# How much living space does a Nigerian Dwarf need?



## TwilightGoats

I am wanting to get 2 Nigerian dwarf goats except my mom doesn't want to build an actual barn like goat barn, so I was thinking of making a shelter like here, It won't let me post links so go to Youtube and search "Goat Kids on Top!.mov"  without the ".
I was thinking of it making it 10x10 is that big enough? I read that a miniature goat should have 10 square ft. per goat so I'm pretty sure its plenty big enough.

Thanks


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## SmallFarmGirl

Twilight! 
Do you mean the grassy area or the barn/shelter? 
I have 2 goats in a 20 ft by 26-7 feet yard with a barn about 6 by 9 feet. 
A good shelter like a large dog house would be good, (1 for each goat) 
If you're keeping them for pets. Dairy goats need a milking spot. 
You could also use those barrel homes I've seen somewhere on this site. 
(Need to go scout that out). Also a simple lean-to would do. 

Hope that helps! Nigerians are an awesome choice! I hope you enjoy them!


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## TwilightGoats

Thanks! I meant the shelter sorry, I'm gonna keep the goats in a 20x20 pen. I'm getting Pygmy goats instead of the Nigerian dwarf.


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## ksalvagno

Are you talking about something like a dog kennel? Will they get more space outside of that? For 2 Pygmies, probably something like an 8x10 shed or something would be ok. How are predators? What are your winters like? Do you have a lot of dogs running around free? Those make a difference on what type of shelter you need for the goats.


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## TwilightGoats

I haven't been on a lot of forums so I'm kind of confused with posting and all that, but I'm gonna keep them in a 20x20 grassy pen area where they can browse because we do have 2 small dogs(I don't think our dogs would do anything to a goat because they are afraid of our guinea pig) that get to run around free. Yes, they will get more space outside of the 20x20 pen. we have no predators besides form the dogs which won't be able to go into the pen. our winters don't get very cold at all, well actually it depends on the summer we have, we live in southern Oregon and it's very hard to predict the weather. In winters it hardly go under 50 degrees Fahrenheit, we do get quite a bit of rain. We've had a long break from rain, though. Summers are pretty warm most of the time(70-90 degrees Fahrenheit).


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## that's*satyrical

4x4 would be a big enough area in a shelter for a mini. So for 2 a 4x8 would be good and so on. They really just all need enough room to get out of the rain in a mild climate like ours & as long as your herd gets along well with each other they don't need a lot of extra room in the shelter. If you have a colder climate your shelter might need to be a little fancier than our does shelter which is a 10x10 dog pen covered by a tarp with polyethelene tubing to add curve to the roof. Also 5 adult Nigerian does share that shelter without a problem. Their pen is much larger like 60x80 feet (I am guessing but it's pretty large)


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