# Goat Yard Plans



## redtailranchsc (May 10, 2015)

We bought our property back in March and have been working on non-stop projects. The permanent "goat yard" is now underway and I would love to get some insight/thoughts on our plans/any other recommendations.

*Herd info:* Right now we have two Nubian cross wethers who are about 6 months old. We would like to add two girls at some point in 2016, but will never (never say never?) have more than 4 goats.

*Property info:* We are on 3.2 terraced acres. We are on one side of a somewhat steep valley, so flat space is at a premium. We are in a coastal redwood forest for the most part. During most days, the boys go out to a new section of the property to help with weed control where they are contained within up to 350 feet of electrified goat fencing.

*Yard plan:* The area we have set aside for the goats is within a small eucalyptus grove (unfortunately, the previous owner planted them EVERYWHERE). It is a triangle has sides at about 25'x45'x40' and is about a 30º slope on one end and maybe 5º slope on the other. There is some flat area at the bottom of the hill.

*Fence plan:*I am building 6 foot fence with 4"x4"s as fenceposts with 2"x4" top and bottom rails. There will then be woven wire mesh. There will be one gate into the "yard".

*Barn plan:* We have dug out and flattened an area about 10'x12'. On this, we plan to build a 6'x9' "barn." It will be 8' tall. On one wall there will be a goat-sized door that leads into the yard and can be closed from the outside, as well as a large window that I can open or close as needed (out of reach of the goats). On the other wall there will be a human-sized door that is accessible from outside of the yard and another large window.

*Fun:* I will be adding in a small children's slide into the yard and plan to put in a few "goat shelves" within the barn.

Any input much appreciated.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Make sure your posts are well treated. And for corner / important / gate posts, concrete them in. Nothing like having a corner post rot...

As for your barn, kinda need to figure 4x4 square feet of floor space per goat. You can get away with less with well tempered goats. Knowing building materials Id also suggest an 8x8 barn. 4x8 is your standard wood sheet. And although you will have the needed material to do a 6x9, thats a lot more cutting that you just dont need to do. Also, face their entrance towards the direction you get the least amount of wind blowing in from. Match your small high window on the opposite side of the first to get cross ventilation. This will help cool it and keep the ammonia smell from building up. If you cant do the windows, you can use simple louvered grates.


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## redtailranchsc (May 10, 2015)

Thank you so much for the input!

We have rather sandy soil, so I definitely will have all posts set in concrete. I also have the "barn" on a layer of pavers and then raised 1 inch above those with some supporting pavers in each corner and mid-way on each wall. The lower 2x4 of the barn is pressure treated as well.

As for windows, yup, they are spaced in a way that should allow good circulation.

As for size, 10x10 was the original plan but we ran into some major root structures when digging out the hill. Even though we dug out more space, this limited our building area to 6x9. That is the absolute most we could get to fit in a regular shape, unless we want to build a trapezoid of sorts to get the full potential. The goats are very friendly with each other and will only be indoors at night, but if they need 4x4 per goat for that...I need to rethink things.

One thing I forgot to mention were predators. With the California drought, all of the predators are coming down out of the mountains to the lower elevations that still have some water (like my property, with a creek running through it). Accordingly, I have lost one chicken to a coyote, found a bobcat stalking around the (enclosed) coop, and lost a cat to a mountain lion.

With that in mind, any thoughts on my plans predator-wise? We plan to lock the goats in the barn by nightfall and let them out no earlier than 6:30 AM, so is the 6 foot fence going to allow any protection? Anything I can do to improve protection? So far so good when they are out with the 4 foot electrified goat fencing, but during bad weather I will probably leave them in the yard all day.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Running a strand top and bottom of a fence may work better. We have a ton of coyotes here but they dont come onto the property. Our perimeter fence is just 4 foot field fencing. But I can tell you this. A coyote can dig under any fence in a mater of minutes unless the soil is to rocky. A cat could jump a 6 foot fence with little effort if it wanted to. Thus the hot wire top and buttom. What we do is we have a pen area close to the shelters that is fenced in combo cattle panels. This area is up close to the house and as far from the back fence line as possible. This distance alone is the biggest reason we havent had any issues. But do what you need to, to protect em goaties


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## redtailranchsc (May 10, 2015)

Well, we are officially under way. Not bad progress for a day's work. Huge ups to my parents for the help! Haha.

We were able to get 7x9 of area. It's going to make for more of a PITA when it comes to building, but I wanted to use all of the available space. We will also have a "loft" inside to add a bit more floor space. And yes, the windows will have bars over them.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

Sounds like a really interesting piece of property! Do the goats eat eucalyptus well?


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## redtailranchsc (May 10, 2015)

SalteyLove said:


> Sounds like a really interesting piece of property! Do the goats eat eucalyptus well?


You know, I can't honestly say. I know they eat quite a bit of the fallen, dried Eucalyptus leaves but I don't see them eating down the other stuff unfortunately.


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## redtailranchsc (May 10, 2015)

Almost there! Just paint (that's the lady's job) and the fence (I have most of the holes dug now.)

The roof was sketchy, but we got it done.


















With trim on









Cedar door and steps done:


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

It is so quaint and pretty! Love it!


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