Coloring a goat

[IdahoNancy]

Has anyone had experience using a dye to color a goat? My Dodge is a white and cream Alpine with black marking. He is beautiful. However he does not blend with nature as well as my brown Oberhasli goats. Last year  while archery elk hunting I felt like Dodge gave the elk more pause than my Obers usually do. Of course it did not help that we were hunting where 60,000 acres of forest had burned to the ground. All you had to hide behind was rocks and burnt trees. The elk were thriving there. All my goats have to stay with me when we hunt.  
I found an all natural temporary brown Henna hair dye. It came from a place called the Henna Hut. It should last about 6 weeks if I get him clean enough to start with. The business owners advertise that it has been used on dogs, cats and horses with no ill effects but they have no evidence to prove it is safe. It seems like there is bright colored dye for horses, and some expensive brown horse hair dye in Europe. 
Just wondering if anyone has a thought on the subject.

[Nanno]

That is a funny question and made me smile.

I can't see how it would hurt to dye his hair brown. I also don't think his white color will spook elk though, so I'm not sure it's really necessary. The wildlife in our area seem to have no problem with our goats' loud-colored coats. I think prey animals look at shapes and movements more than colors. Goats walk like deer, so prey animals aren't going to pay much attention to them. What is more likely to alarm them is the shape of a pack on a goat's back, or the fact that your goat smells like humans.

[Colorado Shawn]

I would have to agree that elk don't care too much what color goats are and seem to almost be fixated on them instead of being scared of them.
Just got back from a hunting trip with 5 goats from white (saanen) and nubian.

We saw a total of 5 bulls (all close but no cigar type thing) and they all seemed transfixed by the goats.

[IdahoNancy]

Likely you are right but I am going to try the henna dye. Hopefully he does not come out orange. When hunting only 1 of the 3 goats is carrying a day pack. It is one of Greg's old mountaineer soft packs that is transferable between goats. It allows me to have supplies with me to take apart an elk but it is not suited to carry heavy meat loads. We have to go back to camp for the NWPG aluminum cross bucks when we need to haul meat. The goats don't get tired trading the pack between them.
Last year was frustrating to see so many elk and not be able to get them close enough to get a shot. The big burns are great for the elk. Lots of new low lying plant growth and they can see everything. This year we are going to a forest with trees that have limbs.

[Nanno]

You'll have to post photos of your hair dying experiment. If he comes out orange he'll be all set for rifle season.

[IdahoNancy]

Just to conclude this subject. I did attempt to color Dodge. He was washed well with a dilute solution of Dawn dish detergent and rinsed well. It was over 80 degrees and he did not mind. I mixed the powder, scrubbed it all over Dodge, and left it on for nearly 1 hour like the instructions said. Then I rinsed him. He was a light shade of green for 2 days then it turned a very light shade of gray brown. Not much happened. My hair dresser said I should have kept him damp. He was dry and crusty when I rinsed him.
It snowed like crazy anyway and he blended in perfect.

[Nanno]

GREEN!!! I sincerely hope you've got photos! Phil and I about died laughing when we read that!

[IdahoNancy]

It was a lovely shade of very light mint green. The instructions actually said that might happen. I had put what amounted to dark chocolate pudding on him and barely got any color to stick. Dodge had a collar on where the dye stayed damp. There under the color his hair was a lovely shade of henna brown. I may gamble the $25 again and try it one more time next year keeping him damp. If it sticks I'll get you a picture before the green fades.

[Nanno]

We NEED a picture!! That is just way too hilarious!