Meagan McGovern

Thanks! I was afraid this was going to be an expensive gift. I forgot to mention that I have another goat -- but he lives across the street at the neighbor's barn because he's lonely and because we don't have the right fence.
So I was sort of accepting this new dairy goat as a companion for our little goat that we'd like to bring home, and we'll breed her and use her for milk once we get a feel for having goats.
So, I guess I'll have two goats: One is a nubian dairy goat, and the other is a castrated male (whether?) that's a Nigerian dwarf goat. I don't suppose it matters which breed they are as to whether they'll get along -- company is company, right?
The lady who is giving the goat to me just asked that I trim the hooves, as she didn't know how and didn't have the right equipment, which is why she's giving it away. I have three neighbors with goats and trimmers willing to help and teach, so that's not an issue.
The Premier 1 fencing is what I've been looking at, along with field fence and T-posts. It's hard to know which way to go, but perhaps since the Premier 1 fence is ready right away, that's the way to go. The barn does have electricity, but it was built in the 1940s, and the electricals haven't been updated, so I hate to leave stuff plugged in around the clock -- we usually shut down power at night. Which might work if we bring everyone in every night!
Thanks for the helpful reply!

Hey, all.
I'm new-ish to homesteading. We have an old dairy farm in Western Washington, north of Seattle, near the Canadian border. We have a huge old dairy barn and ten acres of pasture, plus a bunch of cool outbuildings -- some are useful, and some are falling apart.
We've been here about ten months, and have concentrated on moving into the house, putting in a garden, and cleaning out 25 years worth of manure from the barn, and we haven't done much with the land at all yet.
Right now, we have a small flock of chickens (16 hens and a rooster,) and two pigs, which only have a month left before they become bacon.
However, someone offered us a really nice dairy goat, a nubian, and I'm picking her up on Tuesday. Now I'm panicking because I don't have the right fencing for her.
Here's what we've got: A great big barn, with only one real stall for animals that's closed in, which is currently housing pigs for the next month. The pigs have a small amount of pasture, but they're trashed it completely, and as I said, we haven't figured out fencing yet, so pigs on pasture will have to be round two of pigs, set for later this spring.
The rest of the barn is set up for milking, with a concrete floor and lots of space, but no place to pen up a goat.
Behind the barn, there's about seven acres of great pasture with some T-posts and old electric wire for a fence, but none of it is up and running. I'd like to repair that fence as a perimeter, but that's not going to keep in chickens and goats and pigs, and I have no idea how to configure the rest of it.
I'd like to figure out how to range chickens, goats, pigs and perhaps later this year, a beef cow.
I don't have a fortune to spend on fencing.
I've read about the paddock system, but I'm not sure I understand how it would work.
Do the chickens come in every night to their coop? Do the goats and pigs come in to the barn every night? What about a cow? What about predators?
And, in the meantime, what's a good goat containment system while we get the rest of it figured out??
Thanks for your help!
Meagan