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I want one.

oh my god they are soooooo cute!!!!

I saw one at a state fair petting zoo and wanted to steal it away in my pocket. He was smaller than a cat, and so sweet!

It takes a lot of food to keep goats fed, though, and I imagine that even small ones would need a lot of green. I've seen goats decimate entire huge yards within weeks. They're also notorious for eating random stuff--rope, clothes, anything they can get their maw around. If you run out of yard, you could always just start renting your herd out!

I am palpitating with an overload of teh cute!

Across the street from us is an orchard; a couple of times a summer, when it gets too overgrown for even the cows that are pastured there, the farmer brings in a few sheep. Two days, and it is all shorn.

Several years ago, we rented goats to clear our large, sloping field in the Santa Cruz mountains. We had about 30 goats for about 10 days, and it cost $500. They brought an electric fence to keep the goats in place, and it was much more fun than hiring someone to mow. Plus, they were really able to take down some bushes etc that a mower would not have been able to tackle.

I love everything about goats!!! They are so friendly and great lawnmowers and if I ever own county land ill get one

That said

Heed OneWallKitchen's advice well. They will eat anything if they are hungry, not just rope and clothes, but the bark off of your trees, the siding off of your house, and anything that fits in their mouth (including barbed wire!) I am a former large animal vet tech and the stuff we pulled out of goat stomaches was amazing some days!

They are not unmanageable by any means, they take thought and understanding and preparation. Like a dog or a cat they are a responsibility. They are definitely worth it too!

I'd love to rent goats!

my grandfather used to have pygmy goats on his farm in nigeria. they are sweet (looking) but they are a HANDFUL! they are effective grazers but please know that they will also eat everything in sight...everything...regardless of how hard you try to manage them. they stink to high heaven too!

And should you want to learn anymore about Goats...
this book was recently blogged about at "Cool Tools"
http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/002698.php

well, my block IS a little overgrown this spring.

Goat's eat anything but they are really smart too. So if their is any way of it getting out, he'll/she'll find it. So be careful. Also cute when they are little, not so much when they are bigger, but very yummy. Lol.

My family has goats and I plan on getting a couple as soon as I move into a house (later this year, I hope). They aren't smelly as long as you only have females--but the males smell really bad (if you need to fertilize the females, I'd suggest renting a male for about a month in the winter when you don't have to be around it). Goats are the BEST! They are so cute and funny and smart. They WILL eat anything, but that just makes them great for all sorts of chores like clearing brush and garbage disposal. They also can be a great supply of milk and cheese (if you're interested in learning to make your own). They really are the best animals ever--and pygmy goats stay cute forever.

There's a reason the Middle East is a desert.

Goats and sheep will strip the landscape bare. Not suitable for fragile ecosystems. Inevitably they get out, and turn feral. They are considered a pest in Australia; sheep are called 'land lice'.

They are being used a good bit here in Seattle.
http://www.seattle.gov/light/Neighborhoods/VegMgt/Project1.asp
http://www.komotv.com/news/local/7658017.html

My family tried to do this in the late 1980s. Our land had a great deal of overgrown vegetation and thought this would be a great idea. One afternoon my father showed up with a goat. While it was a neat pet it did nothing to cut down on the overgrowth and it even got loose a few times. We found it about a mile a way. A little old lady had it corned in her car port with a broom.

There are goats available all the time on craigslist (SF Bay area). So tempting...

My stepmom really wanted to get goats for this purpose but we were afraid what the dogs might do to them. I like the idea and may try it once I have a house.

You can usually find goats for sale on craigslist in colorado too.

N.

http://badhuman.wordpress.com

they're so adorable!

We live in the UC Village in Albany, CA (next door to Berkeley) and every year they bring in goats to clear the area around the little creek that separates Berkeley and Albany. The goats are GREAT! They're funny, friendly, and great for kids. Plus there's no heavy machinery or any noise (other than nonstop goat chomping which is rather entertaining). We have "helped" the goats by cutting some of the stalks and just feeding the stalks to them...it's like interactive man....