First Goat Problem

[Nanno]

I'm glad to hear Sam is on the mend!

[DownUnder Gal]

Just catching up on all the news. I am sorry to hear of Sam's injury. I have had great success with flunixin meglumine in goats which I think is the active ingredient of Benamine (it's marketed under a different name here). It sounds like he's on the road to recovery

[hihobaron]

DownUnder Gal
Thanks
I have the same thing here.  flunixin meglumine is the Generic Name for it.
Yaa the but head is dancing on hind legs to pull down tree limbs instead of eating briers.
One good thing, about this incident is all the boy's have learned about going on the high line.
I give them about 3 hours in the AM when it is cool to browse then call them in with a Coffey can of Afla pellets rattling.
I think they can hear that from a mile away and come running and Sam is never the last one in line.
They get a feed in their pans at each tie point starting with Senior Goats and working down hill.
They are in a good shade position on a old logging road that is very overgrown.
They have munched a lot of the old road clear as far as they can reach.
Will have to start thinking about moving the high line to different area soon.
I do have a couple areas I want then to munch on but no good tie points or to many things for them to tangle up in.
I do have remote camera on them now but range is limited to about 300 feet.
I am thinking about a picket pin set up, (Good Training) But have seen horses hurt using it.
Have to keep them all together any way.
Question for you or anyone:  
My main trail in is hard gravel it is getting overgrown.
I have high ground clearance trucks.
Here is my though:
Drive picket pins in the center "Hump" and tether each goat so they browse just the edges of the drive way and far enough apart so they don't tangle with each other?
I do have equipment to pull the pins easy and progress down the trail when a area is browsed down.
Leap Frog kind of thing.
I know steel cable and goats dose not work well.
Rope I have used,
Light smooth link chain I have seen recommended. (Nanno)
All the boy's have good collars and are tagged JIC they go walkabout.
Current High Line drops are just horse lead ropes and nobody has chewed threw one "YET"
They can all see each other and have full bellies from browsing so I think they are content to be on the line till dark when the get  unhooked and run on their own to the shed for hay and more afala pellets.
Yes, I have spoiled rotten Goats.
Any of the picket pins I need I can make for myself .
Thanks to all for concern for Sam and any ideas you want to present.
Happy Trails
hihobaron Blizzard,Fuzzy,Pete,Sam and the Troops in South Carolina

[DownUnder Gal]

Hello HHB, I have not picketed my goats so I am not the right person to advise you. But I have a general question for you and everyone else in the US who tie out their goats regarding predators. Are they an issue on your own land during the day? I am wondering specifically about big cats and bears. We have wild dogs, foxes and the odd pig but no large cats or bears here. Crocs are only up north. Maybe a topic for another thread.

[hihobaron]

DownUnder Gal
Here in my area South Carolina
My take is I have to worry more about dog people turn out when they get home from a 9-5 job.
Used to have a close neighbor that at 2 am would get home(Bartender) and turn lose a doberman that would run all over barking (Young Dog) She moved out last month. Not a bad person or dog just timing.
There are a few black bears around. Feral/wild hogs are around but not in numbers in my area.
I have a small flock of Wild Turkeys and a deer or two passes through the horse pasture.I don't bother them.
During the day I don't worry to much.
At night I can hear coyotes but that is the reason the boy's go into their shed at night and I have a camera on it.
In 5 years and a couple different locations I have never seen a goat predator. Hawks,Eagles, Buzzards YES.
I leave them alone, actually would like to have a hunting Falcon. Seen a couple coyotes, but if I see them once the next time I use a rife, same thing for dogs.
I am glad I don't have to comply with the gun regulations you have there.
At any time here there are at least a couple loaded rifles/shotguns and pistols close to hand.
More for 2 legged animals than 4
It is getting a bit rough around here and I dread what may happen when Trump gets voted in to office and the Democrat party is kicked out and all the minority's/refuges have to go home because they are not "citizens"
BTY: The Democat Party has been "sucking up" to all the undocumented minorities for 8 years because they can in many states vote.
Come in get a work card(Green Card) and when it expires go into the woodwork.
It should prove interesting come November here. At that point every gun I have will be loaded and ready,

Happy Trails
hihobaron Blizard,Fuzzy,Pete,Sam and the Troops in South Carolina USA


  Trump Goats 1.JPG (Size: 55.73 KB / Downloads: 32)

[Nanno]

Hello HHB, I have not picketed my goats so I am not the right person to advise you.  But I have a general question for you and everyone else in the US who tie out their goats regarding predators.  Are they an issue on your own land during the day?  I am wondering specifically about big cats and bears.  We have wild dogs, foxes and the odd pig but no large cats or bears here.  Crocs are only up north.  Maybe a topic for another thread.

Wild dogs would be an issue for tethered goats. We tethered our goat, Cuzco, for several years when we lived in a neighborhood. He had a nice yard but it was small and he could easily jump the fence, so we tethered him. We tethered him outside the fence in the vacant lots next to us almost every day so he could browse and get some exercise. We never left him unattended out there, however. Since we worked at home and the office window faced toward the back lots, we were able to keep a constant eye on him. We did have the occasional dog come by and give chase, but we were always there to drive it off.

[Nanno]

Hihobaron, you can picket your goats out. They are less prone to accidents with picket lines than horses, partly because they're smarter and partly because they don't have the speed and strength to tear their own limbs apart if for some reason they bolt in panic. The biggest danger from picket lines is entangling the neck or legs. This is why I use a smooth link chain or a thick rope. The thick rope can get very heavy, especially in the rain, and cause the collar to rub their neck raw, though. Smooth link chains are very unlikely to tangle around feet and legs since they slide off or around instead of knotting up. They can still get hung up on trees and stumps though, so be careful of tethering near obstructions. I also use a leather collar or one with a plastic release clip that is weak enough to break in an emergency.

[hihobaron]

Nanno
I am going to move our Picket Pin goat staking out in to either Training or one of the other "Working Threads"
Thanks for the info here though.
I do try to keep thread post on the topic of the thread.
TRY TOO is the operative word
Plan to day is put equipment together to do the job, going to town for supplies any way.
May have a update later for all on what I came up with and how the boy's handled it.
Happy Trails from the Troops in SC
hihobaron