[Bumblebear]

Hello everyone, this is my first post and I am interested in how big a space people keep their goats in/on?  I read the Little Blue keeps them in a suburban garden (we have 1/2 acre paddock available - but it's also got the veggie bit; polytunnel; chooks/ducks in it) and was curious how big they need.  We have a concrete dog run (25' x 12') we use for the dogs at the moment and I wondered whether it would be better to keep goats in there so it wouldn't get muddy and take them to the paddock. 

I am ideally looking for a Golden Guernsey for milk (although the only herd I have found have a waiting list!) and a big wether (Boer maybe) for harness/companion.
 
Any advice would be great.  p.s we're in Norfolk if anyone happens to have a GG and Boer knocking around

[Penninehillbilly]

The British goat society have a good website re housing, For outside I used to have 1/3 acre, but the 2 goats were inside while I was at work. I split it in 2 they would eat one side down then I moved them to the other side. Worked OK but nice to have more land now.
Some people keep them yarded all the time, probably has it's advantages, with veg and poly I hope your fencing is good! 
Just got the BGS herd book, there were 271 GG kids registered last year, 209 females, the herds are out there somewhere!  , (mostly in the south I think)

[Mays]

youo will need it well fenced for summer & strip grazed , stabled throughout the winter with ample supply of forage... will you have a place to store hay & straw bales bales and a muck heap?. a milking goat will need to be bred periodically to keep her in milk, so best you buy an older goat in milk that can start you off without having to go through the kidding trauma.
Also British Toggenburgs give good milk yeilds so try not to set your heart on a particular breed be open minded and the right one will find you. You could even buy a milking nanny and her castrated (debudded) make kid offspring for company, that way you give a somewaht redundant male a life rather than a boer that is for meat.

[little blue]

  I read the Little Blue keeps them in a suburban garden

we do indeed!
They are fenced in, its an odd shape so don't ask me how big it is!
It is an extra commitment in the sense that all their food has to be "delivered" - but the hay rack takes a bale at a time and we know exactly what they have had and how much, so they are less likely to over eat & get bloated.
It helps that there is never a time we are too far away or away for too long.

consider a smaller breed as a companion, boers can be quite big & it seems a shame to rule out  a breed that may eat less and take up less room!!

[jaykay]

Golden Guernseys for sale

[Penninehillbilly]

Golden Guernseys for sale

Wow isn't 'PRASTENS CODA' gorgeous, I know we can't see his conformation, but that colouring 

[sokel]

Our goats live in , they all have their own goat pens. they do get turned out into the padock when the weather is nice but tbh they stand at the gate shouting to be in 5 minutes after they go out

[plumseverywhere]

Mine live 'out' 12 months of the year - they have sheds that they can choose to go into in inclement weather but they are very hardy Togg's who love the snow 
we have them in 2 paddocks but will be rotating paddocks in the months to come to try and help in the fight with worm control 

[Bumblebear]

Thanks everyone.  We are very lucky in that we are surrounded by hedgerows and alwasy have veggies left over from various crops so foodstuffs won't be an issue; neither SHOULD the fencing be because it is 6 ft high wood/stock fencing.  If I may ask a stupid question: do their feet need doing as much if they are in a yard?  Obviously I'll keep an eye on them anyway but was just curious.

[Anke]

Golden Guernseys for sale

Wow isn't 'PRASTENS CODA' gorgeous, I know we can't see his conformation, but that colouring 

Prastens Coda is a BRITISH GUERNSEY, not a GOLDEN one. You can breed up to BG from an initial cross bewteen a GG (usually a male because of size issues) and another breed (such as BT, T, BA, BS and S) female, then breed back to GG over two generations, until offspring is 7/8 GG again. Same as breeding for BT, BS or BA. If people are struggling to get pure GG's and are interested in milk yield breeding up to BG is quite a good, if somewhat longer term option. You can usually get a good quality BT or BS female (with milk figures to prove it), mate her to a good GG (not many with milk figures around though - but there are a few herds out there that manage to breed high yielding GG's) and carry down that line. I have just started and got my first cross female kid.
 
You can of course also use BG males along the line, but they are few and far between....
 
Beware of unregistered GG though, they often have some other breed in them..., but by regsitering them in the foundation book and then breeding up you can also get to BG eventually...

[Penninehillbilly]

I just saw his picture and thought how nice he looked, more into Toggs now, and after looking at the 'all Guernsey' tab I looked at the 'all Toggenburg' tab, rather surprised at what someone calls 'British Toggenburg type' needs a little more breeding up methinks  .

[McRennet]

Hi there 


We are across the way in north notts and have Boer Cross wethers available. Lovely boys with interesting markings due to being crossed with Toggenburgs and Anglo Nubians.


Give u a shout if you would like photos or even to pop over