# Goat house requirements



## TheGoldenFarm5 (Apr 9, 2018)

Hi,
I am wanting to get goats one day, and I want to start preparing a place for them to live. I want to get Pygmy goats or Nigerian dwarfs. 
I raise chickens also, and they need certain things in their coop, such as a roost and nesting boxes. 
Do goats have a requirement for their house? Like do they have to have places built for them to sleep? 
Also, what are the indoor space requirements for a small breed of goat? 
Thank you!


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## Baymule (Apr 9, 2018)

I have sheep, not goats, but they have a 3 sided shelter and are happy with it. We recently added a 20x24 roof and will wall it up later. Right now they are loving the new room!

Perhaps some goat people will come along with better descriptions of goat requirements.


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## TheGoldenFarm5 (Apr 10, 2018)

Baymule said:


> I have sheep, not goats, but they have a 3 sided shelter and are happy with it. We recently added a 20x24 roof and will wall it up later. Right now they are loving the new room!
> 
> Perhaps some goat people will come along with better descriptions of goat requirements.


Thank you! 
My concern with a 3 sided house is that it is cold up here. It snows all winter and the windchill can get down to -20. I’m not sure a 3 sided area would be warm enough. 
And wouldn’t a predator be able to get them?


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## Bruce (Apr 10, 2018)

You need to keep the predators out of anywhere the goats live including their pastures. That is where good fencing comes in. I suppose you could make an enclosed house and lock them up every night but I don't know goats so I don't know if they would be bothered by that. Chickens will return to their "Fort Knox" coop nightly and can be locked in. Mine have an auto door that opens and closes at dawn and dusk.


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## Latestarter (Apr 10, 2018)

It really depends on what breeds you are sure you'll be getting. Obviously larger goats require more space. Also, the number of goats you'll finally end up with has bearing as well. A simple small shed type structure should be more than adequate. Of course you'll want it to have ventilation and make plans to keep the floor from rotting out from moisture. You can make the door lockable to keep the goats inside and safe at night. You can wall mount a hay feeder and watering station for them inside for the days when they don't want to go out, or you can't let them out. You could get real fancy and build on a covered front porch for them to lay on during inclement weather or to get out of the hot sun. You could also use it to sit out with them.

Fencing is your number 1 concern for protection of them as well as containment.


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## Alaskan (Apr 11, 2018)

you need pasture fence that keeps out dogs.

Not sure what your other potential predators are in your area... but keep those out too.

My full sized does are much easier to fence in or out of stuff.   For them the fence only needs to be maybe 3.5 feet high.  

My dwarf cross (saanen x Nigerian dwarf) has springs for legs!  That girl can soar over a fence if she has a mind to it!  One lady up here her dwarf goats learned how to bounce up her hay loft ladder.  So.... don't think a short goat = a short fence.

as to shelter... mine live in a big barn with usually  the big front door always open.  But they are locked into a pen in the barn  every night that is pretty dog proof.  

I got to look at goat housing in colder parts of Alaska,  and the trick was to have a warm nesting spot where they could cuddle together when they slept, but still have a well ventilated open area to spend the day in.

My goats don't mind the snow... they like to find a wind free spot, and they hate rain .... but they are happy to trudge through snow for a nice spot to bask in the winter sunshine.


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## Silky ma (Apr 18, 2018)

Im getting my first goats 1 & 2 months
Dwarf nigerians - a nubian- and then pygmies
Ive gone back and forth on all the issues.

For fencing we are doing 6 ft chain link
Reasons- a coyote pack visits across from us and snacks on the sheep- i can hear them visit every week. Neighbor has no climb/hotwire- barbed wire mixed and 3 GSD!  Other visiting animals are fox/ cougar /bear and rogue dogs.

Been round and round on housing- you can buy preformed huts but make sure you get the biggest ones -so you can actually walk into them for cleaning and get doors!!

We will start with these while we build the actual barns! Then i will use these to store hay/feed supplies.

Our building codes allow 120 square foot barns with no permitting needed- bigger means permits/$$

So we are building 8x15 foot barns/ houses On one side will be the pens for each doe and across each will have their own feeding station- so no fighting with feedings and i can see who is off feed and needs watching!

There will be 2 units built- one for does and another for bucks-   I will control births to happen during spring and summer!
Hope this helps!


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## Latestarter (Apr 18, 2018)

Good luck and I hope you'll share some pics as you progress.


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## Silky ma (Apr 18, 2018)

Can do!
I think the hardest part has been the brush removal. Nothing has been done to this acreage-4.19- in 30 years!

In clearing out the dead manzanita and prickly bush i was able to save some leaning manzanita limbs for the goats to climb on.


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## Silky ma (Apr 18, 2018)

First 3 before last 3 after
Next is installing 63 8 foot poles
And 500 feet of chainlink
Which will be divided doe/ buck areas!


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## Jeanne Sheridan (Apr 18, 2018)

TheGoldenFarm5 said:


> Hi,
> I am wanting to get goats one day, and I want to start preparing a place for them to live. I want to get Pygmy goats or Nigerian dwarfs.
> I raise chickens also, and they need certain things in their coop, such as a roost and nesting boxes.
> Do goats have a requirement for their house? Like do they have to have places built for them to sleep?
> ...


We live in the Pacific NW so we have winters though they are not as cold as yours.  During the winter we close our herd of Nubians in at night along with their guard llama.  The reasons are two fold. 1. Protection from large predators that we have in the area.  Twice we've found cougar tracks in the snow circling the barn when we go to let them out in the morning.  2. By closing them in we are able to keep the temperature up compared to outside.  In the warmer months we leave the barn open at night but have the gates in the 5' fence around the barn yard and pasture are closed to keep out coyotes.During the summer we also have windows in the first floor of our barn that open to just chicken wire covering.  It gives us great air flow without the possibility of predator ingress.


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