Feeding & Housing

Feeding and housing requirements for pygmy goats are modest: a draught free shed furnished with an elevated sleeping and feeding place. The elevated section should be slatted to allow for easy cleaning. An attached outside enclosure with at least 4 ft high fencing will provide the fresh air and exercise that these active, fun-loving goats need. They are very sociable and are happier with another goat as a friend.

A basic diet of roughage in the form of grass hay, they also like bark, brush and dry leaves, this will need to be supplemented with grain in the form of a mix. This can be purchased at most pet stores. Some trees, plants and shrubs are poisonous to pygmy goats which include; yew, laburnum, rhododendron, ragwort, water dropwort, hemlock, meadow saffron, hellebores, foxgloves, dog mercury, rhubarb, all nightshades, cuckoo pint, ground elder, most evergreens, daphne, ivy berries (not leaves), tomato foliage, privet, bracken, hydrangeas, azaleas, spindle tree, narcissi and other bulbs and most indoor plants.

Goats are one the most difficult of animals to keep in, so good fencing is essential. Stock netting 4 foot high is available and should be strained and nailed to posts no more than 10 ft apart. The post should be well banged into the ground. Goats will rub against the netting and may produce a bulge in it, this will enable them to then jump onto the netting and flatten it, so it is wise to add a straining wire or pole along the top to prevent this happening.

Tethering is not a suitable method of restraining a Pygmy goat. Pygmies are very active and could easily strangle themselves on the chain. At no time should rope be used to tether a goat.

Electric fencing can be used to restrain your goats, they can hear the hum of the fence and soon learn to stay away. They also learn that no hum means that you have forgotten to switch it on.

A typical layout for a daytime exercise area, would have 4 foot high fencing and a shelter in case of wind or rain. Pygmy goats do not like windy or rainy weather and are likely to become very ill if forced to stay out in it without shelter.