Planning for Goats....am I being realistic?

[Queen Mum]

You are going to have plenty of space. I've been milking in the barn forever! Just make sure you keep the milking space clean and have a shelf above your milking area to put your stuff. You might need a light in your barn for milking. So you would have to run a big extension cord out there to have a light to milk by in the early morning and at night. Also it's easier if there is a night time kidding.

 

[brx017]

FYI, you can fit 50 lbs of feed in an 18 gallon tote. I use them to store chicken feed, dog food, etc. I use the sterilite ones from wal-mart, the lids snap on and they stack well.

 

[Erins Little Farm]

Well I'm not sure I had a baby lamb that drank from the bottle and then he refused, sadly he died

I've had ewes that don't take their babies before

 

[Chirpy]

You've already gotten great answers so I'll just add a couple thoughts:

I kept my first two Nigis in a roughly 500 sq. foot area for a couple years. They had an igloo doghouse with two old shed doors and a solid piece of plywood over the top of them to make a tunnel to the doghouse for their shelter. (The 'door tunnel' was shoved up against the doghouse and heavy tarps put over it all to help keep the wind out completely.) They did have the 'spoiling' of getting to free range most days since I'm always at home. It got old hauling water to them in winter, trudging through snow. Otherwise, it worked great and I have no complaints.

I use a headlight for light when going out to work where there is no electricity. It keeps my hands free and has worked just fine for me; including milking my goats.

I now have all my goats in the big barn with water and electricity and really appreciate those conveniences.

We were given an old, non-working chest freezer that we now keep in the barn and keep all our animal feed in it, in their bags. Not even the racoons can get into it!

 

[sawfish99]

A 10x30 barn is definitely overkill for your current plans for the number of goats, but as stated, bigger is better. We use a 10x12 for our goat barn. Inside, we milk the does and have a 4x6 kidding stall. We store 3-4 bales of hay at a time inside (and a lot more in our horse barn) and have a trash can full of feed. I don't use Rubbermaid totes for feed because mice and other rodents will chew through and contaminate the feed.

As for water, get empty 55 gal drums from a local car wash. Put a boiler drain brass spigot in the bottom and now you have 55 gals of storage outside your barn. You can fill it from gutters or garden hose. When it freezes, carry a bucket.

Electricity is a convenience you will want. I'm sure there are a lot of people who don't have electricity in their barns, but proper lighting when milking and working on the goats makes a huge difference in getting the job done right.

As for barn layout, I would think 2 stalls would be better - 1 for kidding/isolation when needed. Or even 1 very large stall with a removable wall to be installed in kidding time. We have more problems trying to keep goats apart than together.

For hay consumption, our full size does consume about the same average already mentioned - 5lbs a day (our bales range from 20-30lbs).

I don't have experience with mini-milkers. We are very happy with our standard milkers and that's what I would recommend for family milking. For reference, we are running an annual average of about $50/month/doe for grain, hay, bedding, supplements, vet bills, etc.

The biggest thing that jumps out at me about your plans is "I don't have plans to keep a buck or any offspring until I need to replace a current milker." Just wanted to make sure you recognize that you will need to breed your does annually to freshen the milk supply. If you are not keeping a buck of your own, that means breeding with someone else (usually a wise choice for small scale because it is cheaper in the long run). While you may not plan to keep the kids until you need a replacement, you will need to have kids to keep having milk.

 

[ChristyMarie82]

I'm loving this thread - thanks for asking! I'd been considering a few goats for milking, and I just may talk to my husband about it now