Dear Friends,
I joined this group a couple years ago and have been lurking since. Only last week did I finally bring goats home, two bred does. Now that I have the goats I hope to actively participate in this website. Unfortunately, being a complete newbie, all of my participation will probably consist of silly questions, at least at first. I live on Vashon Island, Washington, by the way.
First silly question: My husband built our goat shed off the ground, with stairs going up to the door. One goat climbs the stairs fairly easily, the other more awkwardly. I think the awkward goat must have hurt herself on the stairs at some point because she was afraid to climb them in the evening. My daughter finally picked her up and carried her inside, not something I'm looking forward to doing every evening. We tried to coax her with treats, and she did come part way up the stairs. I will try that again tonight. Any ideas? Is it normal for a goat to not want to climb. He thought they would like it.
Thanks
Elizabeth
Replies
Awesome! I've never tried to teach an older goat to go up stairs, but whenever we have a kid in the house, they get the stairs figured out very quickly! Of course, the stairs are much larger proportionately to a newborn than to an adult, so that certainly makes it easier for them.
Thanks, Deborah. I think I solved it. I just hadn't found the right incentive--fir boughs. Last night she went right in when I bribed her with fir boughs. I think she's never seen stairs before, and it's a new place. I promise not to ask about every little thing that comes up. :]
Elizabeth
That's interesting! Most goats do love to climb. Is it truly stairs? Or is it a ramp? Stairs might be kind of odd, but I've seen lots of goats on ramps. People usually nail strips of wood on them so the goats' feet don't slip.