seachick
Chillin' with the herd
Hi!
We recently moved to about an acre in a semi-rural community in southern Maine. Our direct neighborhood is fairly dense and "neighborhood-y", though, so we've been careful to keep our agricultural pursuits as inoffensive to the community as possible. So far we've had only positive feedback about our 1000 sf organic garden and 9 laying hens.
When we were looking at houses, they were mostly more rural than this, and the idea was to get dairy goats and maybe a cow as well. But this house just spoke to us and seemed the best deal, and we thought we'd only be living here a couple years, anyway. Well, the economy has changed our plans, and we'll definitely be living here at least 4 more years. So, now we have to either postpone our dream of goats for quite a while, or figure out if its feasible to do here....
We done some research, both on line and in various Storey books, but still not sure what to believe. I'm hoping some of you more experienced folks (Hi, Patandchickens!) might be able to help us think this through and see if it's something we can -or should- pursue...
Feasibility considerations, concerns and questions:
1) Confinement? We'd need to keep them VERY well contained, so they did not get into neighbors manicured landscaping or cause conflicts with the numerous neighborhood dogs. How do-able is that?
2) Disturbing the neighbors??? We're technically not zoned for farm animals, just "household pets"... However, the code enforcement officer told us he'd consider our small flock of chickens "pets" since we named them all so I think we could probably be OK with 2 or 3 dwarfs if we kept them in a cute barn and they did not cause the neighbors ANY problems. So, aside from secure fencing, are there any other issues you can think of that would be a problem? Smell, noise?
3) Pasture area: Our back yard is half grass and half wooded, low area that is very swampy in spring, and filled with japanese knotweed in summer. I think we'd have two options: one would be to fence in a larger area that included the swampy forested area as well as the part of the lawn where the animals' buildings are, and let the chickens and goats roam that area. The other would be to continue to let the chickens free-range on the majority of the yard (we have a chicken-proof but not goat-proof fence down in the woods to keep them out of the neighbors properties) and then to build a separate, smaller "paddock" for the goats. I think we could fit something about 25' x 40'. Would either one work well enough?
4) Breed? We want goats as pets/companions, and for milk. Ideally I'd like not to have to buy milk for drinking and coffee for a good part of the year, and also to try making cheese, soap, etc. Given the situation described, what breed would you recommend?
Originally (before we moved into THIS house) I'd wanted medium or full-sized dairy goats, probably several LaMancha or perhaps Oberhasli. But- now I don't think we have the space for those, even 2 of them (do you?)..... so, now considering Nigerian Dwarfs or Pygmies. However, someone once told me that those are MUCH harder to keep confined, that they are terrific escape artists!
5) Space! Space-wise......... We have a 12 x 8 shed that is half chicken coop and half storage. Ideally we'd like to build off that structure, however, we could find or build another shed of similar size for dedicated goat barn. (Money's tight and it's got to look "nice" in this neighborhood, so we can't build a big, proper barn.) I'm getting all sorts of conflicting numbers on how much space we'd REALLY need for all activities involved: indoor housing, outdoor paddock, hay/supplies storage, milking, kidding, etc. What do you folks think, let's say for 3 Dwarfs?
I should probably also mention that this house is an investment for us, a fixer-upper in a rather chi-chi area. So we're also totally renovating the house and landscaping the front yard into a lovely, groomed area. We're doing the backyard as well, just fencing off newly planted areas so the chickens don't dig them up. The veg garden is fenced and if the buyer wants, we'll take the fencing down and seed grass there. I figure we can do the same with the goat area. Leave the shed/barn as a garden shed and take down fencing/reseed with grass (unless the buyer wants a mini-farmstead!)
So: are we crazy? Should we abandon this dream until we move to a proper farm? What do you guys think??
Here's a shot looking out into the back yard. The garden is to the left, and the space I'd put a dedicated goat paddock- of we did that- would be to the right, sort of half in the current lawn area, and half going back into the woods. Our property continues about 20' farther to the right than you can see, then goes back down into the woods almost to the blue car (rectangular lot).
We recently moved to about an acre in a semi-rural community in southern Maine. Our direct neighborhood is fairly dense and "neighborhood-y", though, so we've been careful to keep our agricultural pursuits as inoffensive to the community as possible. So far we've had only positive feedback about our 1000 sf organic garden and 9 laying hens.
When we were looking at houses, they were mostly more rural than this, and the idea was to get dairy goats and maybe a cow as well. But this house just spoke to us and seemed the best deal, and we thought we'd only be living here a couple years, anyway. Well, the economy has changed our plans, and we'll definitely be living here at least 4 more years. So, now we have to either postpone our dream of goats for quite a while, or figure out if its feasible to do here....
We done some research, both on line and in various Storey books, but still not sure what to believe. I'm hoping some of you more experienced folks (Hi, Patandchickens!) might be able to help us think this through and see if it's something we can -or should- pursue...
Feasibility considerations, concerns and questions:
1) Confinement? We'd need to keep them VERY well contained, so they did not get into neighbors manicured landscaping or cause conflicts with the numerous neighborhood dogs. How do-able is that?
2) Disturbing the neighbors??? We're technically not zoned for farm animals, just "household pets"... However, the code enforcement officer told us he'd consider our small flock of chickens "pets" since we named them all so I think we could probably be OK with 2 or 3 dwarfs if we kept them in a cute barn and they did not cause the neighbors ANY problems. So, aside from secure fencing, are there any other issues you can think of that would be a problem? Smell, noise?
3) Pasture area: Our back yard is half grass and half wooded, low area that is very swampy in spring, and filled with japanese knotweed in summer. I think we'd have two options: one would be to fence in a larger area that included the swampy forested area as well as the part of the lawn where the animals' buildings are, and let the chickens and goats roam that area. The other would be to continue to let the chickens free-range on the majority of the yard (we have a chicken-proof but not goat-proof fence down in the woods to keep them out of the neighbors properties) and then to build a separate, smaller "paddock" for the goats. I think we could fit something about 25' x 40'. Would either one work well enough?
4) Breed? We want goats as pets/companions, and for milk. Ideally I'd like not to have to buy milk for drinking and coffee for a good part of the year, and also to try making cheese, soap, etc. Given the situation described, what breed would you recommend?
Originally (before we moved into THIS house) I'd wanted medium or full-sized dairy goats, probably several LaMancha or perhaps Oberhasli. But- now I don't think we have the space for those, even 2 of them (do you?)..... so, now considering Nigerian Dwarfs or Pygmies. However, someone once told me that those are MUCH harder to keep confined, that they are terrific escape artists!
5) Space! Space-wise......... We have a 12 x 8 shed that is half chicken coop and half storage. Ideally we'd like to build off that structure, however, we could find or build another shed of similar size for dedicated goat barn. (Money's tight and it's got to look "nice" in this neighborhood, so we can't build a big, proper barn.) I'm getting all sorts of conflicting numbers on how much space we'd REALLY need for all activities involved: indoor housing, outdoor paddock, hay/supplies storage, milking, kidding, etc. What do you folks think, let's say for 3 Dwarfs?
I should probably also mention that this house is an investment for us, a fixer-upper in a rather chi-chi area. So we're also totally renovating the house and landscaping the front yard into a lovely, groomed area. We're doing the backyard as well, just fencing off newly planted areas so the chickens don't dig them up. The veg garden is fenced and if the buyer wants, we'll take the fencing down and seed grass there. I figure we can do the same with the goat area. Leave the shed/barn as a garden shed and take down fencing/reseed with grass (unless the buyer wants a mini-farmstead!)
So: are we crazy? Should we abandon this dream until we move to a proper farm? What do you guys think??
Here's a shot looking out into the back yard. The garden is to the left, and the space I'd put a dedicated goat paddock- of we did that- would be to the right, sort of half in the current lawn area, and half going back into the woods. Our property continues about 20' farther to the right than you can see, then goes back down into the woods almost to the blue car (rectangular lot).