[bloomer]

turns out i have a lot more space available than i though at my new house...


its very over grown and quite steep...


so will dairy goats live on a steep 1 in 3 in places slope?


for 2 dairy goats plus what ever kids we have in a given year how big a house would i need (access is tough so i have to think about it...


how high do the fences need to be assuming they will have plenty of forage available...


am i right someone told me goats eating ivy produce funny flavoured milk? (there is a lot of ivy on the hill)


my current thought is take this winter to get the land cleared (major litter pick and strimathon) and look for goats next spring...


hmm might have to find a friend to visit for goat lessons as well at some point!!!

[plumseverywhere]

Goats love steep.
I'd always have more than 1 house, doesn't have to be elaborate you could have shelters so as to cope with bully/head of pecking order goats who leave the weaker one(s) out in the rain...
Fences... high as possible... with electric fencing too.
Next spring you could get a goat with kid(s) at foot to allow you to get to grips with milking (haha pun)

[HappyHippy]

Goats are great (I REALLY miss mine  ) as Plums says no problem with steep - think "mountain goat" ;-)
Your shed would be best to have enough space for you to milk in too (remebering you'll need to milk twice daily, whatever the weather.......and if it's really wet/cold they'll not likely want to go out) 
I guess if you were looking at two plus kids you'd need around 12ft x 10ft, divided into at least 2 pens, plus a milking/foot trimming stand (we have plenty pallets) and about 6ft x 6ft to house that. Plus a bit of space to store hay/feed (best not to be in the same shed.......too much temptation otherwise!)
Stock fencing plus one or two wires above - 5ft *should* hold them unless it's GG's......ours loved jumping  but Mrs Nibbles being bigger and heavier, never bothered.
A trip to Beth's is in order I'd say 

[Anke]

Ours have pens in family groups (once they are milkers) and the kids and goatlings stay in their own age groups in pens. My pens are 5ft by 8ft, and I now use BlissBedding rather than straw (deep bedding wiith straw is the traditional method, but if you have to muck out using a fork and wheelbarrow it is incredibly hard on your wrists and back, Bliss is finely chopped rapeseed straw and much lighter and can be shovelled)  just a thought if you don't have space/time for a huge muck heap.

GG's are ideal (BUT then I am biased, just a wee bit though ) as they are usually quite happy to have an exercise yard - BUT they will need branches, strimmed grass (which can be dried for a few days) daily and/or hay, if you have them in a paved yard it helps to have a hose nearby to wash off the droppings most evenings quickly and to reduce any smells.

I have found that a single milker/nanny plus kid(s) is usually NOT happy, so at least two adults plus any kid(s) would be better. One adult can be a wether if you have not got time to milk two. I wouldn't mix breeds if you bring in adults from different places, but you can probably do that if you bring in goatlings and/or kids.

If you find yourself in the Borders, you (and family) are welcome to see our herd.

[Trixie]

Go for it! Goats are very addictive and give loads of pleasure as well as milk, we wouldn't be without ours now!!
Started with 2 last year now have 7!! Loads of people on here to give great advice and get a good book or 2. Starting with goats by Katie Thear is a good start, I have a couple of duplicate books (the older Katie Thear) which are basically the same just the legal bits have been updated in the new one if you wanted one I would gladly post it to you.

[darkbrowneggs]

Apparently goats like steep


http://mudfooted.com/goats-climbing-vertical-dam/

[Lesley Silvester]

I agree that goats are addictive. You will want more once you get started. My goats have a shed approx 11 foot x 8 foot which is ample for two adults and two kids. I don't separate mine at all which is why the mother and my milker are both feeding both kids and I'm hardly getting any milk.    They would be perfectly happy on steep land being built for balancing in the strangest of places.


My hay shed is around seven foot x four foot which holds 10 - 12 small bales of hay. The straw is kept in the garage.


Anke, that bedding looks interesting but expensive. The photo shows £7 next to a bale which I take to be the price. Times that by the six bales they say is necessary and that's a lot of money just to be s*** on.


DBE, I was just looking for that and found that they are, in fact, ibex not goats.

[fiestyredhead331]

they are addictive..... but oh so much fun 

I have stock fencing which they always seem to find a hole in but on the whole they don't bother escaping as they have grown to be a good sized herd now (17 and counting.....) and have plenty of company.
I have one main shed with a semi floored rafter which stores my bales of hay and straw and a seperate little garden shed which houses my milking stand and all the other oddments you need, hoof trimming shears, brushes, buckets etc. I split the main shed so they have a communal space and a couple of pens so I can seperate during kidding etc and an old horsebox parked up next to the shed to seperate the older kids at night from mums. The communal area is kept open through the day incase of bad weather but they have taken over a couple of old pig arks further down the field too.
They don't like the rain but we did everything on a non-existant budget, repurposing old sheds etc and using old pallets so it needn't be too expensive to start.

if you are on the book of faces, feel free to look at our page and see what you are potentially letting yourself in for......facebook.com/lifeonthecroft

[Lesley Silvester]

I've just had a looked and liked it FRH.

[goosepimple]

Yes, all the above bloomer, goats are great but wouldn't you be better to get piggies so they clear it and get any stones up before next spring?  You could just keep them with an electric wire easy peasy, save you fencing costs and have meat for Christmas.  Sure there's a hippy on here that could oblige. 

[Lesley Silvester]

You can eat goats as well as pigs. Very tasty meat is goat.

[goosepimple]

Haven't gone there yet (knowingly anyway).

Just that piggies have a short finishing time and get into the topsoil good and proper.

[bloomer]

There are some access issues that prevent piggies, getting them out for the final journey would be impossible, at least goats can be halter or lead trained.

[goosepimple]

....you'd be amazed at how well they follow a food bucket without deviation.

[ballingall]

Hello bloomer 

Yes goats will be quite happy on a steep slope- worse thing will be that fencing a steep slope won't be much fun! And that anything they have out in their yard/paddock, will end up at the bottom of the slope....

Shedwise- I would always say get/make one as big as possible, goats have a way of expanding. But,that said, you have to think that you could have as many goats as your two adults, plus say two kids each. Then- what are you going to do with the kids? If you want to keep them- rear them for meat maybe? Then you might still have them until they are 8-9 months old, and therefore getting bigger.

Our adult females get a pen on their own of 6ft by 6ft. If they are sharing with a friend, they get one and a half pens, so 9 ft by 6ft. But you need room to split them up if necessary, so at least maybe an area 10ft by 6ft which you can split in half.

Then Happyhippy is right, you need a space to store food, and to milk indoors. My sister is managing quite nicely to keep her goats in a double field shelter, so 12 by 24ft. But she has 4 milkers, 3 goatlings, and 3 kids (she is running out of room!), plus room for feeding and milking.

I would think you could manage with a 12by 12 shed, or even 10 or 8 by 12 if space is tight. But another small shed would be useful to keep some hay and straw in. You'd want to keep a couple of bales of hay in stock, just in case of bad weather in the winter.

If I only had a small outside area, I would be inclined to make a yard- even just 6 by 8ft which is paved, just so they have an outside space for exercise which won't get muddy, and then the rest of their outdoor space as whatever you have.

In terms of when to get some- I would suggest either in the autumn, get something in kid maybe, and a companion, which could kid the following year. The ideal would be to have one goat kid each year.  Or to wait until spring, when you could get a goatling and a kid, or if you are brave a milker and a goatling.

You are welcome to come here for milking lessons- I may need you to visit anyway as I have a fencing issue!

What breed are you thinking of?

Beth