Hey guys! so excited to see your forum as my husband and i just purchased our first little home(stead-to-be

) and plan to get goats as soon as we can make the arrangements! ek! I had them as a girl and fell in love and have been waiting to get them again ever sense. i still remember some things, but have lots of questions as we get everything ready, so please feel free to point me in the right direction if any of you have any good resources of info as i get started. we have hens and a small garden so far but I just cant wait to get a pair of does! If you have time I would love to know your opinions:
We are in a residential area (no restrictions) and would like to put up a nice white fence. what sort of requirements would i need to follow for space between boards etc...? and as a child we used electric, would that be neccesary to add to keep them in a horse style fence or was that a thing of the past used as cheap fencing? id rather not as we have three young children and i remember it getting me good several times as a kid ;-) and of course any tips on keeping the cost down would be helpful.
We own just two acres of land, most is in pretty "fields" of grass/weeds. so most is usable but I was thinking of fencing off one of the side yard that im guessing might be about 1/2 acre. Is that enough to keep two does and their kids (till sold) on, if i want them to forage as much as possible, do I need to do more?
does anyone have rough estimates of how much I should expect to pay for hay/ grain and possible vet bills so that I can budget?
What sort of food water despensers do you use?
We are planning on getting Saanens, by the way. What do you guys do with excess milk? I'm guessing its probably more than one family would need. we arent allowed to sell it without a permit, right? I would love to make all my own cheese/soap, but that would probably take more time than and energy than available on a weekly basis, right? and what about selling the cheese?
and sense were on byc, does anyone else let their hens run with the goats and or use shared housing? we have ours in a chicken tractor right now but would lave to let them range in the goat fence assuming that wouldnt cause any problems that im not thinking of.
thanks for reading!!!
Christie