Keeping goats in New Zealand

Why keep goats

New Zealand goats are farmed for milk, fibre (mohair and cashmere), and meat. On lifestyle blocks, small herds are also kept for weed control, on thistles and dock for example, and as pets.

Goats are browsers rather than grazers. Given the chance they take up to 60% of their diet from shrubs, weeds, and trees. They are curious, agile climbers. Head-butting is normal herd behaviour, so don’t push on a goat’s head or horns. Bucks can be dangerous at any time, and especially in the mating season.

Company, shelter, and fences

Never keep a goat alone. Two goats that get on is the minimum, and the Code of Welfare accepts sheep, cattle, or horses as companions too. Uncastrated males smell strongly and spray urine, so they don’t suit as pets; wethers do.

Goats don’t have the oily coat that keeps sheep dry, and they get hypothermia easily when wet. They need a rain- and draught-proof shelter where every goat can get off wet ground and out of the wind. Make it big enough that dominant goats can’t push the others out.

Fences should be at least 1.55 m high, with no barbed wire and gaps too small for heads, horns, or legs to get stuck. Netting can trap horned goats. Many owners add an electric wire to stop climbing and squeezing through. Vets count a goat as roughly one sheep when working out how many animals a block can carry, and Beef + Lamb NZ’s Wormwise advises keeping goat numbers low to control worms. Higher figures, such as the NZ Dairy Goat Breeders Association’s 4–6 goats per acre, assume you buy in plenty of roughage.

Feeding and water

SPCA suggests about half the diet as good hay and a quarter to a half as browse, with pasture on top. On many blocks goats need supplementary feed for much of the year. Change the diet gradually over several days, especially when feeding grain, because a sudden change can cause acidosis or pulpy kidney.

Keep fresh water within reach of every goat at all times. Drinking needs vary with feed, weather and milk production. Ask your vet whether mineral testing or supplements are needed; do not add minerals based on a generic sheep or goat recipe.

Names for goats

New Zealand breeders and the Code of Welfare say doe and buck; nanny and billy are the everyday alternatives.

Doe (nanny)

An adult female.

Buck (billy)

An uncastrated male.

Wether

A castrated male. The usual pet or companion goat.

Kid

A young goat, up to about 4 months old.

Doeling and buckling

A young female, and a young uncastrated male.

Goatling

A young female dairy goat, before the end of her first lactation.

In kid

Pregnant. Pregnancy lasts about 150 days.

Kidding

Giving birth.

Milker

A doe being milked.

Dry doe and drying off

A doe not being milked, and stopping milking before she kids again.

Freshen

To kid and come back into milk.

Rut

A buck’s breeding season, which runs from late summer to late winter.

Buck rag

A cloth rubbed on a buck in rut and offered to does to show which are on heat.

Disbudding

Destroying the horn buds of a young kid. It needs vet-authorised pain relief.

Herd or trip

A group of goats. Herd is the usual word.

Regular jobs

Worms and drenching

Worms can cause serious illness in goats, and drench resistance can make treatment fail. Ask your vet to choose a suitable product and work out the dose for each goat’s weight and health. Do not calculate a goat dose by multiplying a sheep dose. Check any meat or milk withholding period with your vet, and agree when to test whether treatment worked.

Health problems to watch for

• Barber’s pole worm: it sucks blood, causing anaemia, and can kill young and adult goats.
• Pulpy kidney: often sudden death after a sudden change to grain or lush feed. The 5-in-1 vaccine protects against it.
• A swollen belly or difficulty breathing needs immediate veterinary advice; bloat is one possible cause.
• Urinary stones in wethers and bucks: restlessness, going off feed, dribbling, then straining with nothing passing. Call a vet immediately.
• CAE, a viral disease found in many New Zealand herds, which can cause arthritis in adults. There is no cure, so ask for test results when buying.
• Footrot and scald, which are more common in wet weather.
• Keep poisonous plants and garden prunings out of reach. Poisoning signs may be immediate or delayed; contact your vet straight away if you suspect exposure.
• Cold stress: hunched, shivering, huddling, and not eating.

What a goat costs to keep

These figures are approximate planning examples. Confirm feed quantities, treatment needs and current prices, including GST, delivery and whole-pack purchases, with suppliers and your vet before budgeting.

The first bottle of drench and pack of vaccine cost about $225 between them, shared across your herd. Vet visits, hoof trimming if you pay someone, and fibre shearing are extra. So are the goats themselves: the NZ Dairy Goat Breeders Association quotes $350–$750 for a milking doe.

New Zealand rules

• The Code of Welfare: Goats sets minimum standards, including companions, shelter that keeps goats dry, and water. Keep clean drinking water available at all times.
• SPCA advises against tethering goats because of injury, weather and dog-attack risks. Provide a secure enclosure, company and shelter. Check MPI’s current goat welfare requirements; this guide does not establish that a tethering arrangement is lawful.
• Ask your vet to plan any disbudding, dehorning or castration and check MPI’s current operator and pain-relief requirements. Get veterinary help if horns threaten to grow into the head.
• Goats moving between properties, to saleyards or to processors need an Animal Status Declaration (ASD). Follow OSPRI’s rules for incoming and outgoing records.
• NAIT (National Animal Identification and Tracing) tagging doesn’t apply to goats. If you also keep cattle or deer, declare the number of goats you had on 30 June to NAIT by 31 July.
• Homekill meat cannot be sold, bartered or traded. Before booking, check MPI’s current rules for animal owners and listed homekill providers, including who can use the service, any care period and who may receive the meat.