# First goat!



## Saltlick (Jun 12, 2011)

[attachment=1:3kwbyuna]IMG_8655.JPG[/attachment:3kwbyuna][attachment=0:3kwbyuna]putnik.jpg[/attachment:3kwbyuna]Well, since I was a teenager that is... Just got my Saanen kid, have no idea if whether in a few years he'll make a good pack wether or not, but he's super sweet and mellow, leads and rides in the truck well and not flighty. He likes to be close to people. I just love him! Still looking for an adult pack-wether so I can start right away and take the kid along with us. I named him ''Putnik'', which is Serbian/Croatian for ''Traveler''.


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## IceDog (Aug 1, 2010)

Yay! Congratulations!

Cool name!


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## Jake Levi (Jun 9, 2011)

He's a cutie !! 

A new family member !! 

Enjoy !


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## Nanno (Aug 30, 2009)

Aw... goat smiles make me feel so warm and fuzzy.


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## Saltlick (Jun 12, 2011)

Thanks guys!  Only thing is, I am so paranoid about poisonous plants I am afraid to take him on the trails here... seems like San Francisco bay area might have a lot of poisonous/toxic plants, and I don't know them well enough to identify them yet (have definitely seen holly and poison hemlock for sure) -would you recommend a goat muzzle/feedbag in that case? (Don't want to annoy the little guy, but also don't want a dead goat). Are succulents toxic? Not sure what he would or wouldn't eat, but don't want to risk it either!


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## Cazz (Jun 9, 2010)

He's so cute! Congrats. 
I don't know much about poisonous plants sorry - if you want to take him for walks, maybe take him on a lead and make sure he only eats what you know is alright until you sort something else out.  
Cheers,
Cazz


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## Jake Levi (Jun 9, 2011)

There is an excellent book on Amazon.com that is titled something like The SAS Survival Book, my son has it now so I amnot sure of the exact title, google it on amazon, I found it under survival/plants search, 

also under hiking/backpacking.

it has good material on how to detrmine if a plant is poisonous or toxic and edible, I have tried it on a number of things, some I know , like poison hemlock, and its right on. 

I am trying to read all that I can find on the NW plants, as many are different from what we have here in northern MI, some arnt. Huge amounts of bracken here, as well as other common not good browse. Chokecherrys, etc.


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## feederseaters (Nov 8, 2009)

Saltlick said:


> (Don't want to annoy the little guy, but also don't want a dead goat).


Please don't feel like you are doing your goat a dis-service by putting a muzzel on him. He will learn to wear it without complaint, there is just a small adjustment period. All it takes is a few nibbles of some plants to get a VERY sick goat. Also, you can always pick and hand-feed safe plants that you CAN identify for him even if he is muzzeled.

When you get more comfortable and can identify more of the toxic plants, you can take the muzzel off. A LOT....let me say that again.....A LOT of raising goats is about tough love.

He is a cute goat. One of my best packers and sweetest personalities is part saanen. He is also my dominant goat and the one I have had to "teach" the most.


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## Saltlick (Jun 12, 2011)

@ Jake - actually I have that book, I'll have to check out that part of it  thanks!

@Jessica - I have the muzzles just in case (may have to modify or make a smaller one for him), and I may just do that. Or at least keep him on a lead in certain areas. We went for about a 2 mile walk yesterday on some back country roads, I let him loose, got him away from some things I wasn't sure about (like fern), and then a lot of things he wasn't even interested in (except blackberry bushes and certain grasses). He followed me like a champ and did well with the heat (it was 83), but I have to work on him (he started trying to butt and hook my dog with his horns, unprovoked - my poor dog!) - Tough love, I agree!

Cheri


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## Jake Levi (Jun 9, 2011)

Stay your course, get the squirt gun and/or the slingshot, he is trying to establish dominance. YOU have to be THE dominant one. 

There are several books on the PNW on plants that I want/need to get, the muzzles are an excellent idea, I will be using them until I am much more informed on the plants in my area. And maybe even then. Time will tell.


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## IceDog (Aug 1, 2010)

> Also, you can always pick and hand-feed safe plants that you CAN identify for him even if he is muzzeled.


Great idea!

Thanks!


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## ali pearson (Aug 12, 2009)

Hi there, welcome to packgoats! I live in Sebastopol with four pack wethers, used to live in San Francisco, and know a bit of botany for the area. I haven't had any trouble with anything native, the one thing to to really worry about being poison hemlock. My goats don't touch it. They eat bracken fern and sword fern, which is toxic but not poisonous, with no noticeable ill effect, and only a bite or two occasionally to taste it.

The things that could really be trouble are azaleas and rhododendrons. They seem to go for them with gusto, and they will eat too much of those. Same for Japonica, a non-native shrub.

I read your post about your goats interactions with your dog being negative and agressive. If he is an only goat, it could also be he is trying to engage your dog in play. If that's the case, you should get another goat! Always a good solution. (touch of sarcasm) In any case, get a mighty squirt gun and keep it on hand, and use it to defend the dog- whether it's play or agression, the dog needs you to help make him back off and not butt him. He will probably quickly tire of the game if he gets squirted.

I use muzzles every day on our orchard romp to keep them from eating the apples. I just drop a horse treat in the bottom of the muzzle and they practically put them on themselves. They follow really well then, nothing else to do.


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## Saltlick (Jun 12, 2011)

Hi Ali,

Yes I've seen some poison hemlock, and know about rhod/azaleas, but have no idea what Japonica is... I was wondering about succulents such as Iceplant? Know anything about that? He is with another goat about his age (and he tried to be dominant with him too), and this weekend I am hopefully going to pick up his soon to be permanent companion, a 5 yr old experienced packer. I will keep after him about the dog and dominance. And I guess I'll get them used to the goat muzzles in case I need them, it may just be a load of stress off my back just using the muzzles until I get more familiar with the bad plants and my goats' habits.


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## ali pearson (Aug 12, 2009)

I let my goats eat iceplant when we go to the beach. It is a bad non-native invasive, and doesn't seem to hurt them to eat it. I have noticed that it makes them pant a little more than usual, like they are hot.
If you're ever up in Sonoma county come by and meet my goats!


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## Saltlick (Jun 12, 2011)

I'd love to meet your goats sometime, thanks! And yes, beach, that's why I was asking about the iceplant... I know a fairly secluded beach in Pacifica with hardly any people or dogs  I'd love to meet your goats, I'll let you know one of these days if I'll be up that way.


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