The Temporary Goat Pen

The Boys’ Side

When the opportunity came to get a great deal on a buck to start our goat adventure, we found ourselves in a bit of a predicament. The goat pen was not complete, we had no shelter, and no area fenced off to contain goats. How were we going to house and contain this goat? Well actually, “these goats” would be more accurate, they are herd animals, and we ended up with a buck and a wether (neutered male goat). Anyway, what was the plan? We had the fence up by now and some welded wire fence on hand. More fencing would be needed, and we would also have to buy more t-posts. We thought of sectioning a small area of the yard for them, and we also would have needed to build a gate.

We knew around New Year’s Day that we were getting this goat, and he would need a friend. We had some time before we had to get something together for these goats. Ultimately, we wanted the goat pen complete, but it just was not an option. The supplies we needed for their permanent home were not in the budget and we didn’t have the time to devote to getting it all together. Alas, a new and wonderful friend of ours had a plan. She had a chain link dog kennel she wasn’t using that she loaned to us until we could get our goat pen together. She also loaned us an IBC tote for them to sleep in and a hay feeder. We had a bucket for water and a trough for their feed.

A few days before we picked up our boys, our friend’s husband brought over the IBC tote and the kennel panels. We put the IBC tote in the corner of the back yard and placed the panels around it. To prepare the tote to be a goat house we cut a square hole in the wider side of the tote. About the size that would accommodate a medium size dog. Which is roughly the size Nigerian Dwarf goats grow to be. We later drilled some holes in the bottom of the tote so any waste could drain out. We added some straw for the goats’ comfort (and to help absorb waste) and it was ready to be a goat shelter. We secured the kennel panels to each other, to the fence and to the tote.

 The kennel panels came with metal fasteners to connect each panel, we also used wire to tighten up some less secure areas. One of the panels was the kennel gate that had a latch. We also used a short chain with carabiner clips because goats are quite mischievous and can typically figure out how to open a gate. The chain link fence was perfect for hanging a hay feeder and a grain feeder. The bucket for water was typically sitting on the ground near their food but we could have used a carabiner clip to hang it up as well.

To give the goats cover from the sun and storms we simply used some tarps we had on hand and bungee cords to secure them. It wasn’t the prettiest solution, but we knew it was temporary and would get the job done. On a few particularly cold nights we hung a blanket over the door of their tote house. For their entertainment they had a stump and a small black tote to jump on and off or to lay on.

The hay feeder is a simple metal grid like style, it is flat on the back except for the hooked shaped metal at the top that sits on the fence and the front is at an angle. The goats can pull hay out through the squares. The grain feeder is a simple small black trough (similar to this) that you can pick up at any farm store or online, although a bucket or dog food bowl would also be sufficient.  

While it was a small space, it worked really well for us while working on the permanent goat pen. We would let the boys roam the fenced-in back yard when we were home.

The Girls’ Side

This pen also made it easy to create a temporary pen for the does we picked up a couple months later. At this point we started to figure out this temporary solution thing and making what we had work. Our lovely friend loaned us an igloo style doghouse for the girls to sleep in, it was perfect for them. These are easy to clean and quite cozy for those colder nights. Of course, the girls also had straw in their house.

We built the girls’ pen right next to the boys’ pen. They shared a couple of the kennel panels, then we attached some of the welded wire fence we had and a pet playpen. The gate on this pet playpen became the gate for the girls’ pen. We did have to buy some t-posts and clips to complete this part of the pen.

We set the welded wire fence and pet playpen up next to the boys’ pen and use zip ties to secure them in place. We placed some t-posts along the front of what would be the girls’ pen and then down beside where our grape vine and berry bed is. Then we finished securing the fence to the t-posts. The doghouse was at the back of the pen and was initially sitting on the ground. However, we learned that rain could flood their pen and if it rained enough it would flow into this doghouse. We had a small pallet on hand (from a delivery we had, I don’t remember what) that we placed the doghouse on to prevent any future flooding.

Next problem to solve was the pen flooding. We figured out most of the water was coming from behind the berry/grape area. So, we built up a little barrier with dirt along the bottom of the fence. We had some mulch on hand that we had bought for the flower garden, which we never laid out. Since there wasn’t enough mulch to cover the ground in the flower garden anyway, we chose to use it in the girls’ pen to help absorb any excess water and raise the level of the ground a bit. Both tactics were successful.

The girls had a tarp over their pen like the boys, to provide some shade and protection from the weather. The hay feeder hung on the side of the kennel that all the goats could share, the girls just needed their own bucket for water and a feed trough. For entertainment we gave them a little black tote to jump onto and a little kids slide.

The girls’ pen was slightly larger than the boys’ pen but we would alternate who was out in the yard while we were home, so they had more room to play. We couldn’t let the buck roam with the girls because even being so young instinct would have resulted in breeding. The girls were way too small to successfully survive a pregnancy. We couldn’t let the wether out with the girls either since he was still intact at the time.