# Goats on leashes (and other newbie questions)



## stirling (Mar 20, 2014)

Hi all! We are bringing our first goats home soon, a Nigerian Dwarf and her one month old twins (buck and doe). We have a great barn we are outfitting for them, though fencing is sporadic throughout our 40 acres and leaves something to be desired. The woman who is selling them to us has recommended hog panels (the soldered or welded grate type things, is hog panel the proper name?). Where is a good place to get these inexpensively? We have a lot of pasture with barb wire for the horses, is there some way to amend the existing posts with additional materials? Is it possible to put goats out on leashes safely, like if they each wore a harness?

We are also possibly bringing home a couple Dorper sheep from the same farm for serious grazing grass maintenance. Are they anywhere near as intent on exploration/ escape as the goats? Can sheep graze on leashes?


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

i can't help you with the fencing question

just to let you know, most people in Barbados tie their sheep out all day. what I've noticed is they usually tie the lead sheep and the others just stick by him/her. or they just tie them all out. hope that helps.

if you are going to tie them, make sure there's nothing they can wrap themselves around and choke themselves to death.

ETA - I meant the sheep with the tying out. everyone here will tell you not to tie out your goats.


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## LibertyHomesteadFarm (Feb 1, 2014)

DO NOT tie out goats!
They will be exposed to predators and dogs, and they can KILL themselves trying to get away.


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## Barnes19 (Sep 8, 2013)

Ok I cannot speak for predators. We have none in my country with the occasional exception of a stray hunting dog.

If there is any possibility of predators you cannot tether *anything* ... not sheep, not goats not anything.

In fact sheep will just drop dead of fright without being touched, goats generally speaking won't, not easily like sheep do.

Apart from predators, there is no reason why you cannot tether either species. But its not good ... for many reasons. Only a temporary thing really.

Virtually everyone tethers goats in NZ (personally I prefer not to, but do periodically when needed) and I've never ever heard of one killing itself ... that sounds bizarre to me!

I would never tether a sheep, they would just not settle I think ... but maybe it would be different if they were really tame like goats are.

They can be upset to start with, its really not nice to attempt tethering any animal without training first, they'll keep pulling at the line until they get used to it, but I've seen plenty of fresh feral goats put on a tether to tame, and they usually settle and stop pulling more or less over night.

Any animal that is decently lead trained should be fine for it, as long as they're in a safe area and cannot get tangled, and are well supervised.

But, tethering is a big job to do well ... more intensive sometimes than fixing the fences. Its also no good at all long term ... they have to be allowed to browse freely often. Its really only good as a quick stop-gap measure while you fix a fence to secure them.

Because I often have a problem where all the goats find a hole and escape, and I have to contain them safely until its fixed, I insist all my goat are trained and accustomed to being tethered so there's no distress.

You have to be sure that there are no sticks, scrubby bits, trees, or anything that they can wrap around. They have to have water obviously ... right at the edge of their reach or they'll tip it over. They have to have shelter ... very hard to provide sometimes.

They need to be checked regularly, and to be within easy distance of the house so you will see or hear anything wrong. Rope should never be used, only light chain, and that should have at least 2 swivels ... one at either end. For feed access reasons a chain coming off a long running wire several feet above ground is best. This also keeps the chain off the ground, so it doesn't drag and bruise the grass, they won't eat it then.

The biggest problem though is feed for them. When they're on a tether, they have to be on real good feed, scrub and grass, because they can't move around to get a decent range.

Realistically, they can't get a good balanced diet on a tether all the time. They need free range to browse often ... if I'm tethering a goat, say to get them a chance at all that nice feed on the riverbank, I make sure to let them off at least a couple of days out of every week, and then I'll only do that for a couple of weeks.

The other problem is company. They have to be kept company, either species, which means you have to tether at least 2 close together, but don't let them touch or they'll tangle.

Tethering just the lead animal doesn't work ... the others will wander off and leave them all alone. Fast way to produce a neurotic animal who hates tethers!

*But, if you could have predators don't even bother*. You can lose them too easily and thats really ugly. Although realistically, a predator will still run down a loose goat or sheep, the animals I've seen taken down by dogs were loose and it didn't help them at all. But you may just have time to get there and help them in time if they can run away.


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## Chadwick (Jan 24, 2014)

Yes I have heard them called hog panels, feedlot panels, cattle panels....
Find a good farm supply yard, you will need them for other things too, so this can be a trial run to see what they have, are they willing to special order etc.

Consider the size of holes and the size of goat head, especially if you have horns on em.


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

Go on Craigslist and see if you can find any there. Hog panels or horse panels. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Goat Forum mobile app


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## stirling (Mar 20, 2014)

Thank you all so much for the feedback, what an invaluable resource this community is!

As far as the sheep grazing more freely throughout our homestead, are they mostly interested in the tender springtime grasses shooting up right now, or will they be tempted to browse from bushes and flowers like the goats?


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## canyontrailgoats (Jan 4, 2014)

I tied my goats out for a whole summer before I got a fence, and it worked out well. Time consuming,but better than goats on your car and at the neighbors!

Put them where they won't get tangled and where there's shade if it's really warm out. I put a water bucket just where they're mouth can reach it, but they can't tip It over with the leash. 
They might cry and run in circles at first, so it might help to sit with them as they're tied for the first couple days. After that, I just ignored them and they settled down. Keep them in easy view and move them frequently so they get fresh food. When I didn't move mine quick enough they'd dig a giant dirt hole in the lawn and roll in it!!
I know everyone here says not to but if you're responsible and cautious about it, then it's actually a useful thing. People have tied goats for a long time, so it cant be too dangerous. If it's your only option, you have the time, and its temporary, then see no reason for you not to try it


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

Barnes19 said:


> In fact sheep will just drop dead of fright without being touched, goats generally speaking won't, not easily like sheep do.
> 
> I would never tether a sheep, they would just not settle I think ... but maybe it would be different if they were really tame like goats are.
> 
> ...


just fyi - most sheep here are tethered. there are fields of tethered sheep all over, and many times people have just one sheep tethered in their lot.

not all animals need company. with my guys, if they're far enough to see/hear one another, they don't get too distressed about it. some are worse than others, but usually if there's food around, they're fine and stay quiet.

I have my doubts whether tethering just one sheep or a few animals around would keep everyone in the same place, but I have seen in some places where one is tethered to a tree and others kind of surround themselves. doubt this will work for goats....

maybe different sheep species act differently? since it's Barbados, there are pretty much only Black Belly sheep. people here also tether out single cows around.....


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## Barnes19 (Sep 8, 2013)

Different breeds of sheep do indeed have different behavior patterns. 

Gotlands are quite flighty, so are our nz feral Arapawas.
Romney in my experience are pretty bossy ... Wiltshires are said to be placid. The white ones I can't quite remember the name of right now are pretty level headed. I've never had Barbados Black Bellys, although we do have them I think. I think I've heard they're quite friendly?

I can just see any of my sheep would panic and throw around on the end of the line ... they're not wild or anything, I can touch some of them in the paddock, they're just stubborn and wouldn't take too well to confinement.

I can imagine a tame lamb or a more level headed breed could be different. Maybe South Suffolk even they're much like goats in nature.

Tethering just one doesn't work in goats for sure ... just one goat loose will stay put, or maybe 2 if you have a larger number but they tend to wander off and leave some poor sod screaming after them.

Its a particular problem to me as generally if I'm resorting to a tether its because they're escaping through a fence somewhere and in danger of being shot and eaten by the neighbors!

I can name the poor sod in question too if you like ... that was her first experience on a tether, she was calm to start off, but then the others left and all chaos broke loose. I now cannot do it with her, and I had to re-lead-train her too.

I'm very careful to make sure I've got them in company since then. A major mistake and one I will never repeat ...

Its a real problem if I've got a need to hold them in for a few days, she has to be loose, and she's the worst at going through fences too! I've seen her actually climb over a 7-strand wire fence, using it like a ladder.

It wouldn't work for my sheep either ... I know if I hold one in the yards the others won't hesitate to leave it. Might be different if it was Iana the queen ewe ... but I think D2 would just give herself a promotion and take them off anyway lol! Fortunately my sheep are good about fences ...


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## Barnes19 (Sep 8, 2013)

stirling ... I think you'll find sheep will do both!

(tender springtime grasses and browse from bushes and flowers)

They mainly subsist off grass, different from goats, but they will not pass up a nice Camelia or Mandarin tree!

We have this weird one sided mandarin that never did recover ...

If there's an area of garden you don't want them to get into, maybe you could try running a temporary electric fence around that area until you can get some fencing done? You'd be looking for a 4 strand probably, with the lowest strand about 6 inches above the ground and the highest at waist height.

Sometimes they won't respect it, if they learn to go through it they'll never stay behind it again, but if you keep an eye on them when they first meet it to stop them just bolting through, until you've seen that they have all had a shock and are staying away from it, you should be fine.

Just make sure the power is always on ... it doesn't have to be off for long for them to learn!

Later once they're used to it, you should be able to disconnect the lowest strand from the power if its a problem shorting out on grass.

_
Edited to say: Electric fences work better on sheep with shorter fleece ... if they're long and shaggy they may not experience a very good contact electrically speaking!_


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