# Tethering goats?



## dancingbear (Mar 25, 2008)

I'm seriously thinking of getting some ND's, and looking at possibilities for housing them. 

I'm wondering if it's ok to tether a goat with a collar, so they can be moved around different areas to graze. 

What I have in mind is this: A decent sized, but not huge pen with a nice shelter in it, water trough or bucket, hay rack, etc., to keep one or two dwarf goats at night, then in the day time tether them out on different parts of the property where there's a good variety of browse, shade and sun, water bucket...

I'd be checking on them often. Most places I'd tether them I could see from the back door, too. Is this a fairly safe practice? I don't want to harm them by doing something stupid. I've read about people keeping goats on a tether, and wondered if it may be a good option.


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

Tethered goats tangle themselves and anything within reach. :viking:


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

It's a big danger from predators or wandering dogs.

They tangle themselves, sometimes into deadly positions.

The browsing opportunities are limited, because you can't tether them near too much brush. (and therefore you would still have to provide quite a bit of feed)

If I were you, I would just spend a little more and fence the area. More expensive, yes, but MUCH, MUCH safer and alot less hassle. Better yet, make two pastures for rotational purposes.


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## MisFitFarm (Dec 31, 2007)

This subject comes up every so often. As I am typing this, I have 11 goats tethered in my yard. They are tethered just far enough apart that they don't get tangled with each other, and it allows me to move them around to places that I can't fence in. It's a change for them, and they absolutely love it. I do it several times a week, and it cuts down on the amount I have to mow! (More eco-friendly.)

Having said that, I think it's entirely up to you and your situation. I check on mine frequently, make sure each one can reach water, and our LGD is right there with them. So, they are in my yard, I can see them from every window in the house, and they are being watched by a huge fur ball who is VERY attached to his babies.


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## dancingbear (Mar 25, 2008)

I was thinking of maybe some "zip-line" arrangements, like people sometimes use for dogs. Sturdy posts with a strong cable, sort of like a clothes line, so they could run back and forth without a bunch of cable down where they'd wrap it around anything. I have 2 good dogs who guard the chickens, I'm sure they'd help me watch the goats. And, I'd never leave them tethered overnight, or when I wouldn't be home.

It's an option I'm considering, I haven't decided anything yet.


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## xoxoGOATSxoxo (Jul 29, 2006)

Some goats are good about it and dont get tangled, but some goats are idiots and get tangled in everything. I only tether when I am right there, doing yard work, so that I can get over there fast in case of some tangle emergency. It just seems safer....I guess its really up to you and where you tether them.


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## Cygnet (Sep 13, 2004)

Goats are less likely, in my experience, to tangle themselves than dogs. I tether my pack goat(s) on the trail and they're pretty good at figuring out how to get detangled. Remember, they're smarter than a dog. 

That said, there's another word for tethered goat: predator bait. They can't get away and they can break their necks trying. I never tie a goat up unless I'm right there to cut them loose and beat off anything attacking them. 

-- Leva


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## thousandhills (Dec 31, 2007)

I tether my goats and they do fine. Even though my mama goat and kid are close enough so he can nurse.


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## dancingbear (Mar 25, 2008)

Good info, thanks. I'm still trying to work out how I can keep goats confined/and/or tethered or otherwise contained on my property. I'm thinking at this point maybe a movable pen, and add variety with tethering when I'm working outdoors where I can keep an eye on them. I wouldn't leave them tethered at night in any case, that would just be coyote bait. Daytime predators around here are not so likely to bother a goat. Chickens, yes, but I think a goat might be too big for a fox. At least an adult goat. When there are kids I'll have to set up something else to keep them safe.

But like I said, I don't even have a goat yet. Trying to work out how I can afford to make it happen.


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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

I am tethering and have many times, especially during flood periods when the fields are soaked and I move the goats farther upland from the river.
I never have a prob with any of them.
I dont tether them close together. I dont tether them near anything they can tangle in.

I like tethering better than fencing.

I watch my goats all the time.
I can see them from the windows too.

I control what they eat. They cant strip everything bare like they will do.
They are tethered all day when the weather is nice, not to hot or cold. They always have hay in their pens.

I think it works great for those of us that dont have acres and acres of land.
I like not having everything goat eaten, like fence rows. I love grown in fence rows.


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## Naturaldane (Apr 24, 2008)

Im dong movable pens, but Im using heavy gauge electric fenec and the step in post, so you have to of couse be able to plug it in so that may or may not work for you, if you have spare money you can get a solar charger so you wont need an extention cord. It takes about 30 min to do a good size temp pen


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## moonspinner (Jul 2, 2002)

I do tether my bucks, but only when I am outside doing chores and can supervise them constantly. I think your idea of a movable pen is ideal; I know someone who does this and it works wonderfully.


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## Guest (Jun 13, 2008)

I tether my goat. But I had to carefully plan it first.

The pasture is mostly fenced, but there are places where the fence is absent or falling down, so she can't be turned loose in there.

The trees and shrubs are around 2 sides of the pasture, but not in the middle. That gives ample clear, open space.

I got a heavy concrete block that must weigh at least 50#. It's HEAVY. And I wired together several lengths of old chain. I guess I ended up with about 100' of chain. 

I drug the concrete block out in the middle of the pasture and attached one end of the chain to it. It took a couple of days to adjust the position of the concrete block until I had it in the right place.

Each day that I'm home (I'm seldom gone), I take the goat out to the pasture and attach her to the open end of the chain. I leave her there until late afternoon.

I have the block positioned so that the goat can reach shade and water, and she has a very wide area to roam. And she does.

One of the dogs has taken it upon herself to guard the goat when she's in the pasture, but not much worry anyhow. No daytime predators around here.

At night and when I'm not home, she's secured in a strong pen.

It works for me.


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## dancingbear (Mar 25, 2008)

Thanks, you guys. Very good suggestions. This gives me a lot of ideas to look at.


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## sgian (May 26, 2008)

Some goats will tangle themselves (and others including me if given the chance) more than others. However, every goat I've tethered IIRC found a way to get tangled. I've even had a big billy tangle himself on a clump of tall grass (he could have gotten himself loose by pulling hard but he felt some resistance and didn't bother). I prefer keeping my goats in a pasture, but some of them are determined escape artists and sometimes it takes a while to have time to improve fencing. 

I have one goat now that needs tethering during the day so she can't get out. The only pasture I have that will contain her is inhabited by a possible CL case, so I can't keep her in there anymore. She has escaped her pasture two days in a row and today even brought a friend along with her who normally isn't an escapee. 

Usually they are ok when tethered, they just need to be untangled occasionally. At one point I had 3 escape artists tethered around my pond 24 hours a day (I have a good guard dog). However, one day one of those goats got her feet tangled together next to the pond and fell in. It doesn't take that long for a goat to kill itself on a tether. 

I would advise if you tether your goats to keep an eye on them even if there is nothing to get themselves tangled on, because some goats really are stupid enough to get their own legs, their horns, even their necks tangled on their own leashes.


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## dancingbear (Mar 25, 2008)

Thanks, good info. After another conversation with my DH, we may wait awhile longer before trying to keep a goat. We have fencing issues to deal with first. 

But eventually I know I'll want to get a pair of goats. It's nice to have gotten so much helpful info, so I have a better idea about what I need to have in place before I get them.


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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

dancingbear said:


> Thanks, good info. After another conversation with my DH, we may wait awhile longer before trying to keep a goat. We have fencing issues to deal with first.
> 
> But eventually I know I'll want to get a pair of goats. It's nice to have gotten so much helpful info, so I have a better idea about what I need to have in place before I get them.


Glad you said a pair.
In your first post you said one or two. One isnt good as they need company. Herd animals can not be alone. It would be an awfully stressful existence.


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## dancingbear (Mar 25, 2008)

Yeah, I know that about herd animals, and I know they're not happy alone. I wouldn't want to do that. I was thinking if I had to start with one, I'd get a 2nd one as soon as possible.


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## buspete (Mar 7, 2005)

I used to cut the grass with a pair of nubians. They were twin sisters and had collars, so I ran a length of chain around a big wooden wire spool and attached each doe to an end. This was just during the day. The spool was more than they could drag around (they seldom work together) and I could more it around to cut different parts of the yard.

Never had a problem.

Of course, Bumper would get tangled in everything else (including the old head-in-a-bucket schtick), and her son Junior had a habit of getting his head stuck in the fence, but somehow they never got tangled when tethered


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## chewie (Jun 9, 2008)

i have tried tethering my milkers, and the old nub girl will eat like crazy, but my saanan stands there and cries if i leave! she does no eating hardly, and is very stressed. so i dont' bother with it, i just take an old bread knife, cut them a bucket of grass and put in their pen. no worries of dogs, dumped water, tangled leashes. i cut the grass where ever it needs it--garden along the walks, etc., so i'm getting 2 things done with one action. i only have 4 and 2 babies, so real easy to cut enough for them, along with their hay. more like a nice snack than their full diet.


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## LukeJ (Dec 2, 2017)

Hello,
If goats are herd animals and don't like to be alone, why cant one goat, say the most dominant one, be tethered, and the others let go free? Wont the goats want to stay near to the tethered goat?


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

They are not as gregarious as sheep. If food and shelter and water is elsewhere, the herd will leave to find it. Even sheep would likely do the same. Food > one flock mate. 

A dominant doe would no longer be dominant if she wasn't able to lead the herd. She'd be subject to the other animals leaving her alone, stuck with only whatever limited food is available within her tie out range. 

Also, tethering is dangerous. She would need to be tethered where there are NO brush or loose branches for her to get tangled in and shorten her like which could lead to her being unable to reach food, water, or shelter. She also would be a sitting duck for any predator (think: stray dogs) who happens her way. 

The only time I suggest tethering goats is in an open area usually in a mowed and well managed backyard where there is no brush, no fallen branches (even twigs will tangle a tie out), behind perimeter fencing to protect from predators, and with all food provided. Water can be tricky because they will knock over buckets within reach. They often get bored and will destroy their housing, which is frustrating when it starts to rain or snow and you have to go out there to repair it.  (ask me how I know).


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

LukeJ said:


> why cant one goat, say the most dominant one, be tethered, and the others let go free?


One of the best reasons not to tether any animal is that leaves them at the mercy of predators.
Tethering goats is often how they bait large carnivores for hunting or trapping.


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

No. No. No.

Don't do it.

Ever.


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

I never tethered mine because of the dangers mentioned. I went with a portable electric fencing to move the girls around the property. It would very well for me. And I also took the girls for a walk in the evening through the woods so they could eat even more tasty stuff.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

We used to tether ours. 
Worked much better out in a pasture. They can get tangled if you want to use them to clean up areas around wood piles and so forth.
We used portable fencing as well as our herd grew, I think once we went past 3 or 4.
Didn't have any predator problems but our dogs were pretty active and I think that helped.


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## sonya123 (Dec 4, 2016)

Would not work with out goats. We have tried it a few times just to keep them from getting in the way when we work on the fencing ( they are nosy and want to be right where you don't want them). They get tangled up on a blade of grass , knock the water bucket over in 2 seconds and cry and cry until you let them off the leash.

One of our Amish neighbors lost a goat that way. She hung herself.


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## boerboy (Oct 7, 2012)

I would never tether my does. Some of them will die in a day if I do. 

Tethering takes lot more effort in training, watching and taming the land where you tether. Better to invest that effort in fencing.

But... I tether my almost 300# boer buck most of the summer in my backyard. He is quite trained on tether and doesn't hate it. Most importantly he is way well behaved. I tie a tight line at ground level and tether him to the line. So he can cover a lot of area. Sometimes the line is up in the air at 6 feet. If not done right even he can get tangled. But he won't panic. He knows how to call for attention.


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

If you decide to tether a goat, a highline (zip line) is a good way to go. Rig it so they can't get around the tree or post the line is tied to. Don't put it where they can climb on things, cars, trees, sheds, farm equipment. Set the water bucket inside an old tire and it is much harder to tip over. Put the bucket where they can get to it but not around it. I tether horses, dogs, goats, and calves. I don't have much experience at this, I have only been doing it for about forty years.

Muleskinner2


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## Vjklander (Apr 24, 2018)

Joe has a couple goats he has tethered. Never had a problem.


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## LukeJ (Dec 2, 2017)

muleskinner2 said:


> If you decide to tether a goat, a highline (zip line) is a good way to go. Rig it so they can't get around the tree or post the line is tied to. Don't put it where they can climb on things, cars, trees, sheds, farm equipment. Set the water bucket inside an old tire and it is much harder to tip over. Put the bucket where they can get to it but not around it. I tether horses, dogs, goats, and calves. I don't have much experience at this, I have only been doing it for about forty years.
> 
> Muleskinner2


Yes, you are right! I have now done this for a while, exactly as you described, with just the billy, and the nanny stays close by with no tether. It works. Just that you have to check on it very regularly.


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## happy hermits (Jan 2, 2018)

I have two mohairs who are twelve now have been tethered every summer of their life. We have portable shelters and they have to be able to see each other. We use dog stakes with swivels and move them often. We also put them in the barn sometimes. We started them when they were small.It works fine for us.


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

One of the situations where there are more disaster stories than success stories. You choose and then deal with the natural consequences.


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