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Any helpful tips/tricks?

Posted by Kylie Eggers on July 3, 2024 at 10:40am in Introductions

Hello everyone!

I just joined the forum and am a first time goat owner. I'm now the proud momma of 8 Nigerians of varying ages. 5 adult does, February '24 doeling, and 2 buck kids still on milk. One of my ladies is currently in milk, so that's been a fun learning experience. Of course learned hands on how much I'd like to have a milking machine. Simple Puls has been ordered but stuck in the 6-8 week wait time. So her and I are getting well acquainted in learning hand milking. Learning that she was probably sold because she's naughty on the milk stand. Nothing horrible, just quite kicky in the last 1/3 of the milking process. But we've gotten our milking time down to about 15 minutes, so not too bad. She's a sweetheart otherwise and producing well! Also learning how much I wish I currently had a separte kid area. The doeling had supposedly been weaned prior to purchace, but has now been trying to sneak snacks from my milker. Taping was unsuccessful as the little bugger eventually figured out how to get it off each time. Now resorting to a goat bra (never thought I'd be buying one of those lol) which has had a 70% success rate. 

We currently are in the process of refurbishing an old multilevel barn on our property that will become the goat's mansion by the end of the summer. What I'm curious to learn first, is if anyone has any tidbits they'd like to share of things that really worked well, things that didn't work, things they wish they could do, tricks or tips on how to make things go smoother, etc. No detail is too small. I love gathering information, so the more you want to share the merrier. I've been researching for years, several textbooks added to my library. But hands on experience from you all is highly valuable! And I'd love to hear your opinions!

The goat's level of the barn is approximately 30' x 60'. Right now we are in the gutting and cleaning stage. Thankfully, there are already premade livestock doors on each long side, so I'll be able to make separate buck and doe areas outside of breeding season.  And lots of space surrounding barn to make big pasture areas for them to get out during the good days. Tentatively north side for does, south side for bucks. Spring time, we have heavy mobile fencing panels that can be used to divide the buck yard into buck area and kid area during weaning. Eventually, I'm planning on framing in a milking room (hopefully with water, power, heater, and maybe a small ac unit), doe stall(s), buck pen, kidding/sick pens, and a kid area, plus a staircase to the upper level where hay/bedding will be stored. 

So any suggestions you have on layout, flow, spacing, equipment you liked or didn't like, feeder styles you liked or didn't like, etc., I'm all ears. Things you did in each pen you liked? What you built pen walls from that worked or didn't work? Perks in the milking room that came in handy? Suggestions for bedding on concrete for best absorption and maximum length between cleanings? For example, one thing I've been pondering are a slide next to the stairs for easily sending bales down from the loft. 

I know some of this may be overkill for nigerians, and we don't intend to ever be a large Grade A dairy, but I do enjoy spoiling all the animals under our care. And I enjoy DIY projects so this barn build is a fun adventure for me. Also, knowing my husband, I can imagine in the future we will possibly grow to more than 8 goaties. So definitely keeping that in mind as I plan out this barn. 

Thanks for any input! Hope to hear from you all soon :)

Kylie

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