Building and Planning Resources A-L                       A-L      M     N-Z      Plans

Bedding 

Depth

  On concrete floors provide 5-6” of bedding.

  On dirt floors provide 3-4”. 

  In winter a manure pack can be built up.  As the lower layers decompose, this will provide a source 

  of heat for the goats. (McKinney)  

Water Absorbing Capacity of Bedding Materials

(Sheep Handbook)

Business Planning

Links:

Rutger's 1996, organic goat dairy budgets, based on amount of milk given in a 100 goat herd.  

U of Maryland Sample Meat Goat Budget http://sheepandgoat.com/spreadsheets/meatgoatbudget2004.xls

West Virginia University meat goat budget (can be adjusted for dairy) www.wvu.edu/~agexten/farmman2/template/goat2004.xls

Wisconsin Business Wizard: http://www.wisconsin.gov/state/app/wizard/LoadIntro 

Gives information about going into business in WI, what state, federal and local licenses, permits and regulations apply, application forms, state resources available and other business information.

Wisconsin Dairy Goat Enterprise Budget.  Easy to fill in and it calculates everything for you.

Budget: http://www.cias.wisc.edu/pdf/dairyGoat/dairyGoatBudg.XLS  547KB Excel file

Suggestions for use: http://www.cias.wisc.edu/pdf/dairyGoat/dairyGoats.pdf  84KB PDF

Key Financial Performance Measures For Farm General Managers http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/ID/ID-243.pdf

Cost of producing a hundredweight of milk spreadsheet  http://cdp.wisc.edu/wk1/costcwt9.xls

Wisconsin Dairy Artisan Network:  http://www.wisconsindairyartisan.org/become.html  

Information on regulations regarding the opening of a milk or cheese processing plant, writing a business plan, conducting market research, marketing your product, financing your business.

Farm Business Planning http://www.luresext.edu/goats/training/farmmanagement.html

Goat Farm Budgeting http://www.luresext.edu/goats/training/budgets.html

Small business loan calculator (Fixed rate) http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-calculator-loan

Will let you calculate monthly payment, total interest, average monthly interest, # years to pay off so you can compare loan offers.

 

Feeder Space

                  (Adapted from The Sheep Handbook)

Trough feeders must have a bar above them to keep goats from backing up over them and defecating. 

(Langston, Training Manual, Nutrition 27)

See plans for making feed bunks and feeders at "Plans" 

Fencing

Fence Posts

The following charts tell you how deep to sink anchor and line posts into the ground  

Anchor posts (corner posts)

(Storey)

Line posts (between corners)

(Storey)

Post Holes

The strongest way to put posts in is to have them driven in by a post-hole driver.  Farm fencing companies have the equipment to drive the posts and they are far stronger, especially when stringing high tensile electric wire.  Hand driven posts simply do not hold.  A fence post driven by a post hole driver, is driven into the ground without digging a hole.  This lends tremendous stability to the post.  (Van Zealand)

Hand dug, the wood post hole should be twice the diameter of the post. The posts go in the ground large end down.   The hole must be filled and tamped down tightly after the post is inserted.

If you want to set a thick post in concrete, use a hole twice the diameter of the post.  To set a thin post in concrete, dig the hole four times the diameter of the post.  To add stability to a wood post which will be set in concrete, drive galvanized nails into the bottom section of post before putting the post in the hole.  Then add the concrete.  Use a 1- 2-4 concrete mixture: 1 part cement, 2 parts sand, 4 parts gravel.   (Storey, 510)

Hay Capacity per foot of shed length    (assume 20’ high walls)

(The Sheep Handbook)

Hay / Straw Storage Space 

(The Sheep Handbook)

Heating

1000-2000 Btu/hr. per 1000 lb. animal weight  (Sheep Handbook)

(Note: Heat is not normally needed in goat housing, but it may be used in separate kid barns in harsh winter weather to bring the body temperature of babies to a functional level.  Extreme cold prevents them from eating and stresses their immune system.  Heat is also welcome to those who spend long hours bottle-feeding newborns in harsh weather.)

Lumber

Actual size vs. labeled size

Understanding board feet

The rule is:  Board feet (fbm) = thickness (in inches) x width (in feet) x length (in feet)

(Example:  You have a 1 x 4 x 10.  How many board feet is that?

The thickness is 1 inch, the width is 1/3 foot,  the length is 10 feet

So we take 1 x 1/3 x 10 = 10/3 or 3 1/3 board feet (fbm))

(Countryside)