I know you are totally begging/stealing/kissing whatever…
…to totally get goats, right? Oh, wait. Was that just me? My bad, my friends.
But it’s the truth. I had been wanting goats for over two years and Mountain Man was dead set against it.
He thought there were other things that we should be concentrating on. I tried explaining to him that if we had goats- for milk– we would save SOOOO much moola because we could make our own raw milk (duh), butter, cheese, yogurt, soaps, etc.
But, he still didn’t buy it.
So, I did what any amazingly-talented-wonderful-homesteading-wannabe farmer wife would do and plotted out a plan. ;).
I started obnoxiously pointing out how many buckaroos we were spending weekly on raw milk, butter, cheese, yogurt, and soaps from local farmers/stores. It would go something like this:
Mountain Man: Hey babe, how was your day?
Me: Oh, you know. Great. Went grocery shopping and ran errands. Got gas. Picked up some flour and oats. Spent 7 bucks on a gallon of raw milk. $4 on a bar of soap. And honey, they done raised the price on the roll butter...AGAIN! Last week I ONLY paid $10- this week I paid TWELVE DOLLARS AND SEVENTY TWO CENTS (gotta add those cents in!). Dang, man. Imagine if we had a goat and could just make all this stuff ourselves. Sigh…
But that was only the first part of my plan…
Then every time we ran out of something I made sure for him to be home, let out a big sigh, and was like “well, there goes another darn $7 on a gallon of milk that lasted 2.2 days (as I’m pouring out the last drop). Or as I’m using the last slice of butter off the roll I’d slyly say “man…I hate when we run out of butter. Now I gotta get in the truck, drive two towns over, and drop $12 on a roll of butter- or has it gone up again? …” Sigh. “You know honey- if we had our own goats we could make all of this and save about $1,324,567.42 every year.”
Not like I’m counting or anything.
But, he wasn’t havin’ any of it…so I gave up. Then a year went by.
One night Mountain Man and I were laying in bed and I happened to stumble upon 8 week old twin Nubian girls- and something clicked. 
I squeamishly asked Mountain Man if we could have them and he said maybe. Say whaaaatttt? Did that handsome bearded man just say MAYBE?
He did.
Long story short. HE FREAKING SAID YES! (read about it HERE).
It was more exciting than our engagement night! Just sayin’…
We got the girls! (read about it HERE)
Now I had to find out exactly what we needed to prepare for them since we were getting them a week later. There was one problem though. I couldn’t find anything online that flat out told me the necessities of what I needed. But don’t worry all you goat-lovin’-adorable peeps. No need to scour the internet for days like I did. I got ya! Here it is…
How to Prepare for Goats- The Necessities
1. Fencing
All good (and bad) goats need fencing. If not, they will be running around like a recent high school grad the day they moved out of their parent’s house. Just sayin’.
You have to take into account how many goats you are getting and what their size will be when they are full grown. We went with 100 ft of livestock fencing from our local store. We added about 25 feet by adding doors made out of pallets (post coming soon- so stay tuned!). We figured this was good for them for a while. We plan to add another pen the same size next to it with a door in between them.
2. Feed
Contrary to popular belief (like Mountain Man thought) goats do NOT eat anything and everything. They are browsers- not grazers and they are very picky eaters. Ours will NOT eat off of the ground. If the food falls on the ground it stays on the ground, my friends.
There are different options that you can feed your goats:
- hay (alfalfa, bermuda, blend)
- grain
- pellets (alfalfa, bermuda, blend)
Our goats only get alfalfa hay. Once we start milking them we will grow our own barley grass in trays to give them at their milking stations, or mix our own ration of grains. I would not feed our goats the grain from the feed store. NOT EVEN AN OPTION.
We choose to feed our girls straight alfalfa hay. Goats need the long stems that are in hay to aid in digestion. If you decide on using the pellets then you will need to supplement with some sort of hay/grass. For now (until we find a better source) we buy 50lb compressed alfalfa hay bales from Tractor Supply. They run around 18 bucks a bale. They last for a good while and the goats LOVE them. Like for real, they ask for it in the morning “Mooooooom- mooooooooom.” Which totally means “bring me some alfalfa hay or else I will plot my escape where you have to chase me down all day.” Or something like that…
A goats diet is not difficult at all. We feed the goats alfalfa hay and garden scraps. Pippy LOVES her some banana peels and Lilly loves her some greens.
3. Housing
Another common misconception is that goats need a big ‘ol barn. While that would be super awesome it isn’t necessary. Our girls won’t have a barn until spring time rolls around.
Mountain Man built them a really cool house (from FREE supplies) with a door on it and we put a HUGE dog cage inside of it so we can lock them in. All sides and the top are covered except where the door is. Goats do need some air circulating throughout the night.
A lot of people just use a regular ‘ol dog house for their goats. Some people don’t even lock their goats up at night but we live in a rural area with predators so we lock ours up (and they are like my children, so….).
We use plain ‘ol straw for their bedding. Goats like to have clean bedding, so we give them a thin new layer every few days.
4. Minerals and Baking Soda
Goats need minerals. The end.
Totally kidding. We started with a red trace mineral block that costs about 12 bucks at our local feed store. ***Read the labels on the blocks- some are NOT for goats***
We offer it free choice. We keep it next to their hay in their pen.
We have had the mineral block for almost two months and we are not fans. It breaks apart after awhile. We will continue using it until we have their feeding station built.
Once the feeding station is built we will use loose minerals. It’s really just a personal preference!
We also offer baking soda free choice. This is to help aid in bloating. The ph in a goats rumen can become off balance. A goat knows when they need baking soda so leave it free choice.
5. Dewormer
Worms like LOVE goats. Period. You have to do something to deter/remedy this. We like to use natural products over anything else around these parts. We use Molly’s Herbal Dewormer Kit. It comes with two different formulas. You use formula one once every 8 weeks* and formula two once a week (on the weeks you don’t use formula one). It is an all natural powder. We mix ours with raw honey and the girls EAT. IT. UP.
*Note: you give formula one every 4 weeks until 6 months old.
Seriously. THIS IS THE BEST STUFF EVER (and it’s certified Organic)! I don’t know why people use the harsh chemical stuff. Nope. Don’t get it.
6. Hoof Trimmers
Last but not least you will need hoof trimmers. We bought THESE off of Amazon. They work super duper great!
You will need to trim your goat’s hooves at least 4 times a year, if not more. Here is a great tutorial on hoof trimming.
That’s it! Now gather up your supplies and get ready for them babies (or adults)- whatever is coming to your home! Goats are seriously my favorite animal in the entire world. They talk to you, love on you, and demand attention!
Congrats on Your New Goats,
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Shared On: The Homestead Barn Hop, Backyard Farming Connection, Tuesday’s with a Twist, Simple Life Sunday, Simple Saturday’s
It’s not secret, I am SO jealous of your adorably awesome goats 😀 can’t wait until we get ours, until then I will live vicariously through your adventures!! Oh and I can’t believe you left the sweatshirts off the list 😉
Ha! I had to live vicariously through so many others until that exciting day!
Jen
I am happy to read about your inventive use of materials for your goats. In sept. 2013 my granddaughter and I went to a local dairy and got 2 7 day old kids. We had prepared not at all! What we built that afternoon was with stuff on hand it was fun and rewarding.
January 2015 – twelve goats, milking one, one due in February, we got our buck December first and three of our young does have visited with him.
We now have three fenced pasture, two sturdy sheds and an in progress milking barn. This will never save money, but it is fun. Our hay is $36 a bale for alfalfa or orchard grass.
Two kids for sale……..
Once you start, you can’t stop! I do find it very rewarding to use things that are used, free, or we already have!
Thank you for the info! Since becoming a stay at home mom, I’ve been looking into ways my family can become a little bit more self sufficient. I’m really going to start hounding my husband now. I’m sure he won’t be on board at first. I’ll definitely keep in mind your tactics on swaying the husbands vote.
Yep! Just keep at it. He will eventually say YES!
Jen
great information..
hello just found your site. it was very informative. we are try to become more self reliant as well. we have chickens, turkeys, and a big garden. this spring we are getting rabbits to breed and buture for meat and hubby says if all goes well in fall maybe next spring we can get goats. im so excited and cannot wait. i love how all the basic info for getting ready for goats is on your site. will return to it again. great job. and thanks for helping us get started!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks so much for stopping by! If you have any questions, let me know!
Jen
Could you give an estimate as to how much (minimum required) pasture ground is needed per number of goats? For example, 1/4 acre 5 goats. We are getting an area fenced and have no idea what size area we need (we have 10 acres, but not all would work well and we can’t afford to fence that much).
Thank you.
Everything I have read says about 6 goats per acre. However, that is just an estimate. I have seen people with three goats on a quarter of an acre but they made sure to put out extra hay all day long. HTH. 🙂
Jen- Love your post… and your list! Great stuff. We’ve had goats now for three years, and began milking last year. What an adventure! Gonna definitely try your deworming stuff. Thanks for sharing!
I am in love with the dewormer! We use it for the dog too!
What do you give or put on your goats if they have lice?
Thanks :).
Oh lice! We just dealt with this! Some people use Sevin dust. We used DE (Diatomaceous earth). We sprinkled it all over their bodies and rubbed it in. Cleaned and used DE in their house. Repeat in two weeks! HTH!
Hi, your article helped a lot! Thanks for that 🙂 one more thing, you didnt mention abt the milking necessaries? How often? And ur opinion abt wait until baby wean off then milk mother for milk or separate baby from mother? I dislike the idea of separate baby from its mother! Your inputs will help! Thanks
Hey Rochella! We actually are getting our first milk goat in a couple of weeks. There will be a post on milking supplies very soon! None of our goats have had kids yet, but when they do we will not separate them from their mothers. I do know people that have successfully done so though- it’s a matter of need and preference. HTH!
Found your “How to Prepare for Goats” on Pinterest. Have had goats for years now and started out like you with nothing on 12 acres of woods. My goats (7) are used for keeping down the under brush, but just because they have a job does nor mean they are not my pets. You are correct that “goats do not eat everything” and if they even think it’s dirty – forget it! Love that you are using herbal dewormer, DE, loose minerals and trimming hoofs regularly. As a long-time goat owner (12 years) I recommend if you do not already have on hand now that you have had your goats for awhile, that you have in your supply cabinet ,
-minerial oil (use in case of bloat) or have on hand a bloat relief product
-blood stop (never know when a cut will happen or in my case a broken horn – so much blood) also good if
trim hoof too close)
Also, since I’m sure many wanna-have or those about to get goats will be reading your blog I would like to advise that they “know where your goats are coming from”. Never buy from a stock yard, buy from someone you know that knows the history of your goats. Goats can carry conditions such as CL and CAE among others. As a novice goat owner, I learned about these the hard way. Research these conditions so you know what to look for when purchasing your goats. And above all, always keep new goats separated from your other goats until you are sure that are healthy. Also, if you do not have a local vet that treats goats (many do not know how to treat goats or have the proper medical equipment to do so – another thing I learned the hard way) you will have to become your own goat MD so start reading now so you are prepared should one of your goat babies get sick. Also, I highly recommend thegoatstore.com for lots of good information on medical needs, cheese and soap making as well as good quality supplies if you do not have a local source. And NO, I am not associated with them in anyway other than being a customer who is greatful for all the good, free information they provide in their catalog. Prepare with the basics to bring your goat babies home, but continue to expand you knowledge about them and their needs. Have fun with them handle them, brush them, talk to them so they know you and are comfortable with you. Teach them things-they can learn to pull carts, carry packs, eat from their own bowl, come when you call them by their name. They will bring you great joy.
This post was super helpful. I’m so glad I came across it because I’ve been doing all over the Internet doing research. Finally convinced my man that the country life is for us, so we’re selling this house in the city and moving! Can’t wait to finally have goat babies of my own.