# Goats and collars?



## "SPIKE" (Dec 7, 2011)

In another thread, farmmaid brought up something I would like additional input on.

Do your goats have collars?
The ones I use have the plastic snap together links, not buckels! I thought this type was good to use on goats. Strong enough for the owners to use a leash and lead the goat, but if they got hung up the goat would not hang itself. 
Have I been misinformed?

SPIKE


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## PaulNKS (Jan 11, 2009)

I have collars on some but not on all. I've never had a goat catch their collar on anything.. not saying it can't happen, though. These goats are on pasture and in timber all year.


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## Donna1982 (Jun 14, 2011)

We use plastic chain collars on all of ours but the buck. They have on link that has a cut in it and it breaks away with any pressure pulled on it. Including goats who don't want to walk with you lol. I have only had one get hooked in the fence and she just walked away from the fence and it popped off. Heres a picture of it.


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

I have collars on all my goats & have for years. So far they have never been a problem for us.


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## anita_fc (May 24, 2008)

I have used the plastic snap collars on some of my pygmies. I did find one of them on the ground near the fence and I suspected a snag. The collar was not broken. It is still strong enough to lead a goat and withstand some resistance. That's the only one I've ever had come off though in over a year.


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## prairiedog (Jan 18, 2007)

We snap collars on when we are ready to lead them to the barn or back to the pen but they don't have them on in the pasture. We use to leave them on and had no trouble but then someone on here had one that got caught and broke their neck so figured why take a chance


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## prairiedog (Jan 18, 2007)

By the way love that Lamancha Donna


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

I have doggie type collars on most of my does. Never had a problem with them (not to say I couldn't at some point) I do not keep one on my buck though becasue he is in with a couple Angora Wethers. The Angoras have horns and I almost lost my buck when one of the angora got a horn looped into the collar the buck had on at the time. Luckily I was around and was able to get him free. Since that time, he has been collar-free.


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## chewie (Jun 9, 2008)

no collars most of the time. pretty soon I'll be tethering 3 while I get the one that'll be milked thru winter. the 3 will get tied to a 'bucket spot' and given a handful of grain, like 1/4 cup just to keep them happy while ethel gets on the stand and back again. the collar stays on the lead, tied to the post. I use a long cord to catch the goat, snap the collar on, undo it when the chores are done.

otherwise, I don't want collars, loose them all the time and worry that if they snag them enough to loose them, they could get caught up and choked. 
I don't leave halters on horses, and figure this is about the same issue.


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## Donna1982 (Jun 14, 2011)

prairiedog said:


> By the way love that Lamancha Donna


Oh thank you shes the love of my life.


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## Nancy_in_GA (Oct 20, 2004)

Tried the plastic chain collars twice on our goats. Both times the goats chewed them off of each other. So we gave up on collars altogether.


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## Karenrbw (Aug 17, 2004)

We used to put dog collars with plastic snaps on the kids. The human kids would walk the goat kids to get them used to being led. I was in the barn one evening and the boss doe caught a kid on her horn by the collar. She was swinging him around like a rag doll and almost killed him before I got him off. She wasn't trying to hurt him, they just got tangled up. I took all the collars off my kids that night and we only put them one when we are using them.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Lost a reallly nice registered Alpine buck that I had just purchased due to a dog collar and a tree branch.


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## SilverFlame819 (Aug 24, 2010)

My goats always wore dog collars & tags. So did all my sheep. No issues at all for us if the goats were loose. When tied out to browse, they MUST be checked on though!


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

I don't see a reason to keep a collar on them all the time. I suppose you're SUPPOSED to for DHIR, but honestly - I have two dairy does in milk... I can tell 'em apart, I'm fairly certain.  Otherwise, I rarely need to have a collar on them. Most of the time I just lead them with a hand under the chin or grab a collar or baling twine.  

If I WERE to put collars on them, I'd probably do the plastic chain or the cord and v-fastener collars from Jeffers. I was thinking about doing this simply so my dad can tell all of them apart. He is in charge of the farm during the week and he'll call and try to describe a certain goat to me to tell me something and he's not that good at it and he doesn't know all their names... LOL.


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## HappyFarmer (Jun 17, 2006)

Knowing how suicidal goats can be we do not keep collars on them. They are trained to lead from a week old (those born here anyways) with collars, but after that I just loop a lead around their neck which I keep handy in all barns/sheds/tying areas or use whatever rope is handy at the time.

It's just one less thing I have to worry about. 

HF


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## LFRJ (Dec 1, 2006)

We keep a nylon dog collar on our milking Kinder doe. She had one on her when we purchased her, so we replaced it with a nice new one. It was nice to have some control those few times when we needed it the first year (resistance to milkstand, hoof trimming). 

It's still on her. She's pretty much a loaf and doesn't push the boundaries.

We put the plastic break away collars on the kids. Pure chewing satisfaction. I still have the remnants. Maybe one day I'll order some links to put them back on.

In the Kiko corner however, I only put on a collar for hoof trimming, then off it comes. They're a bit more rambunctious, climbing, fencing etc. I wouldn't trust them with a collar - so for us, we assess their habits and character, along with our needs before we put one on.


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## Minelson (Oct 16, 2007)

Monkey!!! TOO CUTE! 

I don't keep collars on the goats. Or halters on the horses or mini donk. Or collars on any cats or dogs...everyone is nekid here!!lol!


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## HappyFarmer (Jun 17, 2006)

Never thought of them as being nekid, but I guess it's so here too. Cept the dogs....they need their collars just in case they ever get loose & wander.

HF


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## houndlover (Feb 20, 2009)

Dog collars with snap buckles. They don't break if you need to lead one around, but most any goat can bust the snap if they get caught. Never had a goat get stuck on anything for that matter, and the girls have access to acres and acres of nasty NW brush. About half of my lamancha herd is white, and colored collars keeps them quickly identifiable.


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## whiskeylivewire (May 27, 2009)

Dog collars here.


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## copperpennykids (Sep 6, 2004)

Our dairy girls have the plastic chain collars. Our Boer goats have no collars at all (we aren't working with them twice/day).

Here is a story to make you rethink the nylon dog collars:

5 or 6 years ago we sold a bred Boer doe (percentage) to some folks. They weren't new to goats, but hadn't had any in about 15 years. So I reviewed basic care - feet trimming, vaccinations, worming etc. Also discussed collars and that dog collars were a No-No. 

In addition to this bred doe (almost 3 months along and I really didn't want to sell her but they offered me a LOT of money) they also bought a Full Blood Boer buck, with traditional horns, two unbred does, and a bred yearling doe to start their herd.

3 months later, the wife calls me (I am thinking she is calling to tell me # of kids and sexes) and starts bawling over the phone. Turns out that 3 weeks after purchasing this doe, they put a dog collar on her (they couldn't find a chain collar at the feed store). A week later, they found her hanging by the collar from the bucks' horns, strangled and being dragged about the pasture as he walked. 

I have heard of goats getting caught on t-posts and those dog collars not breaking. 

Just sayin'.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

all collars all the time


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## secretcreek (Jan 24, 2010)

I had a horse die from getting it's halter caught. That set me straight for life on no halters or collars when an animal is not being supervised. Obviously you need to train an animal to a collar and lead, but I'll never leave a collar on an animal...IMO...why in the world take a chance? This is me talking about a small herd of imprinted -hand raised/bottle fed goats that act like puppies. Not a herd of unsocialized boers. Goats get into too much trouble without help. I've had too many friends tell of losing their animals to choking from getting horns, legs, branches, fencing etc. 

I will never tie a goat out either unless I am right there within sight, such as high or low lining when we take our packgoats out on a camping trip. Even when you are watching they get get hung up easily enough.

scrt crk


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## Kshobbit (May 14, 2002)

I use dog collars even on the buck as it gives me a handle to hold him. All my goats that stay in the herd will eventually have a collar. Same thing for my dogs. They need a place to hang their dog tags.


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## Ranger (Aug 6, 2010)

No collars, halters, etc. on any of my animals. I've seen too many deaths and injuries from them, including a neighbor's donkey that strangled when her halter got hung up.


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## KrisD (May 26, 2011)

My goats where collars, my dogs wear collars and my cats wear collars. I had a horse impale himself on a T-post I will still use T-post fencing. It was a freak accident! I also had a dog near strangle herself trying to get a ball from the back side of the water heater, she got it caught on a valve. Another freak accident at least I was there and could help her. My dogs still wear their collars. 
My goat kids wear break away dog and cat collars for the first few weeks, I then use collars with cheap plastic buckles so just in case they break away easily. I tried the plastic chain ones and the dang goats would get them off and loose them. I would have to own stock in the company to be able to afford them at the rate they lost them.


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## farmmom (Jan 4, 2009)

For now, my goats have dog collars with the safety clips on them. They are however, only on pasture. Once my whole property is fenced and they are able to get into the woods, I'll be switching to the plastic chain. I like having something on them to hold them by in the pasture in case I forget to bring something with me, or notice something needing checked while I'm down there.


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## SilverFlame819 (Aug 24, 2010)

For me, the issue was ID. I have always lived in the middle of nowhere, and if anything gets out, I need a way for them to come home. I have never had an animal hang up on a fence except for sticking its head through a hole. All my livestock have always worn ID. Even my horses had the slide-on tags that went onto the piece that slides over the crown, so if someone attempted to remove the halter, the tag would slide off into their hands. My main concern for the sheep was that they could easily jump over my head, and when chased, they would clear fences like deer, so I was worried about losing one. The concern with the goats was that they try to get out of everything. Dogs wear ID every time they go outside. I take the collars off in the house because I hate the jingling, but when I leave the house (and they stay here), I put their collars on before I leave, in case of emergency. 

I do know lots of people who put choke chains on their dogs and goats _and leave them on_. Serious pet peeve of mine. How many thousands of animals die because people leave chokers on them unsupervised? Drives me nuts! And nothing you can say will change their minds until they come home and find their animal hanging from something dead, and at that point, it's too late.  Choke chains are for training and showing, NOT for a fashion statement!


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