Goat Farm Designs considerations and Space Requirements of goats in Indian Conditions
From the health point view it is the young, immature animals which are at greater risk of disease & mismanagement. Therefore unit size of young animals should be limited to reasonably low level; it can be very much higher for adults.
Maximum number of animals that can be held at one site is 1000. But due to operational inefficiency in Indian conditions & tropical nature of climate we recommend it to 600 in one site.
Ideally at 1 site only 1 farm should be built but due to lack of land & better utilization of resources more than 1 building are required. In that case end to end positions of two farms are preferable. If space in length is not sufficient than parallel farms can be developed (least preferable) with a space between 2 farms is equal to the width of the either farm.
Shed wall should be sufficiently high. Normally it is 6 feet high on sides and 9 feet high in the middle across the length with 3 feet solid wall either side cemented or teen or wood & 3 feet zinc wire or galvanized iron wire net. Pillars are needed at proper distance to take the load of overlying shed.
Width of the shed should not be more than 30 feet otherwise it will hamper proper ventilation. Bad ventilation is serious threat to the animals especially when they leis in groups. It will reflect in respiratory diseases like pneumonia.
If you want to increase the width of the shed, provide open ridge at the top for proper ventilation.
Open should be provided at the rate of 1:2. For every 1ft² covered are 2ft² open space should be provided.
Concrete floor or brick floor will be given for easy sanitation and manure collection.
Space requirements for goats
| Animal category | Space required (ft²) | Maximum no. of animals | Height of shed (cm) | Feeding space (cm) | Water space (cm) |
| Kids (0-3 months) | 6 to 12 | 20 to 25 | 300 | 30 to 35 | 3 to 5 |
| Adult female | 12 to 16 | 60 | 300 | 40 to 50 | 4 to 5 |
| Pregnant & lactating does | 20 | 10 to 15 | 300 | 40 to 50 | 4 to 5 |
| Adult male buck | 20 to 25 | 1 | 300 | 40 to 50 | 4 -5 |
| Castrated | 20 to 25 | 50 | 300 | 40 to 50 | 4 to 5 |