The type of housing you will need to provide for your goats will depend on what type of goat you have and the climate you (and they) will live in. Housing can be as simple as a fenced-in barnyard with a small three-sided shed or as big as a pasture with a barn. Whatever you use, it must be clean, dry, draft free, and have good ventilation.
Fencing is another area of importance for your goat. As goats can be very adept at finding their way over fences (or through them), you will need to make sure that your fencing is not only predator proof, but also goat proof as well. Let us now take a quick look at housing your goats.
While goats will often sleep close together, especially during times of cold or rain, you still need to ensure they have adequate space.
So long as it is clean, dry, and draft-free, housing for your goats can be quite flexible, and fit any range of budgets. When deciding on what material to use or what to build for goat housing, keep in mind that you will need to clean your goats’ shelter regularly; be sure it will be easy to keep clean. Also, make sure you allow plenty of room for your goats; fifteen to twenty-five square feet per animal is the minimum recommended amount of space for housing. Of course, the amount of space your goats will require will also depend on the type of goat you have, as, obviously, a pygmy will need less space than a Saanen. Don’t let the way your goats sleep make you believe they can do with less than the minimal space. Although goats will sleep together in little groups, they still need space. You will find your goats will spend time indoors during inclement weather (especially heavy rain), on hot days (if the shelter is cool), or on the rare occasion when one or two would just rather stay indoors.
You will also need to decide on the type of floor that your goat housing will have. Theoretically, you can have any flooring of your choosing. In reality, there are differences in the types of floors in terms of ease of cleaning and ease on your goats.
While a cement floor may seem to be the best choice, especially when it comes to cleaning, it can have definite disadvantages. Even when covered with straw, cement can hold the urine smell, and when you go to clean it, you may have quite a wet floor. Except for absorption by the straw, the urine will have nowhere to go. Also, and especially in cold northern climates, a concrete floor can be awfully cold and hard on the goats, even when packed with straw.
If you’re using an older preexisting shed on your property, it may already have a wood floor, depending on the original purpose. While a wooden floor will, no doubt, be more comfortable for your goats than cement, you could end up with the floors rotting out, or the wood could hold the urine scent. You will still need to pack the floor with straw, and if you allow the floor to get too wet from urine-soaked straw and the urine itself, you can begin to have problems with rot.
A dirt floor is actually the best choice for your goat housing. It stays warmer than cement for your goats, and the dirt will absorb the urine. Again, it must be covered with straw, but you won’t face rot, and cleanup will remain reasonable; bedding removal of a dirt floor is quite easy.
It should be noted that straw, not hay, is what should be used for goat bedding. Unlike hay (which will be covered in Chapter 4), straw is hollow; grain stems, such as wheat, barley, or oats, make a good, warm bedding for goats and most other animals. Straw is also golden in color. Although your animals may eat it (and it won’t hurt them if they do), straw lacks both nutrition and taste.
Your goats’ housing should give them easy access to the outdoors, but also the ability for you to lock them in at night if need be. Of course, if you already have a good-size barn, then your housing problem is nonexistent, especially if you will be keeping multiple goats. But if you don’t have any satisfactory buildings, then you will need to build something that is big enough for your animals, easy to clean, and will keep your goats comfortable throughout the seasons.
Although a barn is nice, not everyone can afford to put one up. And if you’re only going to keep a few goats, a simple three-and-a-half-sided shed will work fine. Most would say a good, dry, deep three-sided shed is fine. However, the extra half side grants your animals further protection from wind and the elements. The floor should be dirt and deep with straw, keeping it dry and draft free.
If you are breeding or milking, you will want more protection, especially if you are breeding and/or milking a number of goats. When keeping a large number of goats, some type of large barn or even a few small barns (or buildings) are really the best fit. With large buildings, you can have stalls, feeding areas (for the times when you need to feed indoors), and, for dairy goats, the necessary milking parlor (which we will discuss in Chapter 7).
Building a goat shed provides your goats with adequate, easy-to-maintain living space.
Stalls are especially useful for does near kidding and does with very young or newborn kids, especially those born during harsh winters. As goats are prey animals, baby goats (especially newborns) are even more vulnerable. Basically, it is nice to be able to have a “me space” for the does and their kids for the first few weeks or so.
Stalls are also nice to have if you need to isolate a goat for any reason, especially for injury, when being with the rest of the herd could be dangerous. Alternatively, you may need to isolate a goat for an illness, both to treat the animal and to keep it segregated from the rest of the herd, or if introducing a new goat into the herd. And if you are in an area prone to blizzards or other weather situations where your goats really shouldn’t be outside, an appointed feeding spot in the building is quite useful.
Penning your goats provides you with the useful ability to separate goats, which can be valuable during kidding time.
Other options for goat housing would be old garden sheds or chicken coops (that are well cleaned and sterilized). Some people have even transformed old camping trailers or garages (provided they no longer hold vehicles). As long as you remember that your goats’ home needs to be clean, dry, and draft free (those three key words), any adequate amount of space can be transformed into a home for your goats; you can be as simple or creative as you want.
Along with housing, you will also need fencing to keep your goats contained. Note that keeping goats contained can be a feat in itself for the new goat owner and even for some experienced owners. If your fence is too short, then they’ll be over it in a second. Too weak, and they will knock it right down and walk over it. Too big a space in the wires, and they will poke their heads through so much you’ll end up with huge holes that they will just continue to make bigger and bigger until they can finally jump right through. The best fencing for goats is a heavy-gauge, woven fence with small openings in the wire and climb proof, usually known as goat fencing. Although chicken wire does, indeed, have small openings, even the heaviest gauge wire will not be strong enough for your goats’ destructive tendencies. Barbed wire should never be used with your goats, as it can be very dangerous. Some owners may think it a good idea to string a single strand of barbed wire across the top of the regular fence. However, when your goats successfully make it over the fence (and at least one will), the barbed wire can scratch their faces and eyes, tear their hides, or damage their udders.
Depending on what type of fencing you use, an electric fence can work with goats. You will have to use more than a single strand to keep them in, as, unlike horses (who will stay contained with only a few wires strung around the pasture), goats will most likely find a way around a fence if it consists of only a couple wires, electricity and all. A combination of goat fencing and a few strands of electric fencing can work well together, if you find that you do need electric fencing at all.
Climb-proof fencing is basically woven so the openings at the bottom of the fence are too small for a goat to get a good foothold on. Of course, in your goat career, you may still have one or two that figure it out. As the fence gets higher, the weave openings get larger, but the areas most likely to allow a goat to climb have been “goat proofed.” Some may choose to run a single electric-fence wire across the top of the regular fence for extra predator protection. This could help and certainly won’t hurt, if you think you may have problems. (A coyote can climb a six-foot-fence, so keep this in mind when deciding on height.)
When installing your fence, allow extra height for burying a bit of the fence. This is due to the fact that, if they find a loose spot or space under the fence, the goats will work at it until they can successfully crawl under. However, please note that if your fence is heavy enough and the posts are put in close enough together, then you will not need to worry about sinking the fence. If you are worried about your goats digging out under the fence, don’t. Goats will not dig under a fence. But this does not mean that a predator may not. To help solve this problem, metal guards, which are long, narrow sheets of galvanized metal, are sunk into the ground along the fence line. They do work well. Other goat owners will build guards along the fence line (inside, if you’re concerned about animals digging out; outside, if you’re afraid of animals digging in). This consists of a long, narrow piece of chain link that lays flat in a shallow trench along the fence line, and that is then covered with soil. Animals cannot break through the chain link.
But before you can put your fencing up, you need fence post. You can find posts in various sizes, as well as made from an assortment of materials, including steel and wood. The type of post used is basically your choice. The metal or “T” posts are metal posts that look like an upside-down T. They are a bit easier to install and less expensive than wooden posts, but traditional wood posts are aesthetically better and will give you the traditional pasture look, if that is important to you. You can also use a combination of wood posts and “T” posts, using wood posts in all corners and spaced about every 40 feet. You would then place the “T” stakes in between the wood posts every 10 feet or so.
When using wooden fence posts, you may be tempted to use treated posts to help protect them against weather and rot. But, if your goats end up with a fondness for chewing on wood, treated posts could be toxic to them. If you are afraid of rot, especially for the part of the posts that is buried, it is best to either purchase untreated posts, and then paint or treat only that part of the posts that will be buried, or ask your fencing salesperson if there are any treated posts available that are safe and nontoxic. And, if you are fencing in a wooded area, you may even be able to use some of the existing trees as fence posts. Simply attach the fence to the tree. Keep in mind that the tree will eventually engulf the piece of fence attached to it, but this usually does no harm.
There are many little hints and tips on putting up fencing, and a lot will have to do with the type of fencing you’ve chosen, the poles or stakes you’re using, and the landscape of the ground you’re fencing. Your local farm stores, extension offices, or fencing companies should be able to assist you in any installation questions you may have. You also have the option to have your fencing professionally installed, and while professional installation can be expensive, it is a viable alternative, if necessary.
Finally, before you put your fence up, you need to figure out how big your goat yard needs to be. As with the housing, you need a minimum amount of space per animal. For your goat yard or pen, you should allow about 200 square feet per goat. Notice that this number may be a little smaller for pygmies and dwarfs, but this is the average. If you are housing your goats in a pasture, however, these numbers are a bit different; that will be touched on in Chapter 4.
A final note: many breeders will keep their breeding bucks separate from, but in view of, the does. This is due to the odor than an intact buck has, as there exists the possibility of the odor tainting the milk. It is also to prevent unplanned kids and control breeding times.