Over the past two weeks my goat have gotten increasingly louder. It first started with them just making more sounds in anticipation of going in for the night and coming out in the morning. Now just in the past 4 days they have moved up to SCREAMING all day long. They sound like they're all being disbudded. My goats have never been THIS loud! I live in the suburbs and I'm so worried that my neighbors will complain and force me to get rid of my goats. The only ways I can get them to be quiet is if I sit outside with them and feed them weeds, leaves, and grass that they can't otherwise reach or put them away in they're shelter. I can't spend my whole day making sure they stay quiet. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong to scream about. Both of my does are new mammas and they're not in heat.
What should I do to keep my goats and my neighbors happy?
And ease my worried mind?
Replies
Okay, I've been watching them carefully these past couple days and they're still loud but not as loud as they were. It seem to be the new mamma who's starting it all and the others join in. I'm not sure if it's food related because they'll sometimes scream while they eat/chew cud. My neighbor just gave me a big bunch of tree trimmings that my goats LOVE!!!!!! And they will still scream. Fortunately they have stopped screaming in the mornings and afternoons. so My way of keeping them quiet has been: 7 let them out, milk the does, fill the hay bin, And let them stay out as long as they can stay quiet, usually around 5, then I'll let them back out at 7 to milk again, and then I put them in for the night. I'm hoping I can gradually move them back to their usual time of 7 to7 for DST.
Yeah, my goats all get noisy when they are hungry. They also do it when they hear the back door open and close, because they know that means food, so if I haven't fed them yet, or if they eat it all before the day is over, they will SCREAM when they hear the back door.
I have one Dam raised doe and one bottled raised doe. Normally my dam raised doe would rarely ever vocalizes and even when she did it'd be just a low grunt. And my Bottle raised doe would be a little louder ,especially when she saw people through the window when I first got her. They usually do acknowledge people moving through the house but they were never loud about it until now.
My two kids that are partially bottle-fed this year are noisy. Sometimes, when they are, the moms are also. But, for the most part, things are normal. The two little ones will see me moving around in the house through the kitchen window and start yelling. I've started leaving the kitchen light off unless I really do need it since I realized that was what was happening.
Yes mine do get talkative when they're hungry. I have they're hay feeder filled to bursting point(just the way they like it) but after an hour of them going to town on the hay they move on the either cud time or browsing time. They do get special treats from time to time, I like to think that they know that treats are something to eat and not something to ask for .;) I did have to slightly change they're hay type yesterday from oat mix to oat(the hay place was all out of oat mix) but they were being loud before.
Mine get loudly talkative when they are hungry. They are a bit spoiled and know if they come to the gate and yell for me, I'll come down and give them some more alfalfa or something special. Could this be what is going on for you? I also found after my goats kidded they were famished all the time so I had to keep more food available to fill them up.
I've had my goats a little over a year. My first does kidded march 20 with twin boys, volume wise nothing changed. My second doe kidded just 10 days ago on the 20 again twin boys. The talkativeness had been, like I said, only when I was letting them in or out. About 5 days after she kidded is when things really got loud.
How long have you had your goats? When did they kid? Did the talkativeness start after kidding?