I'm a full-time farmer in Western Wisconsin where I raise meat goats and sheep on pasture using regenerative and rotational grazing practices.
I created this website because
I had so many people reaching out, both locally and beyond, wanting to know more about how I was raising and marketing goats.
I also recognized that it IS so hard to find information in this space. I wanted to share what I've learned along the way and reduce your time searching the depths of the internet.
Goat pens are an important component of housing and facilities for your goat herd. At face value pens keep your goats contained. However, the right goat pen design can provide you with a lot more benefits.
The right goat pen design also can provide benefits to both you and your goat herd, including:
There are several different types of goat pens, which typically are dependent on the type of goats you’re raising, groups of goats based on age or purpose, the purpose for the pen, management approach and processes, and even if you’re working with an existing facility or barn.
Here’s an list of different types of goat pens:
| Pen Style | Pros | Cons |
| Group Pens | Easier for managing your entire herd Easier for group feeding and access to water Easier for cleaning with a tractor | If an animal needs extra attention, it may be harder catch them |
| Individual Pens | Helpful when a goat needs extra veterinary care or observation | Harder to clean out due to smaller spaces, need to do it by hand Goats are herd animals and keeping animals in their own pen can add unneeded stress |
| Kidding Pens | Helpful for bonding with new moms and babies | Needs regular cleaning May add extra stress on animal to bring them into a pen before delivery or after |
| Outdoor yard, pen or lot | Potential for extra space beyond the barn or shelter Access to fresh air | May be exposed to increased parasite risk with any weeds or plants growing in the area |
| Grazing paddock | Easy access to fresh feed Regular rotation 1-3 days can minimize parasite infection risk | Goats need to be trained to electric fence, which takes time Parasite challenges if animals are on a paddock too long, or return before the parasite cycle ends |
As you consider your goat pen set up, you’ll want to think about how you’ll be working with your goats throughout the year and how you might work with different groups within your herd. Here are some examples for a meat goat farm:
Once you know the type of goat pens you’ll need, you’ll also need to think about other considerations that will impact the goat pen design such as:
While permanent goat pens are sturdy and easy to build in a DIY approach, especially if you are building pens with lumber or cattle panels, however they don’t offer flexibility throughout the year.
That’s where movable goat pens or portable goat pens have a lot of benefits. You can adjust your pen set up in your goat barn depending on the season and management needs of your goat herd.
As an example on our farm, we built two main pens as we started raising goats. We built them with lumber and cattle panels. If I would do it over (and just might some day!) I would opt for 1-2 large group pens where I can add in divider panels to split groups up into smaller pens if I need to (like kidding season), but keep a large group approach during winter for ease with winter herd management, feeding and access to water.
I’m a fan of flexibility throughout the year since meat goat herds have different management and feeding needs throughout the year. Portable goat pens are a win in my world.
Depending on your goat pen design set up and if there’s access to a yard or pasture, the space needed for a goat will vary.
This chart offers general guidelines on how much space goats need, based on square foot per goat.
Goat Pen Size Guidelines
| Pen Type | Does | Does with Kids | Bucks | Young Kids | Feeder / Market Kids |
| Bedded pen* | 15-20 square feet | 25+ square feet, 1.5-2 square feet for creep area | 50 square feet | 2 square feet | 8-10 square feet |
| Dirt lot | 25-40 square feet | 30-50 square feet | 16 square feet | Not recommended | 20-30 square feet |
| Paved lot | 16 square feet | 20 square feet | 16 square feet | Not recommended | 10 square feet |
| Total confinement | 20-25 square feet | Not recommended | 8-10 square feet | 8-10 square feet | |
| Individual pen | 6×6 feet | 6×6 feet | 6×6 feet | 4×4 feet | 4×4 feet |
| Kidding pen | 4×4 feet | ||||
| Pasture – See goats per acre post |
This chart is based on the MWPS Sheep Housing and Equipment Handbook (1994), Meat Goat Production Handbook (2015), and Pastures for Profit (2014).
* Space can be reduced with access to pasture/yard
There are a number of goat and sheep equipment manufactures that make a range of pen options that can be used in a modular fashion, giving you a lot of flexibility for setting up or just simply ease of setting up your pen.
Most of these manufacturers also can make custom goat pen walls. A few examples of these manufactures include Sydell, Lakeland, Mountainview and more. You could also work with a local manufacturer or welder to create your own custom goat pen panels too.
Here are several goat pen layout ideas to consider when designing your pen set up. The use of these may vary depending on if you’re creating your pens in a new location or incorporating them into an existing barn or shelter.
There are a variety of benefits for creating DIY goat pens:
Here are a several DIY goat pen ideas:
DIY pens should be at least 30 inches tall. If using lumber, the lowest space in between openings should be smaller to avoid goats sneaking out. The openings near the top can be larger.
Leslie Svacina owns Cylon Rolling Acres in Wisconsin, where she rotationally grazes goats and sheep using regenerative farming practices. Leslie direct markets her goat and lamb meat nationwide and regionally with wholesale partners. She also is a consultant, specializing in small ruminant grazing, offering workshops, training and 1-on-1 coaching.
