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We are once again very tempted to have a goat and may well end up going for it this time! I think we would only want one for milk and by-products since we are a household of 2 adults and a 3 yr old (so we would't consume very much at all).
My questions, if anyone is able to help me, are:
1) Would one goat be happy enough on her own?
2) At what age can a kid be separated from its mother?
3) Are they territorial with other goats? Our neighbours use part of our land for their goats - would we be able to put them out together? The one we would have would actually come from that herd.

Thank you!

If you keep just one goat separate, you have to be prepared to spend a lot of time with her... They are gregarious animals, and they get bored easily.

However, if you are keeping her with the herd she came from, well - then she'd have the companions she was used to, wouldn't she? I'd say if she is out with them for most of the day, and only on her own at night, she should be OK on her own.

Theoretically, you can separate the kid from it's mother immediately after birth, if you raise it on milk replacer... Provided, of course, it gets enough colostrum. That's how commercial farms might do it if they want the highest milk production out of the mother. Alternatively, you can take the kid off at the point when the colostrum turns into milk that's usable for human consumption after a few days. If you want to raise the kid on the mother, I'd say 6-8 weeks.

Two would be better, why not get a female for you to milk and for company get a wethered buck!

I agree with most of what Ina writes, but personally, I would either leave a kid on the dam, or if your bottle feeding, feed for 6 months, especially if it's dairy breed. The more calcium you "lay down" on the kid when it's growing the fastest, the better the animal you will have in the long run. If you're not concerned with how good a producer a doe kid will be, I still wouldn't wean younger than 12-16 weeks.

If we're going to bottle feed a kid, we leave it on the dam for 2 days, so it gets a good dose of colostrum, and then remove to a bottle. We feed 4-6 times a day, small amounts, for the first couple of weeks, cutting out a feed very gradually over a course of weeks, till it's down to just 1 bottle a day till weaning time.

Cheers
Andrea
NZ

1) no, a goat would not be happy on its own. it might live alone with no problems, but will be feeling depressed and vunerable. you would have to spend a lot of time with the goat, but you can never be there all the time. having two goats would solve that problem. If you still only want one, get a couple of hens for it to "speak to" and stop it feeling too lonely.
2) I'm not sure really, bottle fed kids can be weaned at six weeks. but it would be healthier to leave a kid with its mum for a lot longer - say half a year.
3) that should be ok. goats and sheep are not as bad for bullying as birds and horses, and if its from that herd it should already know the goats. also, if you keep them together it would solve the problem of having to buy two!

We already have the hens so maybe that would help, company-wise. The goats are already roughly 4 mnths old, so definitely will leave it for as long as poss before buying one (IF we do).

Great replies, everyone. Thanks. Still undecided but getting there!