# Planning goat pen and yard need advice



## laughter777 (Jun 16, 2008)

DH and I are trying to decide what size pen we will need. We currently have 2 fullsize does and 1 mini. One is due in Nov and we will be keeping any doe kids for extra milkers. The other 2 will be bred to kid Feb to March and we will be keeping their doe kids. We may buy 1 or 2 more does in milk before them. So we would have 4 fullsize and 1 mini, plus we figure up to 4 more does (if we have more doe kids than that...those we will sell) 
I read a book that suggested each goat needs 200 sq feet of yard space...We were planning to build a 40 by 40 yard which would give us 1600 sq feet or room for 8 does. We plan to attach a barn at the back. The book mentioned needing 15 sq foot per goat in the barn and stalls needed to be 6X6 so we planned to put 2 6X6 stalls at the back then making the whole barn 12 ft X 18. I figure if you take the 6' for the stall that leaves 12X12 in the barn open which is 144 sq feet. According to the book enough room for 9 goats. I am wondering if having 2 stalls for 8 does is enough. I want to spread out kiddings and give each doe her own stall with her kids a few days prior to kidding and a couple weeks after kidding. Is it feasible to breed 2 does, then breed 2 more a month later, then 2 more a month later....or is there a better way to do this. Maybe do four stalls. And have a 24 X18 barn with a 6' aisle in between the stalls. Have 2 on either side. That would leave a 12X18 foot open area for the goats, and I could make a feed/hay room in the back of the aisle that can be closed off from the goats. 

Are these space requirements correct, not enough, too much???

Thanks in advance,
Sarah


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

I have 10x10 stalls, with corrall boards taken down they become 20x10 etc...

In a 10x10 stall it easily houses 4 adult minis. It is way to tight for 4 adult Nubians. 12x12 would be better but when full grown these girls are big! I raise 6 kids comfortably in a 10X10 but once weaned they need more space during the winter when they have to spend time indoors from the rain. I wouldn't even go 6x6 period, it's way to small. Vicki


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

6x6 is way too small


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## laughter777 (Jun 16, 2008)

6X6 sounded to small to me, but figured who better to come to, to find out before we build!!

Is the 200sq ft per goat in the yard enough??? Do the rest of the requirements/measurements sound ok???

Sarah


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Your wasting alot of inside space with maternity pens. Does rarely have to be kept seperated to bond with their kids, even the meakest of does will shoo away bigger does from her during kidding and her kids later on. Plus goats hate to be seperated, then you have to put them back in which actually can cuase the fighing you are trying to stop.

Do an adult doe pen in which mini's and adult milkers live, with their kids if you are letting everyone nurse anyway. In the barn have one more pen that you can use for kids if you end up wanting to bottle, or to wean hard to wean kids, or for illness etc..then come and see my barn, you want part of your barn to be for you, for them to come in and be milked, for them to be fed so you aren't going into stalls to feed goats, and a locked place with a door to keep grain, always make plans for a barn with storage to keep grain behind a locked door. If a 3 year old child can get into your feed room so can a doe. Same with latches on your stall doors.

You want as much outside room as you can of course, 50x50 is small, but it willprovide exercise areas, my kid pen is about this size and I have little tikes toys in it, my kids have been drinking out of a tiny swimming pool all week  any trees in the area will be stripped of bark so make sure and protect them right off. Vicki


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## laughter777 (Jun 16, 2008)

After looking at where we were planning to put the pen we have changed our mind...they would have been about 50' from our neighbor's bucks and I don't want to tempt the fates with buck smell!! So we have a 300' X 100' already fenced (just need to put panels along the bottom to keep kids and the mini in) We will use it and build a barn with 2 stalls (in case we need them for kids and/or illness) a room for feed (w/ a latch up top that I can barely reach and a foot lock), and a milk room. I can't wait!! This is the area I was taking Lily up to browse in before the new girls got here. She loved it. 

Sarah


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## Rose (Oct 26, 2007)

Vicki,
If you could draw your barn layout and post it somewhere, I'd sure appreciate it, and it would be a great help to the OP on this thread. Your goat barn is fantastic.

Thanks for letting me visit last weekend. I learned a lot, and meeting you was a pleasure.

Alice


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