# Anyone seriously in the city with goats in their backyard?



## StrawberryCutthroat (Jun 2, 2012)

Hola,

I am new to this forum...just doing some research before hopefully becoming a goat owner. I live in the city, I have a large fenced backyard, but not acreage by any means. We have chickens that we just let roam the entire yard, I was thinking of doing the same thing with a pair of dairy goats. Any one else seriously have a "backyard herd."


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## secuono (Jun 3, 2012)

Are you allowed to have them? If not, in a city, it'd be very fast before someone complains or cops see them and you are ticketed and the animals taken.


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## Goatherd (Jun 3, 2012)

Farm animals are sometimes permitted in city confines if you have minimal acreage designated by your city.  In Pittsburgh, PA it is 3 acres.  You also need a permit to have these animals.
Contact your city government and get a direct answer from them.


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## Catahoula (Jun 3, 2012)

Yes, do check your City Ordinance to see if you are allowed goats. City like San Francisco, Denver (surrounding areas) allowed goats. You just have to make sure your goats are not nuisance...making too much noise (just like dog barking) or attracting flies (shelter/yard need to be clean) and secure fencing so they can't escape. Finding a good goat vet is also important. Many dog/cat, even large animal vets don't know about goats. I know someone who live in the city on a 7000 sq foot lot with two small goats, 6 chickens, three ducks and one dog. She lives on the corner lot so she was able to place her goats on street side. Since she also get along with her neighbors and shares her eggs, her neighbors never complained about the goat noise either.   Good Luck!


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## Suburbanfarmer (Jun 4, 2012)

Yes, we are on 1/3 acre and have 2 goats, 2 bunnies, 6 chickens and a dog. We are just outside of Seattle and are allowed to have 12 animals (goats/foul/etc) I don't know if our dog counts toward that number, but the bunnies do not. So we are well under. Try the website for the Goat Justice League. www.goatjusticeleague.org It is a lady in Seattle who has goats within the city limits. Great info for urban farming.

You definitely should check the zoning on where you live before getting goats. 

Good luck!
-Kristin


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## WhiteMountainsRanch (Jun 11, 2012)

Admin said:
			
		

> Do not quote and respond to spam. It makes it harder to get rid of.


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## Luckiest (Jun 27, 2012)

I'm wondering this myself!  We live in Austin, TX and are allowed miniature livestock breeds, so I'm looking into a dwarf goat breed, possibly as dairy goats.  We have chickens that just roam the yard, and I'm thinking about converting an unused garden shed into a kind of barn.  We have a large yard but are truly in the city, neighbors on all sides, super developed, urban area.


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## WhiteMountainsRanch (Jun 27, 2012)

WhiteMountainsRanch said:
			
		

> Admin said:
> 
> 
> 
> > Do not quote and respond to spam. It makes it harder to get rid of.


*
Oops sorry didn't know.*


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## Melanchaweiz (Aug 20, 2012)

You should look at the July cover of Bee Culture Magazine! That is what I want my backyard to look like!!!


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## Symphony (Aug 20, 2012)

Yes, checking you City Ordinance is key.


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## slikchik (Aug 27, 2012)

We are living with my mother while we close on our new house (in the country) and have managed to sho-horn two nubian does, two doelings, 16 chickens and a great Pyrenees puppy into her backyard. It's fenced with 4' chain link and measures about 60x50. the other half of the backyard, also 50x60, has our garden and play area for the kids. Are we overstocked right now? Absolutely. the doelings plus the drought pushed us beyond sustainability, and we use much more hay and all the weeds from the garden to feed the ladies and keep them in good condition. They're thrilled with the weeds. I'm only milking one doe of the four once a day and she is giving about 2.5 quarts a day, which is more than we can keep up with. But we're moving out to the new place in about 3 weeks and the plan is to stagger breeding to always have a doe in milk. We give fresh eggs to the neighbors and only had the police come calling once for a roaming flock of juvenile chickens. Our fault too, we had other things going on and hadn't found all the holes in the fence. Even though the nubians are "Holy Cow" loud, our closest neighbors love them and enjoy watching goat tv out their back windows.

So yes, you absolutely can do it. Do get a quieter breed though. And a really good privacy fence. Goats are messy buggers who trash a yard faster than you can say boo. I clean up after them almost as much as the toddlers. You think I'd learn to store everything outside the yard. It would be nice if everyone else didn't see the mess.


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