There’s a good chance that you’ve seen funny videos of goats online in recent years. Goats can be very cute and fun in many different ways, and some people like to keep them as pets.
You don’t necessarily have to live on a farm to keep goats on your property. If you have enough room in your backyard for a pen, then you might be considering raising them as pets yourself.
However, it’s good to take a step back and truly consider things before committing to caring for animals. If you have a family, then you might be concerned about how the goats will interact with your kids.
Are goats friendly or are there problems that you need to worry about when raising them? Would a goat be a good pet to have when you have children?
Keep reading to learn more about goats as pets. You’ll learn about whether they’re friendly and what can be done to keep children safe around them.
Goats Can Be Very Friendly
The first thing to know is that goats can indeed be very friendly. In fact, many people who raise goats consider them to be some of the most affectionate and nice animals out there.
This doesn’t mean that they can’t have poor temperaments, though. Some goats are going to be friendlier and nicer than others.
If you have children, then you’re going to want to ensure that you get goats that make good pets. You want goats that will be very calm overall and this means that you should choose carefully.
Many goat enthusiasts recommend pygmy goats for those who have children. They’re much smaller than many other types of goats and should be easy to handle overall.
Also, if you raise the goats from a young age and bottle-feed them, then they’re likely going to be extremely docile. It should be easy enough to allow your children to pet them while being supervised.
Ensure That Your Children Know How to Act Around Farm Animals
Of course, it’s going to be important for your children to know how to act around farm animals. If you choose to get a good breed of goat as a pet that’s very child-friendly, then you’ll have an easier time but children still need to be respectful.
Teach them to treat the goats with care and to be gentle with them. So long as your children have been taught by you how to treat them, it’s going to be possible to have a good experience.
That being said, it’s always going to be best to supervise interactions with the goats. When your children are still young, you’ll want to keep an eye on them to ensure that nothing goes wrong.
Pygmy goats are very good pets and should be extremely safe and fun animals to raise. You just always have to keep an eye on your children when they’re young because it’s your responsibility as a parent.
Eventually, your kids will get a bit older and they shouldn’t have a problem handling the goats. Pygmy goats are easy to manage overall and you can teach your kids about responsibility by having them help to take care of them.
Not All Goats Will Be This Easy
You know that pygmy goats are popular pets and that they’re considered to be the best ones to own when you have children. Other types might be a bit more unruly and this can make it tough to recommend allowing your kids to be around them.
Some goats are kind of wild and will jump around and urinate on people. You should avoid getting many types of goats when your goal is to have a safe companion for your family.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t raise goats that aren’t as child-friendly. You’ll just want to keep your children away from them and care for them yourself.
Even these goats can be quite friendly and cute in their own ways. They’re just often going to be bigger and a bit harder to manage.
Some goats have destructive tendencies as well and some can be tough on fences. You’ll have to keep an eye on them and check to ensure that they aren’t getting out of the pen or causing any other problems.
Goats Require a Lot of Attention
Before choosing to buy goats for your property, it’s going to be smart to look into how much attention they require. Taking care of them won’t be quite so easy as caring for a dog or a cat.
You’re going to need to get them everything that they need each day so that they can thrive. Goats require a lot of water each day and you have to ensure that they’re drinking enough to stay healthy.
They will also need to be fed a lot and you’ll have to give them fresh hay. For some people, the work that goes into caring for goats will be a bit too much.
It’s also true that you’ll need a fair bit of space if you intend to raise goats. You’ll need to have a fairly large section of your backyard that you can dedicate to being used as a goat pen.
If space is limited on your property, then you might want to nix the idea of owning them. They’re very cute and fun companion animals, but you need to be able to meet their needs so that they can have happy lives.
Goats Are Herd Animals
You should also consider the fact that goats are herd animals. It isn’t really going to be possible to raise just one goat.
Goats are happiest when they’re being raised as a part of a herd. This means that you’ll be committing yourself to caring for multiple animals.
You don’t necessarily have to care for dozens of goats, but you’re going to want to take care of at least a small herd. If you don’t have the time to do all of this then it might be better to consider a more conventional pet.
This doesn’t mean that raising a herd of goats can’t be very satisfying. It’s great for people who love animals and have enough time to care for goats properly.
Goats Can Be Picky Eaters Sometimes
Goats can sometimes be picky eaters as well. They’re friendly and cute, but they’re also quite stubborn in many ways.
You’ll need to go out of your way to ensure that they are getting a balanced diet. Goats will generally eat a lot of hay and grain, but that won’t be enough to keep them healthy.
It might be necessary to give your goats dietary supplements to ensure that they’re getting enough minerals in their diet. You’ll also need to watch out to make sure that they don’t eat anything that they shouldn’t be eating.
Even though they can be picky eaters at times, they’re also going to sometimes try to eat things that will harm them. For example, goats might try to eat azaleas or ferns, and those plants are known to be toxic to them.
Goats Need Routine Medical Care
Goats are also going to require routine medical care so that they can remain healthy. This isn’t too unusual since you likely take other pets such as dogs or cats to the veterinarian semi-frequently.
However, you should know that keeping goats can wind up being quite pricey. The veterinary costs associated with caring for a herd of them might be tough for some families to handle.
If you are worried about being able to afford the veterinary bills associated with goats, then it might be better to hold off. It isn’t that caring for them will be completely out of the question, but you will want to be financially secure enough that it will be practical in your situation.
Goats can live for a long time and they’re going to need veterinary care throughout their lives. This is an important factor to consider when deciding whether they are good pets for your family.
Your Goats Could Provide Your Household with Milk
Of course, there could be a practical advantage to raising goats as pets. Your goats could provide enough milk for your household so that you won’t need to buy it from the store any longer.
Granted, goat’s milk is a bit different than the standard cow’s milk that most people are used to, but it’s still something that’s nice about raising them. If you wind up liking goat’s milk, then it can save you a small amount of money on buying milk.
Final Thoughts
Goats are very friendly animals that can make really good pets overall. If you’re worried about finding goats that will be appropriate to care for when you have children, then you might want to go with pygmy goats.
Pygmy goats are fairly small compared to other goats and they can be very affectionate and docile. This is especially the case when you bottle-feed them from a young age.
Supervising your children when they’re interacting with the goats will still be a good idea. You want to teach your kids how to act around them so that they can stay safe and the goats can stay protected as well.
Once your children get a bit older, they should be able to have a good time helping you with the goats. It can be a very good learning experience for children overall.
There are many things to consider before you choose to buy goats as pets, though. You’ll need enough space in your backyard for them and you’ll need to commit to raising at least two of them since goats are herd animals.
It will cost money to care for goats since they need regular veterinary care. If you don’t have the money to care for pet goats at this time, then it’d be better to hold off.
Ben has a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies, you can find him at home with wife and two daughters. Outside of family, He loves grilling and barbequing on his Big Green Egg and Blackstone Griddle, as well as working on projects around the house.
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