[pedigree porker]

We have never had goats before, we have pigs, chickens and ducks. We are looking at getting a young Alpine female, any advice and tips appreciated ie can they be electric fence trained, dos and don'ts

Thanks

[plumseverywhere]

They like company so you would need more than one.   You need to check what you have growing in the area you are hoping on keeping you goats in as they can't eat certain things - eg. Yew, certain plants, certain shrivelled fruits etc.  They aren't much for grazing but do love browsing in the tree's or bushes.   Mine do respect the electric fence and I have 2 separate area's for goats and another fenced off for my sheep.
Are you planning on mating or having goats for milk?  There are also the commitments of milking twice a day, worming, lambivac injections and fluke meds if you are in a fluke area. Dependent on age/milking and so on, you will need to feed concentrates (esp. in winter). they need ad lib access to hay.
They are bright, fun animals to have around - I love mine to bits!! 

[little blue]

also CAE testing, see the certificate before you buy!
And for milkers particuarly, get ones that are disbudded (de-horned) to reduce accidents.

|They are great, I too mine!
They will need a secure place to shelter - not keen on windy or damp weather, and need access to hay & clean fresh water (much more particular than say pigs!)
   read a few goat books, check put the goat society website & the dairy goat journal ... then ignore the more frightening bits & visit a few goat keepers, you can steal their best ideas to give yours the best housing, play area & feeding stations!

[salopman]

Although not any myself I love goats and have been around a few, my limited knowledge tells me that Alpines are beautiful creatures but are one of the more lively members of the goat fraternity and I would think elec fence to them would be a complete challenge to overcome, my friend Lesley has Saanens and Im afraid I do love them to bits they are quieter and more gentle although if you could have seen Lesley and I hoof trimming the other day with Pom then you would have thought they are very lively!! I think Golden Guernsey and Toggenburgs are quiet as well. Pls also get at least 2 - as I have learned when I get mine I will have at least 2 as they are herd animals and get very depressed on their own. Im very excited for plumseverywhere as I am going to see her new kids when they arrive - take note she knows a lot!!!
 

[Lesley Silvester]

Couldn't have put it better myself, Paul.  What you didn't mention is that Curry is half Alpine and I will never get one of mine mated with an Alpine again.  Beautiful, yes.  Escape artists, yes.  Noisy, yes.  Enjoy throwing empty buckets around, yes.

Don't know about electric fencing as I don't use it but a wooden fence would need to be six foot high to keep an Alpine female in season in (so I was informed by someone who keeps them).

I would agree with what the others say.  Don't get only one - they are herd animals.  Do check they are CAE tested - they will have a certificate if they are.  Don't expect them to eat anything - they are fussy creatures.  Do enjoy them - they are wonderful.

[Anke]

Same as above, and depending on where you are in the country there may not be that many alpines around (males if you want to breed pure especially). If you don't know anyone locally with goats, see if you can get some contacts from the BGS, and yes - read Mackenzie. It is not new but gives you a good idea in particular about goat behaviours, his feed advice is fairly complicated.

Spend the best part of this year finding out about them before you get some!

[plumseverywhere]

Our greatest escape artist Savannah is saanen crossed with....we believe alpine!  every winter her white coat takes on very dark (almost black) markings.

 The Toggs on the other hand stay put pretty much  - yes Reggie has his moments if the goat on the other side of the electric fence has a full hay bag and he doesn't (typical male, way to his heart being his stomach lol - sorry boys    )  but Puffin just mooches about being mellow 

Have a really good trawl through this section of TAS, read the happy posts and the more serious ones but don't let the bad stuff put you off neccessarily, just let it help you understand the lessons that some of us sadly learnt the hard way.  I had a very difficult introduction to goat keeping - my 4 had never been wormed or given any vaccinations at the last owner and I was far too inexperienced and lacked the knowledge to ask/check/know.  As a result we lost a male kid (of about 7 months old) within a week, quite likely heavy worm burden or coxxy or possibly a mouthful of something he shouldn't when he found his way into a neighbours garden (that's when we learnt about electric fencing!)   within a few months my nanny had died too due to pneumonia.
Since then I've become a member of our local goat club, we meet monthly - no question is too silly and the information and support we recieve by going is outstanding. Not sure whereabouts you are but we are in Worcestershire and I know some people from neighbouring counties come along who don't have their own club.

Some of the members breed alpines - horsehay herd I believe they are called. they have a website, might be worth having a chat?

I agree totally with Anke - find out as much as you can first, spend some time with goat keepers (if you are local enough you are welcome here anytime!)

   

[Anke]

If you rear pigs/weaners - goats milk is one of the best (and if produced on your own holding entirely legal) feed stuffs... mine this year went mad for their daily milk ration!

[salopman]

Blimey Plums doesnt Savannah go dark??  think thats a bit of Alpine for sure lolol

[plumseverywhere]

  indeed! she's pure white at the moment though - soon as we get some snow she'll go dark, its very funny!

[salopman]

Here is the Horsehay Alpine website - they are about 5 miles from me - Jade (Brian and Anns grand-daughter runs the website.

http://www.horsehaygoats.yolasite.com/

[pedigree porker]

Thank you for all the advice, its really helpful and will take a while to digest

[pedigree porker]

All this information has got us thinking we were going for Alpines as we wanted to keep to our black and white theme (we have Berkshire pigs, white runner ducks, light Sussex, Australorpe and Langshan chickens) we appreciate its not scientific but the colour scheme works for us.

So all this taken into consideration are there any other goats that may be easier for first timers?

[plumseverywhere]

Toggenburgs    but I am biased     Mine are placid, hardy, good milkers, good mums, beautiful, clever.....

but I'm sure the others will come along with some ideas too!

(PS anglo nubians would have been my first choice but they escape A LOT!)

[Anke]

Well you can get Black and white Anglo-Nubians, but I have no experience with them, other than the one AN x GG I had was quite a noisy girl...
If you get Toggenbergs or British Toggenbergs (btw does anybody know if it is ToggenbErgs or ToggenbUrgs, I never know...), you can always say they bleached a bit in the wash...

(They are very placid, there a are quite a few of them, including good males, the milk yields are good.. I really like mine)