I have a question and I'm not sure how to start. So I guess if you can bear with me I'll start at the beginning.
I women I work with got a baby goat, actually her daughter brought it home. They live in a trailer park, so the mother ( a co-worker ) wasn't to happy. The goat was a week old. So she bottle fed it and 2 weeks later decided she didn't want it in her house anymore. So down the road it went, to another co-workers house. She thought her son would like it. Well today she asked me if I could take the little goat because her son is not taking care of it. Now this little goat is looking for a home. I have 2 Nigerian dwarfs , they are a year old. And I'm getting to more sometime in June. Should I take this baby. How will he do with the 2 I have. Do I need to quarantine him before I add him in to the mix. Absolutely no information came with this little guy. I'm so upset. One because I think it sucks when people buy animals just because it's cute and when they find out they require some work that's it. What to do help.
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That is fine, Lyn. I'm pretty sure you can also go with straight whole milk at this point. I have heard for a lot of people that is cheaper.
This goat that I'm talking about is a Nigerian dwarf. It's only 3 weeks old. So one of my concerns is I work, I can't be home for all his feedings. How do other people handle this problem, do you work ??
I just can't stand to hear of a animal not being cared for. I have a rescue cat and a Himalayan rabbit that someone just dropped off in my yard ( 6 acres ) it ended up having bot fly, so I took it to the vet , it had surgery and $100 later I had a healthy free rabbit. But that's a totally different story, sorry.
How old can a goat be before I put it out side in a pen ? How do I get around the feeding schedule ?
Thank you all for your comments, it is helping. Any advise is welcome. THANK YOU
What breed of goat is this new goat? Aside from all the great thoughts everyone else has already given you, I have had experience similar to this with an adult Nubian female. She was not a good fit with my smaller Nigerians, even though I gave her every chance to get used to everyone and fit in. This might not be an issue for you, since your new addition is young, and not an adult. I have a feeling it might have still been for me, though. I think the breed personality of Nubians tends to be on the pushy side, and that didn't match well with the temperament of the Nigerians.
I guess all I'm saying is what will you do if he doesn't work out? That was a tough decision for me. I ended up butchering rather than pass her onto yet ANOTHER owner that she wouldn't stay with for long. (she had been abandoned twice that we know of before we took her.) I had to settle on the fact that while she was with us, she was loved and treated well. At any rate... it's a pretty big decision. I hope whatever you choose, you have only good things come from it!! :)
This is so sad! I hate it when I hear stories like this, but it's been happening for years with dogs and cats in mall pet stores. I personally would say no, but I have 50+ goats right now, including kids, so your situation is obviously different. You might try to find out where he came from. Surely the original buyer can give you some info. He may have come from somewhere reputable. Five or six years ago someone convinced me to sell her a goat as a gift to her brother and his wife who was a vet. I was very skeptical, but the woman convinced me that they really wanted a pair of wethers as pets. So, I sold them. Down the road, I heard that they were given away within a week. I was not a happy camper and will never again sell a goat as a surprise pet, regardless of how much someone tries to convince me that the recipient wants it.
I once wound up with a dog that had changed homes three times in as many days, and I was able to trace all the way back to his breeder, who unfortunately, in that case was just a backyard breeder and didn't care that one of her dogs was now homeless. But maybe my phone call at least made her think about what she was doing. We can always hope.
I am not an expert but here is what I think I would do...
If I had the means to take on this goat and give him what he needs I would take him....
I would defiantly quarantine him for about a month since you don't know where he came from etc. All this moving around and stress can't be good for him so this way you can watch him for any signs of illness and you can get to know eachother. I would put him where he can easily see and hear the other members of the herd without having contact..Which means a VERY secure pen that he CANNOT get out of.
If he is not already wethered and disbudded I would take care of that right away unless I had to pay a vet to do it, in which case it might be better to do that after his quarantine when you know for certain he will be staying.
Having seen and heard the rest of the herd for a month they will be at least familiar with each other, and the introductions will likely be typical. After about a week, maybe sooner.. I would say things should settle into something normal. If they really didn't get along for some strange reason I would probably put him in a pen close to the rest of the herd but by himself ...
In my mind, if I were not attached to him, he could be sold/given to a 4H kid or to someone as a buddy in which case he could be given a proper home and not a lone goat inside someones house or tied out or something else worse...