# Ideas for Borderom Busters any tips?



## Clover the Goat (Jul 28, 2017)

My goat clover is in a 15 by 15 except for like 20 to 30 minutes in the morning and in the afternoon. He has a carrot mineral block his food hay and grass! What are some toys or things that could bust bordom. We are building a climb on.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Tires half buried in the ground
Old spools from electric companies
Old kids playgrounds
Picnic tables

If he doesn't have a buddy, I would suggest getting one. Goats get lonely by themselves.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Good advice from Suzanne!!


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## Clover the Goat (Jul 28, 2017)

Thanks from me and Clover


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## Clover the Goat (Jul 28, 2017)

Will send pics when his pin is finished!!!!


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

15 what by 15 what? Feet? Yards? Meters? If it is only feet, I really suggest he have more room, it's just not enough. There are lots of youtube videos and Pinterest ideas on goat toys and platforms. I really suggest you check them out for ideas that may suit your needs. He really does need a buddy as has been suggested. Also, don't put those climb-ons too close to his fence...not gonna tell you how that last piece of advice came about....


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## capracreek (Apr 5, 2016)

Mariarose I had to laugh at the comment about building too close to the fence - I know where that came from. Little goats are quite the leapers. We put our in the middle of the enclosed area where we pen them up at night.

We have some 2nd hand stores and flea markets around and have found some good buys on the playschool toys - castles, slides, ladders etc.


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## Clover the Goat (Jul 28, 2017)

Ok thanks for the advice. The pen is yards i think. We are taking measurements later. He has a buddy now!! His name is Chewey and u can only guess why we named him that. We found old wood projects out at our farm. We are in the progress of making him climb ons. We are building ramps and other stuff. We might use old electric spools.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

capracreek said:


> Mariarose I had to laugh at the comment about building too close to the fence - I know where that came from.


SHSHSHSHSHS!!!!! Serious shushing going on here...


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## happyhogs (Oct 12, 2009)

Not a toy as such, but much loved by my goats and alpacas....stiff yard broom heads screwed to the side of the barn so they can have a really good old scratch against them. Mine just love to head rub against them and end up with cute, fluffy fringes....a bit like having their own drive thru hair salon!! :crazy:


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

Goat tether ball--make a hole all the way through a cabbage & put some wire through it. Put one end of the wire through a plastic cap or something to keep the cabbage on & hide the sharp end. Then attach the other end of the wire to some carabiners so it swings around & is challenging to eat. My goats like dogloos for climbing on & sleeping in. My pen is small so recently I added a new shed but put it up on piers so they can go under it too.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

@catharina OK, you are officially, brilliantly, helpful. I wish you would move Northern California closer to South Central Kentucky....

CABBAGE!!!! For The Win


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

Thanks, Mariarose, but I copied it. Actually saw a chicken cabbage tether ball video online.


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## New-goat-mom (May 21, 2017)

My goaties love cowbells. I have three of them hanging from a bar. They will balance them on their foreheads and bounce them to make them ring.


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## Clairepaws (Feb 2, 2016)

happyhogs said:


> Not a toy as such, but much loved by my goats and alpacas....stiff yard broom heads screwed to the side of the barn so they can have a really good old scratch against them. Mine just love to head rub against them and end up with cute, fluffy fringes....a bit like having their own drive thru hair salon!! :crazy:


That's a really good idea, my goaties loooove to scratch. I'll have to try it.



New-goat-mom said:


> My goaties love cowbells. I have three of them hanging from a bar. They will balance them on their foreheads and bounce them to make them ring.


That is too cute!


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## klee6150 (Jul 9, 2018)

Our two ND wethers insist on tether cabbage happy hour everyday at 1630. They stand on their perspective stumps (PB on the left and Jai on the right) and “meh” their heads off if we are late. I use a long drill bit to make the hole and then pound a 12 inch eye bolt through the cabbage. A large washer and nut secure it. I hang it from our walnut tree on a rope with a carabiner. They go to town. Our seven hens mill around the stumps scarfing down fallen scraps. What a show!


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

klee6150 said:


> Our two ND wethers insist on tether cabbage happy hour everyday at 1630. They stand on their perspective stumps (PB on the left and Jai on the right) and "meh" their heads off if we are late. I use a long drill bit to make the hole and then pound a 12 inch eye bolt through the cabbage. A large washer and nut secure it. I hang it from our walnut tree on a rope with a carabiner. They go to town. Our seven hens mill around the stumps scarfing down fallen scraps. What a show!


I know you have a video of this on your phone, we want to see it.:buttheads:


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## GoofyGoat (Sep 21, 2018)

klee6150 said:


> Our two ND wethers insist on tether cabbage happy hour everyday at 1630. They stand on their perspective stumps (PB on the left and Jai on the right) and "meh" their heads off if we are late. I use a long drill bit to make the hole and then pound a 12 inch eye bolt through the cabbage. A large washer and nut secure it. I hang it from our walnut tree on a rope with a carabiner. They go to town. Our seven hens mill around the stumps scarfing down fallen scraps. What a show!


We use kabob skewers and cucumbers or squash hanging of the top of my chickens pen and they play piñata with it. I love your idea with the carriage bolt for the goats!


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Something for the body, and something for the soul. Many good tips already, I add:

* A daily walk in a forrest with big stones or logs to climb and balance on. Use the "treat lead" to control them. (Give a treat now and then to keep them close to you. Bend down branches and young trees for feeding leaves, check both non-toxicality and permission from forrest owner.)

* It sounds as if you have little time for the goats, maybe cannot go for walks, maybe you must go to work all day, arrive home hungry and weary. Then it might be nice for them to have something to figure out while alone. Here, you can buy balls or cubes for dogs, where you can insert the daily treat (or the entire dinner, if your dog is really bored), and let the animal figure out how to push the ball/cube to get out the treat. Usually there are several options inside, to make the puzzle easy at first, more demanding by-and-by. Ball for timid individuals, cube for more rudy persons.

* The nature of goats is to jump, climb, and balance, to be social (including a turn of wrestling with the other billy-buck), and to eat leaves and bark from selected bushes. Like most others, they also like to see what happens around them. If you can, choose at least one climbing object made from stone or concrete, then they might trim their hoofs by themselves, very neatly.

* And yes, beware of having a climb-object too close to the fence - on either side! Not only keep the goats in, also keep predators and uninvited children out!


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## OpieDoodle (Nov 15, 2015)

If you can get some big wooden spools they can be great for this! I am lucky and have a wonderful husband that is a commercial electrician. So that means I end up with SO MANY SPOOLS. Its awesome! Try to look around for electricians you know or call some companies even. Sometimes they sell them, if you try to buy them off craigslist and similar people try to charge outrageous amounts for them. 

I plan to build a jungle gym with them this spring. I plan to put some roofing tiles on a couple to help keep their feet nice then I am going to take big boards and make bridges across them, stack some up (and bolt together so no worries of falling spools), etc. 

I also have been saving old tires so we are going to bury them half way. 

I plan to take old push broom heads or cheap stiff grooming brushes and put a post somewhere in the field for a scratching post too. Then I am going to attach some bells to the side of the barn. Those are the ideas so far, I plan to put them in over time this spring/summer.


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