Goat housing

OneFineAcre

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@Bossroo and @OneFineAcre at the risk of sticking my nose in and getting it snapped off do you two really have to keep sniping at each other on a public forum? annabelle333 is just trying to get some question answered.

You're right.
I normally ignore Bossroo's negative comments and I shouldn't have gone there this time.
My apologies to everyone.
 
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annabelle333

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Thank you goatgurl...I understand that there will be disagreements when so many people are involved on a forum. One Fine Acre has given me invaluable advice and I really appreciate all of the positive info on here. I am looking to goats for family enjoyment and some milk for our personal consumption. I am not looking to make a bunch of money and I am just excited to have "pets with a purpose". I can look past the bickering to get to all the gems you all have provided!
 

OneFineAcre

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Thank you goatgurl...I understand that there will be disagreements when so many people are involved on a forum. One Fine Acre has given me invaluable advice and I really appreciate all of the positive info on here. I am looking to goats for family enjoyment and some milk for our personal consumption. I am not looking to make a bunch of money and I am just excited to have "pets with a purpose". I can look past the bickering to get to all the gems you all have provided!

annabelle,
I hope I have helped, and not caused any harm.
I try to welcome every new member to the forum if they post on new member introductions with a big "Welcome from North Carolina".
Every time someone puts pics of their new babies, I congratulate them.
If someone builds a new barn, I say good job.
If someone has new puppies, I say "nice pups"
If someone says they are interested in Nigerians, I can personally say they are great goats to own.
If they said they wanted another kind of goat, I wouldn't try to talk them into getting Nigerians.
I think everyone should own some goats.
I hope you find the right goats for you because it would be a real shame if you didn't get you some goats. :thumbsup
 

Ridgetop

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So . . . Goatgurl is absolutely right about considering the prevailing winds in your area. If you live in a hot area you might want to be on a hilltop where the breeze will cool the barn down. If you get freezing winters, an unsheltered hilltop will be a wind tunnel in the winter. I'm in southern California and my barn had an eastern exposure. I don't know if that is why, but our goats cycled earlier than anyone else's goats around and we always had early January kids. I am talking standard dairy goats which have a set cycle. We had Nubians which have a longer cycle, but also LaManchas and always had January LaManchas too. I know some people with extreme winters don't breed for January or February kids because of the weather. We are lucky to have mild winters except for our 7 year flood cycles, and I like January kids because of fewer flies.

Back to the barn . . . check your year round weather, shade, sun and wind exposure, etc., because once the barn is up it is there and you are not going to be willing to move it. And if your husband is like mine he will not be happy about having to renovate a brand new expensive barn structure! LOL Doing your homework now will be worth all the effort you put into it. You can use wooden pegs and string or caution tape to mark out the size and location of the barn then check it at different times of the day for exposure. Also remember when putting it in, to run a water line to the barn so you don't have to drag a hose or haul buckets very far. It is surprising what we forget about when planning our first structures. Make a "wish list" for your dream barn, don't forget storage for all the items that you don't want to have to drag back and forth from the house. Used cabinets from Habitat for Humanity or garage sales can be installed in your barn (screw them in - don't nail them) for storage for kidding supplies, collars, tie chains, feed, buckets, the stanchion, hoof trimmers and regular animal clippers. If you have a breed that has a heavy winter coat you will want to shave off some of the hair before she kids, its easier before it is all bloody and mucky when you go to milk. Think about where you want to milk in the barn or if you want a separate milk shed, how much light you will need, etc. Then once you have had the fun of making up your dream barn list, you can remove those non-essential items you can't afford yet. The more you plan it out, the more efficient and useful it will be and the longer you will be able to use it.

Don't forget to plan your outside areas too. If you will be keeping a buck put them downwind and give them their own little house. You don't want their smell to taint the milk. You will also need a pen for the kids. Even if you plan to leave them on their moms, you will have to separate them for at least 12 hours if you want any milk from the does. I prefer to remove the kids and bottle feed them since a bottle kid is so lovable. Also you avoid CAE by heat treating and pasteurizing your kids. Testing for CAE is also a necessity, but goats can contract it from exposure to carriers so if you are taking your goats to shows or to be bred, there is a chance they can get it. It happened to us with a doe we took to a breeder. If we didn't blood test we wouldn't have caught it. So you will need a loafing yard for milkers, one for kids, and a separate yard and building area for bucks if you plan to keep any. Since you wioll be starting small, you don't need to worry about the buck housing for a couple years.

Our first stanchion was under a tree in the yard. The view was beautiful but when the first bad rains came open air milking lost its charm fast! Our second milking area was in a concrete building which we shared with the haystack. Other than the stanchions being in the way when we put the hay in the barn, it worked for quite a while until we outgrew our double milk stanchion and needed a 4 goat stanchion. Our final milking area was in the big barn where we had electricity and could hook up the mik machine. You may never need an electric milking machine, but it doesn't hurt to dream!

You are going to have so much fun with your new goats! It makes me want to get a couple of milkers again!
 

annabelle333

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annabelle,
I hope I have helped, and not caused any harm.
I try to welcome every new member to the forum if they post on new member introductions with a big "Welcome from North Carolina".
Every time someone puts pics of their new babies, I congratulate them.
If someone builds a new barn, I say good job.
If someone has new puppies, I say "nice pups"
If someone says they are interested in Nigerians, I can personally say they are great goats to own.
If they said they wanted another kind of goat, I wouldn't try to talk them into getting Nigerians.
I think everyone should own some goats.
I hope you find the right goats for you because it would be a real shame if you didn't get you some goats. :thumbsup
You have helped a lot OneFineAcre! Your information has been spot on and I really appreciate all of your experience. I will find my goats and can't wait to post all about them when I do. I have posted a lot of questions on here and have been amazed by all of the friendly people and wonderful knowledge- you are top of the list! I am not deterred by a squabble...:)- You were defending your loves...
 

annabelle333

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So . . . Goatgurl is absolutely right about considering the prevailing winds in your area. If you live in a hot area you might want to be on a hilltop where the breeze will cool the barn down. If you get freezing winters, an unsheltered hilltop will be a wind tunnel in the winter. I'm in southern California and my barn had an eastern exposure. I don't know if that is why, but our goats cycled earlier than anyone else's goats around and we always had early January kids. I am talking standard dairy goats which have a set cycle. We had Nubians which have a longer cycle, but also LaManchas and always had January LaManchas too. I know some people with extreme winters don't breed for January or February kids because of the weather. We are lucky to have mild winters except for our 7 year flood cycles, and I like January kids because of fewer flies.

Back to the barn . . . check your year round weather, shade, sun and wind exposure, etc., because once the barn is up it is there and you are not going to be willing to move it. And if your husband is like mine he will not be happy about having to renovate a brand new expensive barn structure! LOL Doing your homework now will be worth all the effort you put into it. You can use wooden pegs and string or caution tape to mark out the size and location of the barn then check it at different times of the day for exposure. Also remember when putting it in, to run a water line to the barn so you don't have to drag a hose or haul buckets very far. It is surprising what we forget about when planning our first structures. Make a "wish list" for your dream barn, don't forget storage for all the items that you don't want to have to drag back and forth from the house. Used cabinets from Habitat for Humanity or garage sales can be installed in your barn (screw them in - don't nail them) for storage for kidding supplies, collars, tie chains, feed, buckets, the stanchion, hoof trimmers and regular animal clippers. If you have a breed that has a heavy winter coat you will want to shave off some of the hair before she kids, its easier before it is all bloody and mucky when you go to milk. Think about where you want to milk in the barn or if you want a separate milk shed, how much light you will need, etc. Then once you have had the fun of making up your dream barn list, you can remove those non-essential items you can't afford yet. The more you plan it out, the more efficient and useful it will be and the longer you will be able to use it.

Don't forget to plan your outside areas too. If you will be keeping a buck put them downwind and give them their own little house. You don't want their smell to taint the milk. You will also need a pen for the kids. Even if you plan to leave them on their moms, you will have to separate them for at least 12 hours if you want any milk from the does. I prefer to remove the kids and bottle feed them since a bottle kid is so lovable. Also you avoid CAE by heat treating and pasteurizing your kids. Testing for CAE is also a necessity, but goats can contract it from exposure to carriers so if you are taking your goats to shows or to be bred, there is a chance they can get it. It happened to us with a doe we took to a breeder. If we didn't blood test we wouldn't have caught it. So you will need a loafing yard for milkers, one for kids, and a separate yard and building area for bucks if you plan to keep any. Since you wioll be starting small, you don't need to worry about the buck housing for a couple years.

Our first stanchion was under a tree in the yard. The view was beautiful but when the first bad rains came open air milking lost its charm fast! Our second milking area was in a concrete building which we shared with the haystack. Other than the stanchions being in the way when we put the hay in the barn, it worked for quite a while until we outgrew our double milk stanchion and needed a 4 goat stanchion. Our final milking area was in the big barn where we had electricity and could hook up the mik machine. You may never need an electric milking machine, but it doesn't hurt to dream!

You are going to have so much fun with your new goats! It makes me want to get a couple of milkers again!
Again... great info! I will test out several areas before making the final plans. I am going to a show at the end of this month and am going to visit several farms. We are working on fence right now and slowly will get our barn up so I have some time to really think about what I want/need/can afford. There is no way I would have thought of all of this on my own without any experience. Thanks!!!!
 

babsbag

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Just remember that we are goat addicts, one and all. :) Goats can multiply quickly so plan big and build bigger.
 

Latestarter

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So it's now been about 2 months... Could we have pictures... ummm I mean STATUS report please? :cool:
 

fiddlergina

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I'm new to this forum and I have a question. Forgive me if this has already been addressed. I moved to a new location where I have close neighbors who have milking does. I never worried, at my old location about keeping a buck in close proximity to my own does, but my neighbor is concerned about tainting her milk. The pen where my buck would be housed is about an acre or so away from their home and has trees in that acre between. He is a very gentle mini Lamancha. Do you think there will be a problem with his scent tainting her milk from that distance?
 
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