Can I get just one goat? In short, no. Goats are herd animals and need to have another goat buddy. I recommend two does, two wethers, or a doe and wether. My personal favorite is to start with three, that way if something happens to one of them, you still have a pair remaining and aren’t left with a depressed, lonely goat who is screaming and you’re rushing to find it a buddy.

Can I house my does and bucks together? No. There are buck bibs, but we have tried them and don’t recommend them. They are not fool proof, the bucks can get them off (I’ve seen them hook it on a fence and pull backwards to get it off), and you have the possibility of oops pregnancies. I strongly advise against them. If you need a buck, he needs a wether or another buck for a friend, and separate fencing and housing.

How old does a doe need to be in order to breed her? And how often can you breed her? The advised rule for Nigerian Dwarf does is 9 months old, or 75% full grown at minimum. I personally prefer to wait until she’s a year old, and then look at her size to determine if she’s big enough to safely breed. Nigerian Dwarfs come into heat year round, so we only breed ours 1x per year. She will come into heat fairly quickly after kidding, so it’s important she’s not around a buck to rebreed her.

What do you feed them? We feed ours free choice alfalfa and coastal hay. All of our goats get grain to go into the barn at night, with the bucks getting just enough to bribe them in. Our milking does get a milking mix of grain each time they come in to milk. We are currently on a dry lot, but will be using rotational grazing once we get moved out to our 12 acres.

What extras do they need? At minimum, a good loose mineral and baking soda offered free choice. We currently use Right Now Onyx minerals for our goats, and have been really pleased with how they look on them! There can be a bit of trial and error to find the right mineral that works for your herd, but it’s worth finding what works best. We have also used Manna Pro goat minerals, and Little Avalon mineral bar in the past.

What type of fencing do you use? I recommend 2x4 woven wire. Good fencing keeps goats in, so do it right the first time and you won’t have escape artists!

Do they need a shelter? Absolutely. You need some sort of a predator proof shelter for them at night. You can get creative with what this looks like, but it needs to have good ventilation and keep any predators out. If you have them out at night, they need a mature, working livestock guardian dog to protect them.