Pygmy goats

[Roughquest]

Would it be leagal to keep a small goat in your back garden ? Are goats easy to keep ?

[pmjblue]

A friend of mine used to have some, lovely animals, but destructive and hard to keep contained I believe. You will need quite large garden too.

[Taran]

All depends on where you live and how big your garden is.I had 3 goats, but the garden was about half an acre. They are quite easy to keep but need quite a bit of attention. They can also be quite amusing .

[clydeserani]

hi,check with your local authority and the RSPCA or some such organisation. Keep yourself right before you go get the wee critters and get attached to them, then get some stupid neighbour or law telling you to get rid of them. I'd love to keep goats. My aunt used to have a pet sheep. He was cool..

[lankeela]

Depends where you live, if it is in a country area then probably ok, but not in a built up area.

They do tend to make quite a mess of a garden, as they will eat anything and everything, and will also eat things like washing if left on a line within their reach. They can also be quite destructive and will break down fences or walk through flowerbeds, they are no respecters of a nice neat garden

[heathfield]

There's some advice here Note what's said about having to move them every day if they're tethered. Another reason is that goats tethered in the same spot all the time are more likely to develop worms.

[Dee Sa]

wouldnt one be lonely on its own ?

[foxyflugel]

I looked into keeping goats and you need a licence from DEFRA - due to the foot & mouth etc. You need to let DEFRA know if you are going to move them from their registered address etc and also need to obtain a licence in the first place. They need worming like any other animal and could be quite noisy so if your neighbours are likely to whine I would think twice. As the last post points out - one would be lonely on it's own as they are naturally herd animals - so one would be particularly noisy. Apparently, as the others say, they will eat anything ,everything and can climb/jump really well. Also males can be smelly unless they are done and females need milking to keep them ok ; 0 )