# looking at Saanen goats



## sgian (Jun 18, 2008)

I'm looking at some Saanen goats for weed control and family dairy use. Are there any things to look out for with this breed, or any potential drawbacks compared to other breeds? I'm in the hills of Missouri, so it gets into the 90's with humidity during summer and it snows during the winter. Alpines and Nubians are very popular here, but I don't see many Saanens.


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## Hollowdweller (May 5, 2011)

Love saanens. Only breed I've ever owned.

They can be prone to sunburn is the only downside I think.


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## sgian (Jun 18, 2008)

Thank you for responding. We got three this morning, a doe, her doeling, and a buckling. They are mostly Saanen with some Nubian. They aren't as friendly as I had hoped and ran off into the woods before I could take any good pictures of them in their new pasture. Now I'm going to have to wade into the brush to check on them in a few hours to make sure they don't bloat.


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## Hollowdweller (May 5, 2011)

Sounds for sure like they have some nubian in them


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## Hobbyfarmer (Sep 7, 2011)

Sounds like you've goat your hands full. Have they calmed down?


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

Did you make sure there was not anything that is poisonous in the woods? Do you have baking soda or bloat block out for them?

 How old are the babies? I can't wait to see pictures of them.


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## sgian (Jun 18, 2008)

I can get a little closer now, but they still run off when I get too close and they won't come to the shelter or water pail because they are on the side of the pasture that is closer to the house. They must be drinking from puddles and runoff. That is my main concern, although they still seem healthy. I recognise now that I should have put them in a smaller pen at first until they got used to me.

We have pepto bismal tablets, which we've used successfully in the past for bloat. Since they won't come to treats, water, or shelter I don't think we could get them to use baking soda left out.

As for poisonous plants, I've looked at lists and gotten more confused after reading them. I did look over a few lists though and some of the plants listed like nightshade are on the property. However, the goats we had in the past didn't eat them. We also have oak trees although our goats in the past never got sick off the oak leaves, and cherry trees which I am more concerned about due to the pits. The plan was to let the goats eat the brush and poison ivy down around the fruit trees and then fence it off before the cherries fell. We'll have to reconsider that plan though since they haven't even stayed in that section yet.

The kids are about 6 weeks old.


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## Hobbyfarmer (Sep 7, 2011)

I've had awesome luck containing my goats with electric fence. But they need to be handleable first,. Because its a psychological barrier. They must be trained propely not to blast thru when you approach. Something for you to consider in the future. 

Ideally they should have been contained and handled before turning them loose. Good news is the learning curve with goats is steep. Most mistake are easily rectifyable and only made once. Ask me how I know  Just be persistent and think outside the box. Your book knowledge will quickly turn to hands on experience.


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## sgian (Jun 18, 2008)

Unfortunately my book experience is zero, since I don't have any goat books and don't have the attention span anymore for a book. I have some hands-on experience with goats and the internet research I did to try to solve problems, not as much as some here but more than others. In the past I already had some friendly goats and they led the new goats around to shelter, water, and treats. So I only had to quarantine new goats to check for disease, and it was a smaller pasture without browse, just grass. 

This time, having had to sell of all my goats in 2010 due to losing my home to a fire, I didn't have the friendly goats to show the new goats around, and my sheep were using the smaller pastures. That's why I made the mistake of releasing new goats into a larger pasture this time, because I hadn't selected them well enough and it hadn't been such a problem before.


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## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

I have Saanens as well. Love them.


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