I was raised on goats milk so we always had a small herd of goats. As far as what type of grain we always fed about two parts rolled oats and one part cracked corn along with free choice salt and minerals. I would like to make a suggestion of soaking your grain a few hours if its just whole oats and corn as this will help any type of animal get a lot more nutrients out of the grain which in turn you can feed them less. Also make sure they have all the grass or hay they can eat. This will help cut the grain consumption down,especially during the summer we fed less grain if they had a lot of grass,plus you will have healthier milk and animals. The taste of the milk will vary depending on their diet. If they eat a lot of brush and weeds etc the milk will have a lot stronger taste compared to milk that was produced on a nice clean pasture or hay. Also it is very important to get the milk cooled down as quickly as possible.Leave the lid of the container off until it is cold,periodedly stirring the milk. This helps it cool faster and helps the goatlike smell and taste escape as it cools. We used to make cheese,yogurt and ice cream.You get very little cream from a quart of goat milk compared to a quart of cows milk. If you leave it undisturbed for say 8-12 hours in a see through container you can see a small amount of cream at the very top that is a slightly darker color,although it is a lot harder to tell compared to a cows cream which is yellowish.You can feed them some kitchen scraps. they love stale bread etc although I would try not to feed to much because it is not their natural diet. You can also buy special goat feed at most feed stores but you will end up spending more for the goat's feed then on your own grocery bill,especially if you buy organic feed. As far as fencing goes i like chain link or the non climb woven wire horse fence the best. Regular woven wire field fence or wire cattle panels work great unless they have horns,because they will stick their head through the holes then when they pull back out they get their horns hooked in the fence which can turn ugly fast in the summer on a hot day and no shade and water. Barbed wire will also work but it has to be spaced close together and low to the ground as they will slip under or through it. Oh and by the way goats love beautiful flowers and shrubery......... :~) Good Luck!!
