Less than two weeks away from their arrival, a lot of our focus this week is on preparing for Nigerian dwarf goats. And, as we look forward to welcoming our three goats to the homestead, we can’t help but feel a bit apprehensive? Are we really prepared to take on this new responsibility? Today, we consider the preparations we’re making.
Will Our Livestock Guardian Dog be Ready?
One of the biggest concerns we have is how well our Great Pyrenees Jadzia will handle having new charges to look after. When we got Jadzia, she was 8 weeks old. And, during her first 8 weeks, she grew up on a farm with chickens, horses, pigs, and goats. So, she did get the chance to train some under her birth parents as a proper livestock guardian dog.
However, since we’ve had her, all she’s had to watch is chickens. So, as we are preparing for Nigerian dwarf goats, we hope she will welcome them into her family. To ensure she does, we’re doing our best to setup a temporary fence to split the fenced in yard in half. This way, she gets to stay close to them without directly being able to interact with them.
Will We Be Reading?
Of course, more important than introducing our livestock guardian dog is to make sure we are properly preparing for goats. One of the steps we took is rejigging the old chicken coop as we figure it will work as a temporary home for Delilah and her two doelings. We recognize when her doelings get older, they will definitely need bigger accommodations, but for now we figure this will work.
As you can see, we used pallet boards on one side. In reality, this used to be the main door to the coop. Rather than leave the door there, we decided it made sense to combine the old run with the coop so they have an indoor/outdoor living option when it’s not too cold (which looks to be soon). On top of that, we also have to build some sort of milking structure -and this is just the building we have to do.
Preparing for Nigerian Dwarf Goats
More important than just building the right structures and having your fence in good repair, another concern is how well we are actually equipped to care for them. Sure, we got the minerals, the salt block, food, hay, and all the feeders and equipment we need, but are we going to give them the attention they need? We sure hope so!
That’s why we’ve been spending our evenings on YouTube watching videos on Nigerian dwarf goats, reading all the books we have, and checking out online resources about goat health. Still, as we are preparing for Nigerian dwarf goats, we can’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed. So, we want to record those feelings here as a record. In months/years from now when we feel confident and ready to teach others all about how to care for these adorable little mammals, we’ll look back on this fondly.
Until next time, we’ll see you around the homestead.