New to goats

[country_wife]

I don't have a goat yet, but plan to get one this year. First, I want my goat pen ready. Any advice on fencing, buildings (shelter), etc? We do not have a barn, so we'd be building a small goat shed. I'd also appreciate any 'goats for dummies' type books you could suggest.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Build your goat shed tall enough that you can stand up in it. We made the mistake of building just taller than the goats with the first construction.

Overbuild your fences. If smoke can go through it, so can a goat. OK, small exaggeration.

We have one goat who will clear any fence up to 5 feet tall, but I don't think that's a normal problem. They will, however, not be contained by barbed wire at all. You need good field fencing with a hot wire at nose height inside.

Gates must be child proof, adult proof, clever monkey proof. They *know* what the gate is, and they figure out how to open them.

Keep your feed in a building that the goats cannot get into. At all. Ever. Keep the feed in barrels or something they can't open so that when they *do* get into the building they don't overeat and bloat.

Read all the articles on this website: http://dairygoatinfo.com/index.php?board=2.0

That should get you started! :baby04:

[Alice In TX/MO]

Book recommendations:

Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats, by Jerry Belanger
ISBN 1-58017-259-8

From Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Storeys-Guide-.../dp/1580172598

and

Meat Goat Production Handbook, compiled by T.A. Gipson, R.C. Merkel, and S. Hart
ISBN 1-880667-04-5

Order form: http://www2.luresext.edu/goats/mgph.html

[RiverPines]

Well unless you want a chronically stressed goat, do not get one!
They are instinctively herd animals and need a herd to feel safe.
Their survival for them is in numbers. Just one would never be able to relax and that leads to illness.
Get at least 2!

[Minelson]

Check out this website also...helped me out soooo much! I'm a newbie to goats too, just got mine in October. Between this forum and the Fias website all my questions are answered and I feel more confident in what I'm doing...
http://www.fiascofarm.com/
Good luck!

[Feral Nature]

Yes, a single goat would be miserable, you need two to form a "herd".

I also suggest www.dairygoatinfo.com become a member to post, no need to join to read. Goatkeeping 101 section great articles like Rose said

[country_wife]

Thanks for the tips! I do plan to get at least two goats; I probably should've said so in my first post.

[Minelson]

The biggest thing I learned so far about goats is...if you get a pregnant doe, or if you breed, make SURE you know the date she was bred so you can accurately figure out the due date. I learned this the hard way.

[Goat Servant]

Many yrs ago we had a few Nubians. We used graduated fencing. Well that worked great most of the time especially since no one had horns.
A few yrs back we went for Boers. There were a couple that had to be rescued a half a dozen times a day cause they got their head stuck. Thank God I was home all the time.
Now we have whats called field fencing, but Im sure theres better. There are spots where we've had to nail up 2x6's cause they have bowed it out from rubbing on it.
Yes good advice about building a structure that you don't have to be stooping in! A three sided shed works fine faced out of the wind if no predator concerns. My girls have kidding pens where they can be locked up for a few fays.

A good vet who likes goats is priceless You will probably need one eventually.

[hoofinitnorth]

Kudos for wanting to learn BEFORE you leap!! Good for you!

You have some GREAT suggestions here.

On the shed/stalls, you can build them short to help keep the goats warm in the winter and to make them easy to clean, just put HINGED tops on them. We did this with our kidding/weaning stalls and REALLY like them.

Lots of good newbie information at the Fiasco Farm site without the petty nastiness and newbie bashing found on many forums. It's a good place to start, where you can read at your leisure. Then you can come to a forum like this one (or any of the thousands of others out there) to ask for clarification or further suggestions (or to ask if you aren't sure about something you read there).

Into what type of goats are you looking? Dairy, meat, fiber, cross?? That will sometimes change your management styles too. If you can find a couple of good mentors in your area, go for it!