getting goats soon, lot of questions =)

[CoffeeCow]

Hey,

I am planning on getting a few goats this year. I will be building them a house and fence really soon, I'm in the "planning" phase now. We have narrowed our choices down to Dwarf Nigerians, and Mini Nubians. I guess the first question would be, what are the Pro's and con's of these 2 breeds?

We are getting 2 females and a weathers (for company) We plan on milking for personal use and possibly for soap making.
I will be building them a nice size pen that I can close up at night. and fencing in a good size area for them to play/graze

Roughly what square footage is needed per goat inside, and outside?

I also have chickens. I was thinking of adding another coop in with the goats, do chickens and goats get along well? are there any concerns with then sharing the same living space?

I was thinking of combining a coop and goat house in one, similar to this (sorry for the bad art here )


_________________________________________
|...........................................|.broody..|.....chicken.....|
|...........................................|....pen....|........coop......|
|...........................................|..............|......................|
|...........goats.......................|..............|......................|
|................go.......................|..............|......................|
|..............here......................|..............|......................|
|...........................................|_______|......................|
|..........................................................|......................|
|..........................................................|......................|
|..........................................................|......................|
|..........................................................|......................|
|..........................................................|......................|
|..........................................................|......................|
__________________________________________


Would a setup like that be okay? or should I build a separate coop? or not at all?

(told you I had a lot of questions)
I will post more questions as I think of them,
thanks for the help

 

[CoffeeCow]

wow... its weird seeing only 1 post next to my name ... I have a ton on BYC

 

[ksalvagno]

It is so hard to say how much space per goat. It depends on grazing ability and everything. I wouldn't house chickens and goats together. You don't want the chickens pooping on the goat's hay and feed. Plus you don't want the goats eating the chicken feed.

I have Nigerian Dwarfs and love them. I like their small size and they give me enough milk for my needs. You can also have more of them if you have a small area. They are also year round breeders so you can stagger the breedings and have milk all year around.

 

[AlaskanShepherdess]

I don't know a thing about mini nubians, but I know why I chose ND's....

1. I do 98% of the care of our goats, and as a petite, weak, woman I need to be able to take care of the animals on my own. If eve one of my bucks didn't want to go where I wanted him to, tough. I'm bigger and stronger and he goes where I want him to. Of course this probably doesn't apply to mini nubians, but I'm just listing all the reasons why I chose ND's.

2. High butterfat content, a ND will give an average (depending on animal and feed) of 6-10% butterfat. Which means more cheese, butter and cream which I highly value.

3. More efficient feed to milk ratio. When all 4 of my ND girls are in milk I should be receiving 2 gallons or more a day, judging from previous' owners records, and they eat much less then a larger goat. I think I feed all 5 of my goats on how much it takes to feed one larger goat. Of course this will depend on how well bred the ND's and goats you are comparing them too and what breed also. Some larger goats produce more milk, but less butterfat, some less milk but more butterfat.

4. Every ND I have ever met has been quiet and sweet. I have heard that nubians are the noisiest breed and that they are LOUD! Again, I don't know about mini nubians though.

There was a good discussion on breeds here .

 

[glenolam]

& to the "other side"!!

I agree you might not want to house the chickens and goats together. There are good, valid arguments going both ways, but from my personal experience it turned into a disaster and I ended having to repair more than I had ever expected. Goats will find a way onto the chicken side and climb all over everything, the chickens will make a mess of the goat bedding (which I didn't mind -- made for easier clean up in the spring/summer IMO), I had to repair the cheap chicken fencing where the goats had broken through and you can't let the goats have ANY chicken feed (including cracked/whole corn).

Some people that do house them together, or more or less let their chickens free range about the entire property, put the nesting boxes way up high so the goats can't get to it. It all just depends on what you want...easy acess to everything or having to bullet proof the nesting boxes and feed bins. Hopefully someone who houses them together and has it work out will chime in to give you more pros rather than just listening to our cons....

 

[CoffeeCow]

Thanks for the replies everyone

we had been talking about ND's for quite a while, then a few weeks ago, I saw some mini nubian pictures, they are just so darn cute, the long floppy ears, and roman nose... very good looking animals. When comparing them , the Nd produces a bit more milk and/or butterfat, and is smaller.

Still unsure what way we are going to go, the wife really loves the way the Mini Nigerians look, I agree, but I like the smaller size and milk ouptut of the ND's better.

form over function? heh

Anyway, as for the chickens, I can leave them in the coop they have, I just saw a reason for a new project I love building things, and figured I would make the most out of this project as I could
I am sure that the chickens will roam in the goats area, I can't stop that... they are very busy chickens! they supervise all of my building and gardening projects . they will go to their (existing) coop to roost.

 

[poorboys]

I only have a few chickens now, but they kinda share a pen with the bucks. their wings have been clipped, so they dont get into hay rack I don't think one of my bucks would put up with it, But they do have seperate coops, that only the chickens can get into, it is fenced in with roof, they only go out with the goats to scratch, lay in the sun, but on the other side of it, our bucks have stepped, sat and squash a few chickens. Also the water has to be kept cleaned for the goats!!!!!

 

[AlaskanShepherdess]

I highly recommend you both read the link I posted. Deborah made some excellent points in her posts in the link.

 

[Emmetts Dairy]

I agree, I would not house chickens and goats together. Not a great mix. Mine do however wander into the barn..but dont stay to long and there is really no place for them to roost!!

As for size of building they need..what type are you looking into?? Size of animal, how many, pasture space or paddock and if you have winters that will all come into play??

Good luck!!! I love my goaties!!! Their great animals!!!!

 

[CoffeeCow]

I am still thinking Dwarf Nigerian.
Our winters are usually mild (in Eastern NC)

I was wanting to lock them in at night,

I try to be generous on space, like for my chickens, they have a coop and run that they are in all the time, except for when I am in the garden. then while I am out and can watch them, they can come out and play. I want them to be comfortable, so I took the recommended area for a chicken and tripled it.. my coop and run has enough space for 30 birds, yet I only have 8 ( and 3 new chicks) I would like to contain 3 Dwarf Nigerians the same way.
we have a tad over 2 acres, but we use it as a back yard too.