How many goats do you need for a family's milk?
Short answer
A good dairy goat gives about 500 liters of milk a year and a family needs about 150 liters per adult. Two goats, about 1,000 liters a year, cover a family of four and leave extra for cheese. Never keep just one: goats are herd animals, and a lone goat cries and escapes all the time.
What two goats mean
| Per goat | Planning figure | Two goats |
|---|---|---|
| Milk a year | about 500 L | about 1,000 L |
| Grazing and hay ground | 1,200 m² (0.3 acre) | 2,400 m² (0.6 acre) |
| Hay for winter | 400 kg | 800 kg |
| Work | 2 hours a week | 4 hours a week |
| Water | about 6 L a day, a milker up to 15 L | 12–30 L a day |
Before your first goat
- Register your holding and ask your vet what is compulsory where you live.
- Buy only goats with ear tags, movement papers and health records, from a herd free of CAE and CL.
- Think twice about a buck. He is strong, stubborn and dangerous in the rut. If you have nowhere to keep him apart, don't keep one.
Milk yield depends on breed, feed and stage of lactation, so these are planning averages.
The full guide also gives you
Goats: breeds, numbers and purpose
What you want from goats, which breed to choose, how many your family needs, what a buck and the paperwork involve, and what it all costs
- Herd calculator
- Start-up costs for the herd
- Comparing goats and sellers
- Herd register
- First-year goat calendar
Sources: Belanger and Thomson Bredesen, Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats; Smith and Sherman, Goat Medicine; GOV.UK guidance on keeping sheep and goats.
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