The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: poppy2012 on October 04, 2012, 08:37:20 pm

Title: goat pen size....
Post by: poppy2012 on October 04, 2012, 08:37:20 pm
hi there...im considering penning off my goat shed, which is now just one big space...will try and take a pic tomorrow, is 2 square feet enough room for a pen, and should i keep 2 smaller areas and one bigger for kidding , as they do pace a lot and need room to move in this time, we cannot have a seperate area for kidding, so working out how to best use my goat space, maximum will be 3 fully grown goats, possibbly with kids ( trying to kid one a year to make it space out!) partitions would be wooden, so height and depth can be fairly flexible as my husband has a saw mill.....will get size tomorrow of the goat shed, bt need to get on with it this week as new goat arriving next week, and im slightly concerned about bullying....
Title: Re: goat pen size....
Post by: jaykay on October 04, 2012, 08:42:28 pm
I don't think you mean 2 square feet?

My two goat pens are 6ft x 8ft each, one adult sleeps in each of these and are shut into them with their kids early on. Then there is a space outside the pens which is probably the size of four pens, for 'mooching and socialising' in, plus I milk them in that bit.
Title: Re: goat pen size....
Post by: wytsend on October 05, 2012, 07:00:35 am
6 x 8 is the ideal size   especially if they have to spend a lot of time indoors due to weather.   Dont go any smaller .....you will find it awkward for daily management, if nothing else.
When I had separate pens, I used to put a hay rack which ran the the full length of the dividing wall between pens.....makes it easy to throw hay in from a corridor.    It also prevents goats from commuting between pens !!!!!!
Title: Re: goat pen size....
Post by: sokel on October 05, 2012, 09:26:50 am
We have most of our pens 7 1/2 x  5 1/2 for single goats and we have  3  x  7 1/2 x 7 1/2  that we use for kids .
the only reason we have this size is thats what we could fit into the goat shed
Title: Re: goat pen size....
Post by: plumseverywhere on October 05, 2012, 12:03:40 pm
I have 2 standard sized sheds and goats can be seperated into mini herds accordingly. When I need to segregate kids I used hurdles as a temp measure.
The sheds definitely need to be big enough for you, a goat/kids and a vet to all be able to fit in and move about!
Title: Re: goat pen size....
Post by: poppy2012 on October 06, 2012, 09:16:22 pm
I don't think you mean 2 square feet?

My two goat pens are 6ft x 8ft each, one adult sleeps in each of these and are shut into them with their kids early on. Then there is a space outside the pens which is probably the size of four pens, for 'mooching and socialising' in, plus I milk them in that bit.

sorry metres...baby keeping me awake!
Title: Re: goat pen size....
Post by: Lesley Silvester on October 06, 2012, 09:52:48 pm
I don't think you mean 2 square feet?

My two goat pens are 6ft x 8ft each, one adult sleeps in each of these and are shut into them with their kids early on. Then there is a space outside the pens which is probably the size of four pens, for 'mooching and socialising' in, plus I milk them in that bit.

sorry metres...baby keeping me awake!

 :roflanim:   I remember those days. (nights)
Title: Re: goat pen size....
Post by: jaykay on October 07, 2012, 07:23:14 am
Ok, so two square metres, for us oldies, would be about 3ft x 6ft.

Which, as you've seen from the replies, is a bit on the small side - it depends how much time they're going to spend in there and so on.
Title: Re: goat pen size....
Post by: tizaala on October 07, 2012, 08:16:38 am
If we say  2x hurdles wide  x  2 hurdles long , this would be adequate space for any goat, for kidding we put them their own stable 12ft x 10ft or in part of our feed room divided up with 10ft gates.
most of the time the females all like to be together at night so they gather in the barn untill we need it for lambing.