Hello from Tenerife, Canary Islands - I'm new to goats

[Toby Baillon]

Having always wanted a Goat as a pet I finally have time and space to have one. I got her from a local goatherd at 2 weeks after her mother rejected her and bottle fed her until she was just short of 4 months. Now she eats cereals and pasture. I have just managed to obtain a mineral block for her too. She drinks a lot of water.
It has cost me a few hundred euros in fencing! I hadn't anticipated quite that much.
I have also struggled with her VET. Normal vets don't know much about goats, so finding a specialist is quite difficult as here in the land of goats the goatherds are primitives and don't use many vet services. It's live or die for the goats. But goats are the main source of fresh milk, as an island we have imported UHT milk and no cows here.
We have plenty of ticks here and I groom her daily. I take off at least one tick a day.

 

[Latestarter]

You know, guinea hens are fabulous eaters of ticks and other bugs... Now that you have your goat, perhaps guineas are (or should be) next on your "to do" list? Are you planning to get her a companion goat? They typically seem to get along much better if they have another goat companion. Sorry you're having trouble finding a vet... it's not that easy over here either. It seems most vets specialize in the "high income" field of domestic dogs and cats. I guess dog and cat clients are a lot easier to come by than goats and sheep...

 

[Mike CHS]

If you have guineas on the island they are tick eating machines.

 

[Mike CHS]

I saw that note about another posting but never thought it would be about guineas