No Question is silly. Goats generally can be classified as short, medium, or long haired. Male goats do tend to get long hair in certain areas, like the nape of the neck, a beard of course, and sometimes a skirt(females can have skirts & beards, too). These goats are generally considered short haired, or described as having a skirt. Short haired females tend to not get the long hair on the nape of the neck as frequently as the males, particularly when the weather gets colder. To the best of my knowledge, long haired goats (as in long hair all over) grow the long hair later, maybe as yearlings or their 2nd year. Generally cashmere goats (coated, not the breed) are the same way, from my experiences. The African Pygmy is a short haired goat. There are variations of the breed, such as the Pygora, but I'm not sure if they are classified as a breed as of yet or not. The long haired goats are sure beuatiful animals. We shyed away from them as we didn't want to deal with the hair. I hope this helped a little bit, though we're not real familiar with long - haired goats. Brendasue

Hi Shellybabe: Glad to hear your girl is doing better. I have included a link for Cl. There is a huge discrepancy in descriptions of the pus colour. I had a goat last spring that we culled after having her abcess tested. The liquid the vet asperated from it was white yeasty like. She tested positive at 99% some odd percent for Cl. We culled her immediately and disposed of the carcass immediately. We did not ship or sell her, in order to prevent someone else from having this problem. Hopefully we're all wrong but there is still a good chance we're not. Watch for it to crop up in the same goat again as well as others. We are currently 10 months without a reoccurance. I think this is because her abcess never erupted. The farm we purchased her from did not tell the truth about their herd health status. We keep a closed herd now for this reason. I really hope your girl is ok. Goatgirl. Here is a link that might be useful: Cl Link

Go back to your electric fence and do it right. Doesn't have to be expensive if you do it yourself. My neighbor has goats that used to be mine because I got tired of working on the fence. Our situation made electric fences a PITA so they did just what you said. As soon as they got on his side, they wanted back on my side. Anyway, don't be stingey with the wire, and make sure your charger is grounded very good. Then, run your fence with bare wire (not rope or tape) and start it close to the ground, alternate hot and ground. Just googled this, may be helpful for you. High-tensile, smooth wire, electric. Probably, the most effective and economical goat fence is a smooth wire, high-tensile electric fence, so called "smooth wire" because the wires aren't barbed and "high-tensile" because it is constructed of high tensile wire that can be strung extremely taut without breaking. Due to the greater tensile strength of the strands, high-tensile wire can be pulled tighter than standard electrified wire, which tends to sag over time. High tensile, electric fences require strong corners and end braces. Five, six or seven 12 gauge high-tensile wires are recommended for goats. The bottom wires of the fence should be more closely spaced than the top. Wire spacings of approximately 6, 5, 5, 8 and 10 inches are common. In areas where there is relatively even rainfall and some green vegetation most of the year, it is recommended that all wires be hot. Ground return wires are recommended where there is low rainfall, stony and dry soil conditions or where the ground is frequently frozen or snow covered. It's a good idea to install switches so that wires can be grounded when the grass is tall or other situations warrant. The charger (or energizer) is the "heart" of the electric fence system. It converts main or battery power into a high voltage pulse or "shock" as felt by the animal when it touches the fence. In the past, electric fence chargers shorted out easily. Today's chargers are low impedance, meaning they are designed to effectively shock though vegetation and other foreign materials touching the fence. A 4,000 volt charger is sufficient for goats. The number of joules needed depends on the length of the fence, the number of electrified wires and the severity of conditions. A joule is the amount of energy released per pulse. As a general rule, 1 joule will power 6 miles of single fence wire; 4.5 joules is usually adequate for 20 to 50 acres. Lightening strikes can damage energizers. Surge protectors and lightening arrestors are recommended to minimize energizer damage. Poor grounding is the leading cause of electric fence failures. An electric fence must be properly grounded so that the pulse can complete its circuit and give the animal an effective shock. It is important to follow manufacturer's instructions for grounding electric fences. A minimum of three ground rods should be used for each energizer. It is estimated that 80% of electric fences in the U.S. are improperly grounded. An electric fence is a psychological barrier rather than a physical one. Animals must be trained to respect electric fence. Once trained, they should respect the fence even if it is off for any reason. A voltmeter measures the charge the fence delivers and is an inexpensive but useful tool for trouble shooting electric fence problems. Electrifying one or more wires in a conventional non-electric fence will prevent stock from pushing through the fence. New fences will last almost twice as long if they have electrified offset wires attached to them. All single offset wires should be set at two thirds the height of the animal to be controlled. An electrified scare wire approximately 7 inches up and 5 to 7 inches away from the fence will give a coyote a strong shock and keep him from returning. Temporary fences, also electric, go hand-in-hand with improved grazing management. There are various materials available for temporary electric fencing: light weight smooth wire, polywire, polytape, rope and flexible netting. Wind-up and reel systems are easy to move and install. Temporary electric fencing has the advantage in that it can be moved when weed pressure becomes too great on the fence. Cost and ease of use are the primary considerations when selecting temporary fence materials. Non-electric high-tensile fence. A non-electric, high-tensile fence is constructed of the same materials as the electrified version, but more wire is needed since the strands are spaced closer together. Since the fence posts have to support more wire, more fence posts are also needed. A non-electric high-tensile fence is more expensive because of the additional wires and posts, though you save money by not buying an energizer. A comparision of fencing costs Type Materials Labor Machine costs Woven Wire $1.20 $0.51 $0.17 Barbed Wire $0.87 $0.47 $0.16 HT-Electric $0.47 $0.27 $0.16 Here's a website that can give you an idea of what your costs would be. http://www.maxflex.com/ Good Luck, Dave

I found this link a while back, check it out. They don't charge, just a donation....hope they are still around for you. Cheri Here is a link that might be useful: horse hauling