Publication geared toward city dwellers
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — City of Fort Collins residents are interested in local
food production. Really local. As in, their backyards.
In response, the Fort Collins City Council on July 16 adopted
revisions to an ordinance governing urban agriculture, tweaking language
related to beekeeping and ownership of backyard ducks and chickens. For the
first time, the ordinance also allows city dwellers to raise goats as pets or
for milk or fiber production.
In an effort to promote best practices in health and husbandry,
the Colorado State University Veterinary Extension team has published a
nine-page booklet, titled “Healthy Living with Goats: An Overview of Health
Issues for the Backyard Farmer.” It is available online for free reading and
downloading at http://csuvth.colostate.edu/livestock/pubs/healthy-living-with-goats/index.html.
The booklet, authored by CSU veterinarians Ragan Adams and David
Van Metre, is meant to help backyard farmers understand the risks and
responsibilities of raising goats.
The CSU booklet and a publication called the “Goat Resource
Handbook,” published by The Ohio State University Extension, are the primary
references on which a test required for city of Fort Collins goat ownership is
based.
“We are pleased to work closely with the Fort Collins city staff
and with the Larimer Humane Society to promote sound husbandry and
animal-welfare practices that ensure good health for backyard goats, their
owners, and neighbors,” said Adams, coordinator of the CSU Veterinary Extension
team.
“We hope to help people understand what they’re getting into
before they decide to acquire backyard goats,” Adams said. “People interested
in urban agriculture need reliable, science-based information to avoid animal
and human health concerns, neighborhood nuisance problems, and creation of an
unwanted goat population.”
“Healthy Living with Goats” provides unbiased information and
includes references to a number of other research-based publications. Among
other important issues, the booklet notes:
• City of Fort Collins residents must receive permits from the
Larimer Humane Society in order to raise goats;
• Permits are issued after
residents have demonstrated knowledge of proper management, have proof of
rabies vaccination, and have undergone site inspections, providing goat housing
according to ordinance specifications;
• Only female or castrated male goats
will be permitted in city limits;
• The goats must be kept in pairs, and they
must be either Nigerian Dwarf or African Pygmy breeds.
The booklet also offers a critical reality check for city
dwellers who want to own goats for milk production: Like any other mammal,
female goats must give birth to produce milk. That means Fort Collins goat
farmers must be prepared to find homes for babies or adult goats over the
strict backyard population limit of two.
Moreover, females managed for milking will produce for several
consecutive months. As the CSU primer notes, milking “takes a lot of time and
daily, consistent effort.”
The pamphlet also provides information about veterinary
concerns, including zoonotic diseases, or those that can be passed from animals
to humans and vice versa.
“Our booklet gives Fort Collins residents an overview of health
and management issues that will help them determine whether they are interested
in the complexities of backyard goat farming,” Adams said. “I hope it paves the
way for urban farming that is healthful and rewarding.”
