# Housing space for Nigerian Dwarf goats(2)



## Lucas'sNDs (Dec 31, 2012)

Hi I am a beginner at raising goats and I was wondering how much space do these little guys really need? I have seen some answers and I live in the city, so an acre isn't practical. I am most interested in the housing sense I live in saint Paul, Minnesota.


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## Fluffygal (Dec 31, 2012)

My first 2 goats were a Pygmy (Bella) and Nigerian Dwarf (Rufus). I had them in a 10ft wide x 30ft long pen which was plenty space for them. Used 2 10ft x 10ft x 6ft tall dog kennels that come in 4 ten foot panels and easy to put together. Used a kennel cover on one end. They had a large dog house to sleep in that both fit comfortably in. 

Rufus is gone, but I still have Bella and her daughter Orea (by Rufus). Also have Fiona my Nubian Doe. Pen is much bigger now as I added on to it. 

Pygmies and NDs are like medium sized dogs. They do not take up much space which makes them perfect for small setups. Below are pics of my first setup. The pen we used is easy to put together, breakdown, and rearrange with these panels.


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## OneFineAcre (Dec 31, 2012)

When you say  housing, they can easily sleep in a dog house for a large dog.  I build 3 sided shelters about 8'x8' which 4 or 5 can sleep in.  But, I live in N.C. so I just make sure the open side is facing S-SW because when a cold wind blows here it comes form the NE.  Being in MN, you would probably need something with all sides closed in.

Or are you talking about how much room do they need?  How much room do you have?  

You have to have at least two animals.  I have 20 (7 kids, 2 bucks, 2 Jr. Does, 9 does) on one acre.  But, I have spent a lot of money on fencing to divide my area up.  I know someone who has as many as I do on less than that, although I think she has too many.

My two bucks are in a pen about 50' x 20' (1000 sf)  I keep my two buck kids in a pen about half that size.


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## PendergrassRanch (Dec 31, 2012)

We keep ours in a 1.5 acre pasture with a 10x20 stall to sleep in at night.  We have 2 NDs and 4 other goats.


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## Suburbanfarmer (Jan 1, 2013)

We have 2 ND and live on a total of 1/3 acre. It's a regular lot in a regular neighborhood. We have some flexibility with our backyard, so we have been able to give them more room than they absolutely need. When we were looking for info I found several city goat setups that had some good info. Plus a book that was just released a couple of months ago (I got it from my library). City Goats  her web site is here Plus I've emailed Jennie Grant a couple of times and she is super friendly and helpful.

We started our 2 goats out in a large dog house. It worked great, but we have a shed that works better. I divided the shed down the middle, so one door opens for them and I have storage in the other side. They basically have housing that is 3 1/2 sides. I like my goats to be able to get completely in from the wind and rain no matter what direction it is coming from. A lot of people around here use dog houses/dog igloos. We don't get super cold here though. I would think that you would be fine if you bed them well with straw/hay in the winter. I find that the wood shavings aren't as warm as the hay and when given the option my goats will bed down in hay first before the shavings. But, they hay is bulkier to clean up. I have space for compost, but sometimes we end up having to either throw it out in our yard waste container with our trash or haul it to the dump. Bummer to see that good compost go, but sometimes we just don't have the room. Shavings take up less space. Plus shavings are easier to deep litter bed. 

Here is a picture of our original set up. We have since moved our goats to our shed that is further back in our yard and given them more of the yard. We use step-in posts (found at most feed stores) and wire reinforcement for concrete slabs (found at Lowe's/Home Depot about $7 for 4' X 8'). I zip tie them together and clip them into the step-ins. Gives me a great movable fence. It's not super secure, but my backyard is completely fenced with a privacy fence. I have not yet had any problems with the goats getting out of their area though. 

Goat keeping in the city has a few unique challenges. Feed storage - I only have space for a couple of bales of hay at a time. Browse - sometimes I have to get creative to get the goats extra browse. Living in the Pacific NW there are always people cutting back blackberries, so they get quite a bit of those. I also have several neighbors that provide tree cuttings and ivy cuttings through the spring, summer and fall.

Good luck!
-K


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## Mac14 (Jan 2, 2013)

I don't have goats, but I am hoping to get 2 Nubian dwarfs or Nigerian dwarfs. But I didn't think that I had enough space but this seems good. I was also going to get in the habit of walking my dog every day so maybe "they" could get some exersize and I could get some P.E. too.


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