We Started With the Wrong Goats (Here’s What We Learned About Raising Goats for Beginners)

I spent two weeks researching the easiest goats to raise for beginners on small farms before we brought home our first pair. Read every forum, watched YouTube videos until my eyes burned, made spreadsheets comparing feed costs. Then we drove to a farm an hour away and fell in love with two dairy crosses that were absolutely wrong for us.

Three years later, we’ve got Pepper and June—Nubians who actually work for our setup. But first, let me tell you about the breeds that won’t make you question your life choices.

Four goat breeds that won’t destroy your sanity

If I could go back and choose based on what actually matters for small farm beginners, here’s what I’d pick:

• Nigerian Dwarfs: Small enough that they can’t knock you over, good milk production for their size, easier to handle. Downside is they’re escape artists and louder than you’d think.
• Nubians: Friendly, decent milk, handle heat well (matters here in Tennessee). They’re talkers though—ours start yelling at 5 AM when they want breakfast.
• Saanens: Calm, steady milk producers, less dramatic than some breeds. Need more shade in hot climates but otherwise pretty straightforward.
• LaMancha: Those funny-looking ears aren’t just cute—they’re hardy, good mothers, and not prone to the neurotic behavior some dairy breeds have.

The common thread? These breeds were developed to be productive without being high-maintenance. Unlike what we started with.

What actually happens when you pick wrong

Our first goats were Alpine-Oberhasli crosses from a dairy that was downsizing. Beautiful animals, great milk lines, completely wrong for beginners. The farmer warned us they’d need “regular hoof trimming,” which sounded manageable.

What he meant was every six weeks, Ben and I would wrestle 120-pound animals onto a milking stand while they screamed bloody murder. These goats had hooves that grew like fingernails and developed problems if we were even a week late. Plus they’d been raised in a herd of 40—they had no respect for our little setup.

“Maybe we just need better fencing,” Ben said after we found them in the neighbor’s garden for the third time. We upgraded from cattle panels to horse fencing, added electric wire, reinforced the corners. They still got out. Not because the fence was bad, but because they were bored and smart enough to find the one loose gate latch.

The breaking point came during a thunderstorm when one of them got spooked and charged through our greenhouse. Not around it—through the plastic sheeting, taking out two tomato plants and a tray of seedlings I’d been nursing for weeks.

“We’re not cut out for this,” I told Ben while we stood in the ruins, rain dripping through the torn plastic.

“Or maybe we just got the wrong goats,” he said.

He was right, but it took us another six months to admit it. We found them a home with an experienced dairy operation and started over.

Getting setup costs to match your budget

Here’s what it actually costs to set up for two goats on a small farm, based on our receipts from round two:

1. Fencing ($800-1200): Cattle panels work fine for most breeds. We used 16-foot panels, about $35 each at Tractor Supply. Factor in gates and hardware.
2. Shelter ($300-800): Three-sided shed, 8×12 feet minimum for two goats. We built ours from pressure-treated lumber and metal roofing.
3. Water system ($100-200): Automatic waterer or large tank with heater for winter. Goats won’t drink from dirty water.
4. Feed setup ($200-400): Metal trash cans for grain storage (keeps mice out), hay feeder, mineral feeder. Don’t skimp on rodent-proof storage.
5. Basic tools ($150-250): Hoof trimmers, lead ropes, collar, first aid supplies. Start simple.

Total upfront: $1,500-2,800 plus the cost of the goats themselves ($200-600 each for quality stock). That doesn’t include feed, which runs us about $60 monthly for two Nubians.

“You can build cheap or you can build twice” – something Ben’s dad told him that turned out to be completely true about goat housing.

Why smaller breeds aren’t always easier

Everyone told us to start with Nigerian Dwarfs because they’re “beginner-friendly.” The logic makes sense—smaller animal, less damage if something goes wrong, easier to handle. But after three years with different breeds, I’m not convinced size equals easier.

Nigerian Dwarfs are stubborn in a way that’s hard to explain until you’ve dealt with it. When June (our Nubian) doesn’t want to do something, she just stands there. You can work with that. When a Nigerian decides they’re done, they become a 75-pound paperweight with an attitude. They’ll lie down in the middle of the path and refuse to move, or squeeze through fence gaps that shouldn’t be physically possible.

The larger breeds—Nubians, Saanens—tend to be calmer overall. Yes, they need more space and stronger fencing, but they’re not constantly looking for trouble. Pepper might knock over a water bucket by accident, but she’s not doing it to see what happens.

Ben thinks I’m overthinking it. “A goat’s a goat,” he says. “They’re all stubborn.” Maybe he’s right, but I’ve noticed the smaller ones seem to have more to prove.

The temperament question we still can’t answer

Pepper and June came from the same breeder, same bloodlines, raised together. Pepper is calm, follows you around like a dog, easy to milk. June is dramatic, yells when she can see you but can’t reach you, and once escaped just to stand in our driveway and scream until we noticed.

What makes one goat mellow and another neurotic? We’ve asked other goat owners, read breed characteristics, watched them for three years. Nobody has a good answer.

“It’s like kids,” our neighbor said when I brought it up at the feed store. “Same parents, totally different personalities.” But that doesn’t help when you’re trying to choose animals that won’t drive you crazy.

The breeder swears it’s all in how they’re raised, but I’ve seen goats from the same farm with completely different attitudes. Maybe it just comes down to luck.

How to avoid the shelter goats trap

Goat rescues are full of animals that someone couldn’t handle. That’s not necessarily the goat’s fault, but it can mean you’re getting someone else’s problem without knowing what you’re walking into.

1. Ask specific questions: Why are they being rehomed? How long have they been there? What are their quirks or problems?
2. Meet them first: Can you handle them easily? Do they come when called? How do they react to new people?
3. Get health records: Vaccination history, hoof trimming schedule, any ongoing issues. Missing records are a red flag.
4. Assess their setup: Are they used to electric fence or just regular fencing? What kind of shelter? Big changes stress goats out.
5. Consider pairs: Goats that have been together should stay together. Starting with a bonded pair is easier than introducing strangers.

We’ve seen too many people get “free” goats that end up costing more in fencing repairs and vet bills than buying good stock would have cost upfront.

Would we start over the same way?

Honestly? Probably not. If we were starting fresh, I’d skip all the research and go straight to a good breeder with decent Nubians or Nigerian Dwarfs. Spend more money upfront, get animals that are already handled and healthy.

But Ben disagrees. “The first goats taught us what we didn’t want,” he says. “If we’d started with easy ones, we might not have learned as much.”

Maybe he’s right. Those first disasters made us better at reading goat behavior, forced us to build stronger fencing, taught us what really matters versus what just sounds good in books.

Then again, maybe we just like to tell ourselves our mistakes were educational instead of admitting we should have listened to people who actually knew what they were talking about.

Would I recommend the slow, expensive way we learned things? I honestly don’t know. Sometimes I watch Pepper and June grazing peacefully in their pasture and think we got here despite our choices, not because of them.

TL;DR: Nigerian Dwarfs, Nubians, Saanens, and LaManchas are your best bets for beginner goats. Budget $2,000+ for setup. Smaller doesn’t always mean easier. Temperament is unpredictable. Buy from good breeders, not problems. We’d probably do it differently but maybe that’s missing the point.

What I still can’t figure out is whether the right breed matters more than the individual animal. Are we just lucky with Pepper and June, or did we finally choose better?