We Love Our Goats
Love is at the heart of everything we do at Rags to Riches Ranch. We dedicate our days to providing our pygmy goats with the highest quality care, a nurturing environment, and plenty of daily cuddles. Because we raise them as part of the family, they leave our ranch with a sweet, social disposition that makes them perfect companions, loyal pets, and standout 4-H projects.
We feed grass/alfalfa mix hay, and a small amount of Purina goat chow. We don’t feed grain to wethers unless it’s Purina goat feed, as this can cause a urinary tract infection in them . They must always have water, shelter, and a block of “Trace Mineral” salt or a block of white salt.
The Pygmy goat is very smart and will learn with just a little patience. You can leash train them. They are more sensitive than most cats or dogs. NEVER yell at them—they’ll never forget and most won’t forgive you. They’ve had first vaccination (Essential 3+1). Their mothers have all been vaccinated so babies are protected at birth.
Remember, they eat weeds, and green leafy things. If you don’t want them eating your flowers, trees, or vegetable garden, make it non-existent to them. They LOVE roses. So if you have roses and you trim them, give all the cuttings to your goats. (Thorns too!) They also like to eat any leaf, so in the fall, give them the leaves that have fallen from the trees. They love pine needles so give them your old Xmas tree without any decorations, tinsel etc. You can give them lettuce, bread, potato peelings, etc. They LOVE carrots! (We buy the baby carrots and feed them cut up.)They also like animal crackers, graham crackers etc. The biggest mistake that new goat owners make is feeding treats to their goats all the time. If you do this, prepare for the goats to loudly cry each time they see you which becomes annoying to you and your neighbors. DO NOT give them ANY rhubarb or the leaves, as it is a poison to them.
All goats are known to escape from most areas that have holes that they can weasel through. (They only need a small hole to get out.) They will remember where the hole is and go right back to it. Keep in mind that goats like high places too! They like to climb on anything! Careful with large stock water tanks. My babies are used to jumping on turned-over water tanks so if you have one filled with water, they may jump in and drown. Neighborhood dogs are their greatest enemy. People always think their dogs will be fine with baby goats until they kill them. Keep safety in mind when buying a baby Pygmy.
We have been raising goats for a long time and are continually learning ourselves. If you have any questions, please email us and we will try and help you. If we don’t know the answers, we’ll get them for you, and email you back.
