Things You'll Need
- Large fenced pasture area
- Pole building with sides or barn
- All stock feed
- Hay
- Feed containers
- Hay racks
- Water trough or large bucket with automatic waterer
- Horse tank heater or water bucket heater
- Mineral blocks
- Wormer
- Clip on lights or lights built into the barn or pole building
- 100 watt bulbs or heat lamp bulbs
Instructions
Pastures and Housing
Check with your local zoning board before getting any type of farm animals. If you live in a suburban area, most farm animals are limited or not allowed. If you live in a rural area, you shouldn't have any problems.
Build a strong fence around the pasture area. Goats are master escape artists, so make sure the fence is escape-proof. It's best if you put in a strong fence and add electric fence around it.
Make a place where the goats and sheep stay warm and dry. Any type of pole building with sides or a barn works well.
Put a large water trough or bucket with an automatic waterer in the pasture, and in the barn or pole building. The automatic waterer makes giving the goats water easier. Every time the animals drink water, it refills the container. Check the water often, and make sure you clean the container regularly. During the winter, the water sometimes freezes. Install a horse tank or water bucket heater, so the water keeps warm.
Put several large feed containers in the housing area and several hay racks. If you feed the animals in the housing area, they go to it at night or in inclement weather.
Raising Goats or Sheep
Put goats or sheep into a pasture containing weeds, briars, flowers and a little grass. Both animals love eating these foods. If the pasture contains a bunch of little pine trees, it makes the goats happy. Pine trees are like candy to them. Make sure the pasture contains some grass because the sheep like grass, vines and wildflowers. Goats and sheep eat wild blackberry plants, poison ivy, liverseed grass, hogweed velvet fingergrass, thistle and African couch grass, all of which grow wild in Minnesota. If you raise milk goats, put them in a pasture containing any kind of grass or hay. The goat's milk flavor changes with their diet. Goats that eat hay and all stock feed have milk that tastes more like cow's milk.
Give the goats and sheep about a handful of all stock in the morning and at night. This makes sure they get any nutrients they miss while they forage during the day. Feed pregnant or lactating females an extra handful of all stock at each meal. During the winter, double the amount of all stock you feed the animals, and keep the hay racks filled with hay. There is less food available for foraging animals in the winter, so make sure you provide enough.
Prepare the barn or pole building for the winter. Minnesota gets between 35 and 70 inches of snow each year. The average temperature in fall and spring, runs between 36 and 46 degrees F, and in winter, between 6 and 16 degrees. These temperatures require a warm building during the winter. When it gets under 30 degrees, put a bunch of hay on the ground inside the barn or pole building, and close the doors at night. If you add a few lights with 100 watt bulbs or a few heat lights, it keeps the goats and sheep warmer. Keep the lights at least 4 feet away from any hay to keep it from catching on fire. Keep the doors open during the day, so the goats will come and go in the barn or pole building as needed.
Place a mineral block inside the pole building or shed. Goats lick it when they need salt or other minerals. This is important in the summer or winter.
Call the vet, and get the required shots for your animals. The vet has the most up-to-date information on shots for your animals, as well as any illnesses commonly seen in your area.
Use a wormer on your animals regularly. Since they forage off the ground, these animals get worms and need treatment. Shots are available from the vet, or use a natural herbal wormer. Purchase the herbal formula online or make your own. There is a link for a simple mixture at the website Bulk Herb Store (see Resources).