150-Day Gestation
Record a breeding to see the due date, weaning date and every health follow-up.
Record a Breeding →Goat Tracker
Herd records, kidding due dates, milk, health holds and processing, all in one place.
Room to Roam
Allow about 15 sq ft of shelter and 200 sq ft of pen per goat, behind 4–5 ft woven wire.
Plan a Goat Barn →Raising Goats
Goats give milk, meat and brush clearing. They are clever, social and famously good at escaping, so fencing and company come first.
- Pregnancy
- about 150 days
- Heat cycle
- every 18–21 days
- Milk
- Nigerian Dwarf ½–1 gal a day; full-size 1–2 gal
- Hoof trim
- every 4–8 weeks
1Getting started
- Dairy: Nubian, LaMancha, Alpine, Nigerian Dwarf. Meat: Boer, Kiko, Spanish.
- Never keep a goat alone — buy at least two (a doe and a wether are a good start).
- Buy from tested herds (CAE, CL, Johne’s) and ask to see the test results.
2Housing and fencing
- A dry, draft-free shed with about 15 sq ft each, and a place up off the floor to sleep.
- Fence with woven wire or no-climb 4–5 ft, plus a hot wire if they lean on it.
- Goats hate rain — give shelter they can reach from the pasture.
- Keep bucks in their own pen; they smell, and they’ll breed does too early.
3Feeding
- Goats are browsers: brush, weeds and hay first, grain only for milkers and growing kids.
- Loose goat minerals with copper, free-choice — not sheep minerals.
- Wethers and bucks: little or no grain, to prevent urinary stones; keep calcium to phosphorus about 2:1.
- Poisonous to goats: azalea, rhododendron, mountain laurel, yew, wilted cherry leaves.
4Breeding and kidding
- Most breeds come into heat in fall; Nigerian Dwarfs can breed year-round.
- Breed does when they reach about 70% of adult weight (often 7–10 months).
- Make sure kids nurse colostrum within the first few hours.
- Disbud kids at 3–10 days if you want them hornless — ask a vet or experienced keeper to show you.
5Health
- Barber pole worm is the main killer: check eyelid color (FAMACHA) and deworm only the goats that need it.
- Vaccinate yearly with CD&T, and give does a booster a month before kidding.
- Bloat (swollen left side) and a goat that won’t get up are emergencies.
- Know a vet who sees goats before you need one.
6Milking
- Milk twice a day at about the same times; a doe milks about 10 months after kidding.
- Clean the udder, strip the first squirts, milk into a clean steel pail, strain and chill to 40°F within an hour.
- Selling raw milk is regulated or illegal in many states — check before you sell.
Space guide
For each animalFencing: Woven wire or no-climb, 4–5 ft — goats test every fence
- Miniature breeds need about 10 sq ft indoors
- Kidding pen about 5 × 5 ft per doe
- Keep bucks in their own pen
Rules of thumb — more room is always better, and breed, climate and local rules can change what you need. Sketch it out in the Barn & Garden Planner.
Put it to work
These free tools keep the records for you once you’ve made an account:
These are rules of thumb from university extension guidance. Breed, climate and your state’s rules change the details — your county extension office is the best place to ask, and you can find it on the selling rules page by ZIP code. All how-to guides →
How the Goat Tracker Works
Add each doe and buck or a group of feeders. Record breedings and the tracker works out kidding due dates and weaning reminders, logs daily milk, counts down withdrawal times after a treatment, and keeps weights and processing yields.