My goats pics - Paw Talk

Runt · #1 02-22-2005, 06:01 AM

Here are pics of my 2 pygmy goats Sweet William and Sugar

Seems William is having a few problems lately

He loves to play with any dog cat or human.He will rear up and try to butt you.It is so hilarious to watch him and my dog playing outside.

Padfoot · #2 02-22-2005, 06:16 AM

Awww!! They are so cute!!!! I love goats!

Runt · #3 02-22-2005, 06:24 AM

Thank you Padfoot.I would love to have a few more females of different colors someday.

Mygala · #4 02-22-2005, 06:55 AM

They are priceless at that age. Very cute pics! They look like they are about the age where we start training them.

Have you had William nuetered? We snip them on or about day 7.

Play butting is pretty common in young hand-raised goats. We heavily discourage that from the outset when it's directed at humans. It's cute when they are small, but having a 50+ pound goat hammer you from behind the knees isn't so cute when they get older.

Runt · #5 02-22-2005, 08:28 AM

Quote:


	Have you had William nuetered? We snip them on or about day 7.

I would love to raise a few.I am looking for a couple other females just haven't found the ones I want yet.

Quote:


	Play butting is pretty common in young hand-raised goats. We heavily discourage that from the outset when it's directed at humans. It's cute when they are small, but having a 50+ pound goat hammer you from behind the knees isn't so cute when they get older.

That is true with the 50 pound goat.Willie and Sugar are as big as they will get that is what I love about them.They are pygmy goats.They are over a year old.William butts me I think for attention.I usually grab behind his horns and start scrathching his head he loves it.We just watch him closly with the smaller kids.
Matthew,My grandson is 2 and William was on the porch and Matthew was climbing the steps and the goat head butted him.Matt started rubbing his head and said stupid goat hit me.was very cute but could of been dangerous if he had of been farther up the steps.

indychinchick · #6 02-22-2005, 08:35 AM

Awww Connie. They are adorable! What cuties!

Runt · #7 02-22-2005, 08:42 AM

Thank you

**Scarlette** · #8 02-22-2005, 12:15 PM

Aww! They're so cute!

jmb9101 · #9 02-22-2005, 12:45 PM

They are so cute!! They look so soft in the pics. Its been a long long time since I have pet any goats...my cousins in Georgia have goats...but Im pretty sure they arent pygmy goats. Yours are much cuter than my cousins.

CTChin · #10 02-22-2005, 03:29 PM

They're adorable!! I love pygmy goats. I have two males (neutered) and two females. I much prefer the wethers. When the females come in to heat they are annoying!

Purplebunny · #11 02-22-2005, 04:23 PM

Thanks for posting, they are lovely!

Runt · #12 02-24-2005, 12:19 AM

You are welcome Purplebunny.
Thank you all for the compliments

***Jade*** · #13 02-24-2005, 12:26 AM

They're adorable, Runt! I've always liked goats.

Crazy Chin Lady · #14 02-24-2005, 10:11 PM

They are adorable Connie!

Last year for my birthday we went to a small zoo that had chinchillas.

(Yeah, I know I'm probably too old for the zoo) Anywho, they had goats there and I wanted desperately to take one home! One of the vet techs at the vet clinic I go to owns a goat, and I'm pretty sure it's a pygmy goat.

Mygala · #15 02-24-2005, 10:32 PM

Runt,
I know we had PM'd about how I train my goats, I thought I'd post the synopsis here in case anyone else was interested in goat training. I'm not going to use "technical" training talk, like bridges, reinforcers, adversives, etc. I'm going to make this as simple as is practical. (For you professional trainers out there this is not intenced for you.)

Its pretty simple, we decided not to use clickers or whistles, instead we give every behavior a "Good boy!" or "Good girl!" as is appropriate, followed immediatly with the reward. Soon they associate your verbal reward with the physical reward. Between you two, it serves as a notification that they hve done the right thing, and they are going to get paid. It's a promise you make to them. Don't break it.

First off we had to find something that our herd would work for. Their diet is mostly hay and browse, so our pelleted diet supplement (we call it "grain", even though it looks like large rodent chow) is highly sought after as a treat. You might use chopped fruit or veggies, some places even use RyeKrisp crackers. It just has to be something they will only get if they work for it.

We only train one goat at a time. In order to single one out, it's easier if they know (and respond to) their own name. This is a pretty easy behavior to start with.

Say the goat's name, loud, when he looks at you, give him some grain. They will follow you around for awhile hoping for more, but ignore them. When you no longer have their attention, say their name, when they look ...pay them. Get one goat to know its name before you move on to the next. It will take some time before they realize that only the right name means they get paid, but in a day or so, they'll have it figured out.

Once they both know their names, pay them every time you say their name. Pretty soon, they'll come running from anywhere when you call them. Ocassionally, and by this I mean no more than once per day, "Jackpot" them. That is give them a sizable reward, one a bit larger than they are used to getting. This is really effective, the first time they do exactly what you want them to do. It's also a good thing to end a session on. ...They got it right and got well paid. Next time you train, they will be even more eager to please.

Next behavior was to "station". We have large stumps in the yard. They climb naturally. Stand next to one, get the goat up on it and them pay it. They try to anticipate us, and we use that to our advantage. If I took a step towards one, they would run to it. Next I would step and point. Pretty soon all I had to do was point to a stump without moving, and they would run to it. Now all we have to do is point to a stump and say "station" and the animal will go all the way across the yard to station. This allows us a great deal of control of the yard. I can send troublemakers away from disputes without having to wade in and drag them away from one another when they start roughhousing.

The next easy behaviour is to teach them to wave. If you stand close to them while they are on a station, they will "paw" at you to try and get your attention/food. When they lift that foot (but VERY IMPORTANTLY: BEFORE they touch you) step back and pay them. You want to make sure you are paying them to lift the foot, not to touch you. Once they figure it out, they will do it all the time. Then start saying "Wave", and waving at them yourself. Then, only when you wave and say it will they get paid.

We generally have both a verbal and physical command for every behavior. That way the will work for either.

I'll leave it at that for now, that should get you started.

Good luck, let me know how it goes!