Building an Effective Goat Creep

by Michele Martz of Cahone, CO

In the fall of 2008 we received a call from our neighbors saying that they wished to get rid of their two goats. I am normally a bit skeptical when people say they want to get rid of an animal, but after inspecting these goats and asking many questions we came to the conclusion that they should join our farm family. They were exactly what we were looking for, a Saanen and an Oberhasli, both two years of age and ready to be bred. Luckily we had just butchered our turkey flock and had a large fenced in space with a barrel-vault shed that was now vacant. With a little bit of work on the fence the goats were ready to move in. At first we placed loose hay on the floor of the hut for them, but quickly realized how much was wasted and knew we needed to build a feeder or creep.

In the Natural Goat Care book by Pat Coleby she suggests using chain-link fence for feeders for goats since it is virtually indestructible. We just happened to have a five foot by four foot section of chain-link in our recycle pile. Since there was already a side board running the length of the shed and a high roost post from the turkey days, we decided to attach the fence to it. Next we made semi-circular forms out of wood to cap both ends of the creep and attached the fence to this wood using a piece of plumbers tape. Below the creep we placed a large black culvert pipe cut in half with half moon wooden stops on the ends as well. This culvert trough has holes drilled in the side, and with a heavy gauge wire, is hung from the top of the roost post. This way, when the goats stand on it, it moves and causes no stress or damage to the trough. The last part to building this goat creep is a lid. We decided to use a tailgate off of one of our old trucks that was no longer being used. The tailgate is hinged from a wooden beam of the shed, and stays in the closed position. When we need to fill the hay creep, we lift up on the tailgate and slide a bent wire gizmo over the side of the tailgate to hold it up.

The goats feed on the hay by nibbling through the chain-link mesh and occasionally use their heads to butt against it. We have found that very little of our feed gets wasted and that a bale of grass-hay lasts our two pregnant ladies way longer than expected. The culvert trough is the key to the whole operation, as it catches little bits of hay, saving them from the floor where they’d be wasted. It is also a place for putting bicarbonate of soda and their mineral block. As they eat the little bits of hay in the trough they are also getting some soda which helps to prevent bloat. Finally, since we are not milking yet, we place a small amount of sweet grain in the trough as well. The best thing about this feeder is that we spent absolutely no money on it as we reused resources we already had on the farm.

Uncertain Friendship
I sit quietly, calmly, caressing both goat and cat on my lap.
They are uncertain of their friendship and never look each other in the eye.
Goat occasionally tries to eat cat. Cat dislikes this greatly.