[gjthom]

Hi all.  I'm new to the forum and wondered if I could ask for a few ideas.  In a couple of months time (once fencing and shelter is in place) we'll become the proud owners of two British Saanen goats (both female).  I'm pretty handy when it comes to woodworking and have a fully equipped workshop so I'm going to build a shelter for the goats.  We'll enlist an electrician to put power into it once it's done.  So I'm wondering how big to make it and what elements to incorporate into the design which will make our lives as goat keepers easier.  The plan is to have just the two does and their offspring till weaning before moving them on.  If anyone has a link to some super duper plans that'd be great as would some advice on what internal partitions to put in and what areas would benefit the goats and make our lives easier.  Thanks a bunch!

[clydesdaleclopper]

Try to make it as flexible as possible. You will want to be able to separate the kids so a means of doing this that can't be jumped over is needed. I have a fold down bench that can be used as a sleeping platform and I have used it to milk on before I got my fab milking bench from Verdifish on here.


I have to say I have looked rather longingly at some of the pictures of goat house / playground on Pinterest. There are some great houses with lots of stuff for the goats to play on.


Maybe think about running water to it so that you can put in automatic drinkers like the small ones you can get for horse stables as that will save a lot of time lugging buckets of water. Think about where you will mount your hay racks and I would recommend a few as the dominant goat might stop the other one getting to it if you only have one. Also think about incorporating an area for hay storage so that you're not lugging hay bales around all the time.

[fiestyredhead331]

Open plan....with removable partitions for kidding, illness etc. Ours has a pitched roof so we can store hay and straw up there and moveable drinkers and hay racks.

[goosepimple]

You might find plans a la internet, perhaps www.fiascofarm.com might have some.  You can never have it big enough really, goats love their house, they just want to hang out near it or in it all the time.  You can create different levels just putting in straw bales and create flexible internal arrangements with pallets so you can change them at a later date, or you can't go wrong investing in some flake gates - take a visit to your local fencing / gates yard and see what there is, also fleabay is good or gumtree has surprises sometimes!


Actually if you're handy, the fiasco farm website has the drawings for a goat crush which is a real must for when you want to trim their feet which you should do about every month or so and for doing anything else you need to hold them still for.  Many of us here on tas have made it and its invaluable.  It can be made from pallets.  Fencing/gates suppliers also do something called a lamb adoptor which is similar and just costs less than £20 which would do a similar thing though not quite as handy as the fiasco farm one.


If you have a rain water gutter on your goat house then feed it into a water butt, that way you can have instant fresh water for the goats each day near at hand.


Good luck with your goats and get some photos on when they arrive!

[gjthom]

Lots of great ideas there guys.  Many thanks.  Will definitely upload some pics when the girls arrive!

[clydesdaleclopper]

Whereabouts on speyside are you? You might not be that far from us.

[gjthom]

We're at Knockando  - about 6 miles from Aberlour