Training goats to follow
The first thing I taught
Abigail was how to walk on a leash. This involved a bit of pulling, but
mostly holding grain in my hand just out of nose reach each time she
stopped moving. Goats are smart. Soon, Abigail was nearly as well
leash-trained as Lucy is (although our goat gets much more recalcitrant
when she knows I'm about to lock her back in her boring pasture).
My guess would be that, if you can figure out who the lead goat is, leash training that goat might
do the trick. But I've obviously never worked with a dozen goats. And
Artemesia is willing to trot along at my heels whether or not Abigail is
on the leash --- I think she was a bottle baby, and she adores humans.
Unlike Artemesia, Abigail
has a mind of her own, but I can usually get her to obey by using goat
psychology. Lately, I've been taking Abigail out into the woods san
leash, which works well because she knows I'm going to lead her to
something tasty, and because she hates being left behind alone.
(Artemesia, if giving the choice, follows me rather than Abigail.)
The trouble comes when we
return to the coop, since Abigail would far rather keep exploring the
woods rather than get shut back up. If I'm in a hurry, I'll snap on a
leash to make sure Abigail doesn't get her panties in a twist about the
end of walktime, but I'm also working on training her to behave there
too. My method involves taking Artemesia off somewhere so that Abigail
can't see us, then Abigail freaks out, thinking she's been abandoned by
her entire herd, and she starts sticking much closer to my heels in the
future.
That method isn't
foolproof yet, though --- the last time Abigail came galloping down off
the hill with me and Artemesia...and then ran right past us to a new
patch of honeysuckle within sight line of the coop. She figured she
could graze, Artemesia could get shut in, and we'd all be happy. So I've
got a bit more work ahead of me there.
I'd be curious to hear
from others who have worked with bigger goat herds than I have. Do you
have tips for getting your goats to follow where you lead?
Or explore more posts by date or by subject.
About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed, or simply check the box beside "email replies to me" while writing your comment.
Anna, I read this blog post (http://www.5acresandadream.com/2014/12/feeding-my-goats-research-thoughts.html) this morning and thought of you. Thanks for a great blog! We do not have a homestead yet but are working intentionally every day to get there. Your blog keeps me excited during the wait!
Anna, Thank you so much for the post. I just finally had a chance to see if you had responded. It looks like I have my work cut out for me. I'll let you know how it goes. I purchased some leads and the kids and I are going to start working. I have a couple of the "girls" in mind who could be my leaders... Thanks again. K.Hill