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Sounds good except, how loud are they? Are they louder in general than Pygmy and Nigerian (as in, yelling)? I wouldn't mind but I'm afraid of neighbors complaining.
And how do you contain goats? They seem to be able to jump 4-5 ft fences easily? Do you have to use electric fences? I'd be really afraid of mine escaping and getting run over/lost/stolen.
Which makes me think, would it be safe for them to always wear collars i.e they won't accidentally hang themselves with the collar?
I contain mine in a 43" portable electric fence from Premier 1. It doesn't actually do a good job of containing them because I ordered the 82' long one, which is too short, which means they run out of foliage to eat in it; so they jump out to seek new grass! If you go that route, get the 164' or longer fence.
I think you could contain goats in a 4 foot fence if they are content, like the previous poster said. But if you are getting miniature goats like Pygmies or Nigis, I'd get a 5 or 6 foot tall one just to be safe. That said, I wouldn't go crazy over fencing in the beginning; just do your research, and get it up. You will make changes to your set up as you go, and a lot depends on the personality of the goats.
Loudness? Most goats can yell very loud...they act like you are sticking sharp objects into them!!! If the goats are happy and content, and are never kept alone, they shouldn't be too loud. Again, some goats are real drama queens, and some are quieter.
Collars: If you are afraid of them hanging or choking themselves, which they are def. capable of doing (as goats combine insatiable curiosity with no foresight) you can get a plastic chain
collar like this one for them, which will break if it gets stuck on something.
I ordered one for my goat, but it is still too large for his little neck.
I'm still learning! He will grow into it.
As a last tip, you should train your goats well. Don't let them get away with jumping on your lap or body, or butting you, as while it may be cute with a kid, once they get to be 100+ pounds it won't be. Smack the goat hard on the nose or rump if he does something you don't want him doing. Goats are smart and will soon catch on! You can also teach them to do tricks like standing up on thier hind legs like they're dancing, or others. I saw some neat ones to teach in a newer book; The Backyard Goat by Sue Weaver.
Finally, have fun! It is impossible not to, with goats!
