# Changing the ordinance for goats in my home town



## Nerdy11 (Sep 8, 2013)

I am going to try to change the ordinance so you can have goats on .25 acre in my hometown, but I could use some advice about how to propose it.  Does anyone have advice about how many goats you should have, and how big of a yard size is used to house them? Thanks!


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## SkyWarrior (Sep 8, 2013)

Nerdy11 said:
			
		

> I am going to try to change the ordinance so you can have goats on .25 acre in my hometown, but I could use some advice about how to propose it.  Does anyone have advice about how many goats you should have, and how big of a yard size is used to house them? Thanks!


Well, minimum of two.  Yard size I think depends on whether the person has enough feed for the goats.  Goats can go through a yard eating everything in no time.


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## Nerdy11 (Sep 9, 2013)

What about Dwarf and Pygmy goats?


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## SkyWarrior (Sep 9, 2013)

Nerdy11 said:
			
		

> What about Dwarf and Pygmy goats?


What about them?


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## Nerdy11 (Sep 9, 2013)

How many should you have on a .25 acre? I looked it up but it was very vague


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## SheepGirl (Sep 9, 2013)

I'm not sure where you live. But for the mid atlantic region, you can have 1000# of livestock per acre. A 1/4 acre is 10,890 square feet. So assuming this is ALL yard (no house, no shed, no garage, etc), you could have two 100 lb goats or five 50 lb goats. That is if you want them to live off of your land with only supplemental feed during the non-growing season.

However if you're able to find a cheap, reliable source of hay (hay gets expensive if you live in town and don't know where to look in the country), you can keep many more animals. Sheep require just 30 sq ft of lot space, lambs 8 sq ft of lot space. So you can build yourself a 30x40 pen and theoretically keep 40 sheep in there. Obviously you wouldn't, but the option's there. Likely, in a town setting, that would be enough for 3-4 females and their babies (they may have 3 to 10 babies at their side). Animals don't need lots of space if you're feeding them...just enough for exercise; animals only need space when they're finding their own food because the amount of grass they need to meet their nutritional needs is spread out over a large area.


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## norseofcourse (Sep 9, 2013)

In Akron, Ohio, I think they passed a law awhile back to allow pet goats in the city, but I'm pretty sure they limited it to a pigmy goat wether, and just one.  I believe they also allow a potbellied pig as a pet, but if I recall correctly there's a weight limit for them.

You could do a search for Akron Ohio Revised Code and search that for goats, if I get a chance I'll look it up later tonight too.


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## OneFineAcre (Sep 9, 2013)

norseofcourse said:
			
		

> In Akron, Ohio, I think they passed a law awhile back to allow pet goats in the city, but I'm pretty sure they limited it to a pigmy goat wether, and just one.  I believe they also allow a potbellied pig as a pet, but if I recall correctly there's a weight limit for them.
> 
> You could do a search for Akron Ohio Revised Code and search that for goats, if I get a chance I'll look it up later tonight too.


In the city limits of Raleigh, NC you can have two miniature goats on a half acre lot.  There are of course rules regarding setbacks for housing etc, and you cannot have bucks.  

Their is a story in the latest issue of United Caprine News on how the writer went about persuading the city council in Seattle (or Portland, can't remember which somewhere in the great northwest ) to have similar guidelines to what they have in Raleigh.  Both allow Nigerian's for milk.

Urban homesteaders in Raleigh are my main market for animals that we don't think we will keep for showing.


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## Nerdy11 (Sep 11, 2013)

Thanks everyone, that really helps. We are near loads of farms, so hay is not a problem.


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