I am having a bit of trouble thinking of more information on Urban Goat-Keeping (could that be because it's 11pm and I've been awake since 6? ;) Anyways, for now here are some photos of our set-up. I'll take a few more in the next day or so since a couple things have changed. Let me know if you have any specific questions and I will address them in this blog! :)
Super cheap and easy to construct hay feeder:
I took a small piece of "hog panel" and covered with kennel wire (to lessen hay waste) and fixed to our doe's cross-fencing using (don't laugh) bungee cords. :) Hey, I'm a girl and it works! ;) What I like about this feeder is that it allows feeding from both sides of the fence. Our Pygmy does are on one side and the Nigerian girls on the other, they both have access to the hay. This cost next to nothing since I used scrap fencing.
Feed Storage:
It's important to keep grain and other feeds in sealed bins. This is one of the main concerns with goat-keeping in the city (and country). You do not want rodent problems. When obtaining a permit, they will be very concerned about feed storage.
Cleaning:
I "spot-clean" the goat pen once a day and thoroughly clean once a week. Photos below show the "weekly cleaning". After cleaning up wasted and soiled hay, I spread out a generous amount of baking soda or agricultural dolamite (dehydrated lime) and sometimes follow with cedar-tow shavings. I have been slacking a bit on the cedar shavings lately since they are rather expensive and not completely necessary (but they do smell very nice).
Compost:
Now that we've cleaned the goat pen, what to do with all that poop?! Put it on the compost pile and let nature take over! Easiest part of goat-keeping. :) Honestly, I do absolutely nothing with our compost pile, besides add more goat manure to it. Sometimes my dad will buy some worms to put in but other than that, we just let it sit and break down. Usually one month is all it takes for that hay and manure to turn into rich, black soil.
The photo to your right is our home-made composting pen. We took four pieces of "hog panel" (that stuff is handy!) and bent the pieces to make a somewhat rounded pen with opening gate (so the chickens can go in and out for scratching around).
Well, that's all the photos I have for now. Time for bed! :0
Super cheap and easy to construct hay feeder:
I took a small piece of "hog panel" and covered with kennel wire (to lessen hay waste) and fixed to our doe's cross-fencing using (don't laugh) bungee cords. :) Hey, I'm a girl and it works! ;) What I like about this feeder is that it allows feeding from both sides of the fence. Our Pygmy does are on one side and the Nigerian girls on the other, they both have access to the hay. This cost next to nothing since I used scrap fencing.
Feed Storage:
It's important to keep grain and other feeds in sealed bins. This is one of the main concerns with goat-keeping in the city (and country). You do not want rodent problems. When obtaining a permit, they will be very concerned about feed storage.
Cleaning:
I "spot-clean" the goat pen once a day and thoroughly clean once a week. Photos below show the "weekly cleaning". After cleaning up wasted and soiled hay, I spread out a generous amount of baking soda or agricultural dolamite (dehydrated lime) and sometimes follow with cedar-tow shavings. I have been slacking a bit on the cedar shavings lately since they are rather expensive and not completely necessary (but they do smell very nice).
Compost:
Now that we've cleaned the goat pen, what to do with all that poop?! Put it on the compost pile and let nature take over! Easiest part of goat-keeping. :) Honestly, I do absolutely nothing with our compost pile, besides add more goat manure to it. Sometimes my dad will buy some worms to put in but other than that, we just let it sit and break down. Usually one month is all it takes for that hay and manure to turn into rich, black soil.
The photo to your right is our home-made composting pen. We took four pieces of "hog panel" (that stuff is handy!) and bent the pieces to make a somewhat rounded pen with opening gate (so the chickens can go in and out for scratching around).
Well, that's all the photos I have for now. Time for bed! :0
