Feeding Unruly Goats for Free

Animals have all type of personalities. We have goats and they all sure do have tons of personalities varying from calm to crazy. One goat, Bruno, is a super energetic acrobat who got stuck and broke a horn as a little kid. Alas, now we have a unicorn goat. This Instructable teaches you how to care for a goat like this who is a crazy escape artist who never stays in an electric fence. Note that in the picture Bruno has a harness on. This is because he has been able to escape out of a 5' high fence! He will need the harness before we can put a top on the fence to properly contain him.

Goats are very useful for farm to table. Bruno, as the name implies, is a male goat called a buck. He comes from great dairy goat lines and will be used for breeding future goats. Male goats that are castrated are called wethers are used for meat.

-Goat

-Fence paddock

-Shelter

-Water container

-Pruning shears, loppers, or small hand saw

If your goat is like Bruno, build, or if you have one already, a 5' tall goat fence. Be sure to put water and shade in the fenced area.

In the spring, summer, and fall nature provides tons of free goat food. Go into the woods or the field and 'harvest' goat food provided free by nature. You don't need to go buy hay bales.

Give the goat all the branches you harvested and watch them enjoy. Give a variety of foliage but be sure to steer clear of cherry or mountain laurel, which is poisonous!

You can harvest more than your goat can eat and put the extra into storage for the winter. Pick a tree like Beech which will hold its leaves for a long time and not drop them like a Memosa will.