Module 2: Housing and feeding dairy goats

Housing can be as simple or elaborate as you wish. Just make sure it meets these 10 goals.

1. Protection from predators and bad weather

2. Provides shade in summer

3. Provides insulation for warmth in winter

4. Dry for healthy hooves

5. Good ventilation

6. Minimum 10-15 sq feet per goat for living quarters

7. Easy to clean

8. Fresh clean places for feeders, and secure food

storage

9. Water access

10. Easy to monitor

Goats require a minimum 40 sq feet outdoor space per goat.

Fencing ideas:

Stock panel- welded rod, 52” height. 4x4 square preferred.

Electric- permanent or temporary.

Board- 5 (6”) boards is ideal, with posts spaced less 8 ft or less.

Woven wire- 4x4 square, t-posts posts spaced less 8 ft or less. Corners anchored VERY

well 5” heavy wood posts.

Barbed wire- recommended only along top and bottom, above and below woven

wire.

*Whatever material you choose, make it tight! Goats challenge all fence designs. They will

find holes, lean their weight on fence for a good scratch, and stick their heads through fences

to get greener grass on the other side.

*Goats are climbers and jumpers. They will climb trees to escape a fence.

*Goats are crawlers. The lower the bottom board or line the better.

Birthing pens

When a doe goes into labor on my farm, I isolate her in a comfortable birthing pen.

She and new kids stay there for 3-5 days for recovery and bonding. This allows me to

monitor kid health and nursing. I also give mom extra grain and attention.

My birthing pens are 7 by 4 ½ feet, made of welded stock panel.

Doors are removable for easy cleaning and

storage after birthing season is over.

Buck housing

You may choose to service your dairy does off the farm or artificially inseminate your

does, but if you choose to keep a buck, he will need special living arrangement to pre-

vent over-breeding and out-of-cycle breeding. Running a buck with your milking herd

year round will also affect the flavor of your milk. I’ll talk more about why this is im-

portant in Module 3: Health, breeding and birthing. For now, just keep in mind your

buck should only run with does when they are in heat, ready to be bred. Allow goats

to breed and then return the buck to his pen. This keeps everyone safe and healthy.

A buck barn should provide your buck with a minimum 10-15ft indoor living space.

Pen should be made with extra strong materials. Bucks benefit from a good sized ex-

ercise area and access to pasture.

Bucks smell, especially during breeding season, due to their musk glands. I recom-

mend placing buck housing downwind on your farm.

Goats eat grass and weeds, grain and hay. The volume and mix is dependent on season

(what is available in pasture), age, sex, weight and whether or not does are in-milk.

A fantastic publication with a dairy goat feeding chart brought to you by the good folks

at University of Missouri Extension. Download it for free at:

http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G3990

Additional supplementation. Unlike sheep, goats need copper.

If you live in an area with low selenium, you might also need to

supplement selenium. I provide my goats with a goat mineral

block.

Poisonous plants. There is a long list of plants poisonous to

small ruminants available on the internet. I don’t want to mini-

mize the hazard, but my experience has been goats are selective

eaters, good at avoiding poisonous plants on their own.