You’ve seen the cute baby goat photos all over the internet and think you might like to have a couple of your own, but what do you need to know before raising your own goats?
These are the basic necessities for raising goats:
1.) Good fencing
2.) Adequate shelter
3.) Good quality hay/browse and fresh water
4.) A high-quality mineral supplement
Goat Fencing:
On our farm, we use both goat and sheep fencing and no-climb horse fencing – both 4ft tall. Whatever you choose, I highly recommend woven wire fencing, with either a 2×4 or 4×4 opening. The welded wire fencing, while cheaper, doesn’t hold up as well in the long run. We raise Nigerian Dwarf goats and we’ve found the 4ft fence adequate. We’ve never had a goat jump our fence or even try, although I know some people do have escape artists. Just to be on the safe side, you may consider a 5ft tall fence, especially if you have the budget to do so.
How much area do I need to fence for goats?
At a bare minimum, you need 250 SqFt of fenced area per goat. However, you can’t have just one goat. Goats are herd animals so at a minimum you need two, and I recommend more than the minimum square footage. We first started our goat journey with 2 Nigerian Dwarf goats and about 2000 SqFt of fenced pasture. They did quite well on that for the first year and then we decided to expand our herd and in turn, our pasture area.
Goat Shelter:
Goats MUST have shelter available. If you’ve ever seen a goat out in a pasture and it starts to rain, they start running for shelter like they are being pelted with acid! I’ve seen people use all types of shelters, but at a bare minimum, you need a large dog house or calf hutch type shelter. We decided to build our own because we wanted something bigger than pet houses. On snowy or rainy days, your goats could spend the entire day inside, so you want it to be somewhat roomy. We have dirt/gravel floors in our barns that we line with stall mats and then cover with a thin layer of barn lime and top with pine shavings or wasted hay.
In nice weather, our goats spend very little time inside so how often you clean is usually dictated by the time of year and the weather. In the winter months, our goats spend a lot of time in the barns, which means they need to be cleaned more often. You do need to keep your shelter dry and cleaned and free of ammonia fumes or you’ll end up with sick goats.
What do I feed my goats?
A goat’s main diet should be good quality hay, pasture, or brush. Goats somehow ended up with a stereotype that they will eat anything, but nothing could be further from the truth! They are browsers, so in the warmer months, when pasture is growing, they will pick and choose their favorite grasses and vegetation, but are not grazers like cattle or sheep. They really prefer to eat higher off the ground and love tree leaves and brush and certain weeds. Goats are ruminants, so they have a 4-chambered stomach which allows them to only partially chew their vegetation, then it continues to break down in each chamber. It’s important that goats get good vegetation to make the rumen function properly.
In the winter months, hay will likely be the main diet for goats if you live in a cold climate. Goats are extremely picky and need a good horse-quality hay, otherwise, you’ll end up with a lot of waste. We’ve found the best hay is an alfalfa/grass mix. We specifically use an alfalfa/orchard mix because it’s readily available in our area and the goats love it. Timothy or Brome are other good choices. I did feed a good-quality straight alfalfa one winter and had all my goats been in milk and burning extra calories, it would have worked great, but they ended up gaining too much weight! So an alfalfa mix works best in our experience.
No access to good hay?
If you don’t have access to good quality hay, many people feed Chaffhaye. This is a premium non-GMO alfalfa sold in 50lb bags and readily available at dealers across the U.S. The hay undergoes a natural fermentation that transforms the raw alfalfa into a super digestible forage, enriching it with yeast, enzymes and beneficial microflora that aid digestion as well as absorption of its nutrients by the animal. It is soft, easy to chew, and free of dust and mold. We have used this over the years and once the goats get used to it they really really love it.
Goats also enjoy certain fresh fruits and veggies. Apples, lettuce, dried citrus peels, and other teats like animal crackers and fig bars are favorites with our herd.
Lastly, and very obvious, water. Goats need access to fresh clean water at all times. Depending on the size of your herd you may choose larger troughs, but we prefer 2 – 4 gallon water buckets that we usually refill once a day. They do get picky if it gets dirty so the buckets are the easiest to keep clean.
Calcium to phosphorous ratio in a goats diet:
Keeping a 2:1 to 3:1 Calcium:Phosphorous ratio in a goat’s diet is important. Without this balance, the mineral imbalance can result in a variety of health problems and even death. Alfalfa is a great source of calcium for a goats’ diet. Feeding an all-grass diet that is high in phosphorous, could potentially lead to a mineral imbalance. A balanced diet is especially important in castrated males and bucks because they are at greater risk of developing urinary calculi, which are stones that build in the urinary tract. The stones can eventually block their ability to urinate, which is fatal if not treated. For this reason, it’s recommended that you do not castrate goats before 8 weeks of age in order to allow the urethra sufficient time to develop. For breeding females, it’s also important to provide sufficient calcium to prevent hypocalcemia during pregnancy and lactation.
Do goats need grain?
The short answer is no, especially if you’re feeding quality hay. Grain should absolutely not be the main food source for goats. Our does in milk do get grain mixed with alfalfa pellets or chopped alfalfa twice a day on the milk stand. We also feed grain to our goats who are still growing or who are bred. If a goat is full-grown, not bred or in milk, and not going to market, there really is no reason for grain. For bucks especially, you want to make sure to keep that balanced diet we talked about earlier so we like to make sure our boys get some alfalfa in their diet. A diet high in grain could be detrimental to a buck or wether.
What not to feeds goats:
So we talked about what to feed, how about what not to feed. As mentioned above some grain is okay, but should absolutely not be the main part of a goat’s diet. The main diet should be hay/pasture/browse and grain as a treat or for bred/milking does and growing kids.
Many plants and trees on your property have the potential to be poisonous and deadly to goats so that is something to look out for and check your property for. Common things to look out for and make sure your goats do not eat:
- holly trees and bushes
- avocado
- wild Cherry, -wilted- leaves (fresh and fully dried are not poisonous)
- azaleas
- rhododendron
- kale
- red maples
- boxwoods
- yew
- rhubarb leaves
- Japanese Pieris (extremely toxic)
- African rue
- burning bush berries
- chokecherry
Do my goats need minerals?
Yes, a high-quality goat mineral is very important and should be available free-choice at all times. You can find many good brands made specifically for goats. You need to make sure the mineral has copper as that is an essential mineral for goats. We also prefer a loose mineral, not a mineral block. The loose minerals are easier for the goats to get the proper intake, vs a hard block. This Manna Pro Goat Mineral is one we use, and we also like this TruCare 4 Top-Dress Trace Mineral Blend for additional zinc which leaves their coats looking beautiful. We use this goat mineral feeder that works very well to pour the minerals into.
Other things to consider for raising goats:
1.) Goats do need their hoofs maintained regularly. So you need to trim them every so often. We use these Hoof Trimmers.
2.) Goats can be prone to parasites so it’s important if you see them feeling off or have loose stool, that you need to have a fecal run by your vet. Do not worm on a regular schedule without a fecal first as many wormers are no longer effective because of over-use. We actually use preventative methods on our farm and give herbal wormers once a month. We also let our goats graze on vegetation that is high in tannins like oak leaves and Sericea lespedeza, which both grow on our property.
3.) Goat addiction is a real thing! Beware that if you start with just two, you may be adding to your infrastructure for additional goats very soon!
Leave a Reply