelter (in dry, warm climate) and eating just the brush (if enough)...

that being said, I would always provide some sort of shelter for them, give them plenty of fresh water (and supplement grain) and allow them to interact... buck goats should be fine together especially if there are no does to fight over... I am sorry that some people don't care for their animals as well as they should

[MineralMan]

6. Ask the conservative cave-dwellers.

They know goats intimately, I understand.

[GulfCoast66]

7. My grandfather kept them

They were more than half wild and lived in a fenced in area that was half pasture and half woods. They had no man made shelter but were not f'n tied up. I am sure they made their own beds in long grass or thickets the way they evolved to do. Just like deer or elk.

He would use them to clean out pastures or yards overgrown with weeds.

And it would have taken one hell of a dog to harm the big old Billies. They scared the shit of 10 year old me. The does and kids would have been at risk.

Funny thing is they liked to climb. They would get up on the truck hoods and honest to God I saw some in a live oak tree. Wish there were cell phones with cameras back then!

[sarah FAILIN]

8. I don't think you need goats for an eighth of an acre

Pay someone to go in with a hatchet and chop the bushes down then keep it mowed. I've push mowed a half an acre and you have a fourth of that. Blackberry bushes are easy to keep mowed down.

I'd feel bad for the goats and want them to have shelter and some food besides the blackberries. Maybe send 1 goat back and rent a doghouse of some sort for the other one.

[icymist]

9. It's not my call. Roommates own this property.

We're trying to get in contact with the goat owners/handlers.

[sarah FAILIN]

12. Gotcha

We have blackberry bushes in some areas, but we just mow them down where we don't want them.

[Philistein]

10. I would at least sneak them a few treats.

Some carrots would be nice, and they will like you for it.

[procon]

11. Raised dairy goats for almost 30 years, and like any other domestic animal

they require human attention to provide them a basic level of care. Hay, water, salt and dry shelter to protect them from inclement weather would be the very minimum. Tethering any animal is cruel and a inhumane practice and it leaves them vulnerable to dog attacks or getting ensnared and strangling to death or breaking a leg. It also prevents them from finding a comfortable place to rest away from their own waste and find shelter from the sun or rain. I would never put a goat on a tether.

If they are uncastrated males, the strong musk and their natural, frenetic mating drive would make them unapproachable at this time of year as they would be in full rut and will mount anything. Since you were able to pet them, I suspect they are neutered which stops most, but not all of their rut.

Goats are great for clearing weeds and brush, but this is the fall and the plants are mostly fibrous with little nutritional value this time of year. Goats, as thrifty as they are, simply cannot eat enough to sustain themselves on woody plants alone and need regular feed as well. If the goat's owners care so little for them, you might see if the SPCA will rescue them.

My husband 'rescued' a starving little pony that someone had tethered beside a road and left it to forage for weeds with no water. The poor little thing was tangled up and couldn't move so he cut her ropes off, boosted her into the back of his car and drove her to the SPCA two towns away so her terrible owner would be less likely to find her. He said he found her walking on the road and they took her in. We called occasionally to ask how she was doing, and when she was back in good health we saw her pictured on their webpage and ready for adoption. Just an idea...

[ileus]

13. You can tie out goats

to a dog house, mount a 5 gallon bucket of water to the dog house, a set of wheels on on one end and handles on the other. Every day or two you just move them to another spot to clean up. But yeah....I'm pretty sure water is necessary at least.

[SharonClark]

14. Contact the local humane society and ask them to check the goats' situation

Animals can starve to death filling their bellies with bark and shrubs that lack nutrition.

[icymist]

15. I bought a fifty pound sack of goat feed for them.

Tomorrow, I'm cleaning the shed out and spreading straw down on the floor for them so I can bring them in at night. I would rather it be the property owners to call the humane society. I just got a huge speech from the husband to 'give it a rest' and that 'deer and elk don't have to have shelter'...blah, blah, blah! I'm waiting for the wife to come home and see what she says. Meanwhile, I'm trying to do my best for these good old guys (goats).