Absolute minimum is 5 acres, and you should expect to supplement the grass. Better would be 10-20, as that way you can have 3 or more grazing areas and change over as soom as one looks poorly, not having to wait until the initial one has re-grown. Goats like browse, so unless the trees are fairly tall, they might get eaten, and if the trunks slope they will get climbed. However, since they are something to eat - and if you fence off the trunks so the goats can't chew the bark - I would think the goats would be happy having shrubs or trees to browse on and to give shelter. Just be SURE none of them are toxic - I don't know what is bad for goats, but googling will probably bring up a list.

It's almost impossible to give a hard and fast timetable for rotating - it all depends on the grass regrowth, and that depends on rain. I would say that when the one pasture is looking short - grazed down to a couple of inches, then it's time to move them. In the rapid growth periods, this may be longer than in the dryer periods. Google for rotational grazing or rotational pasture management, and I am sure you will get more details. If you get really good grass growth, you might leave one area out of the rotation and let it stockpile for haying or for winter grazing - saving on your hay bill.

You will need to have a way to get water to all pastures, and, if the trees aren't thick, build some sort of shelter from wind, rain and the hottest sun. Gates need to be handy to switch pastures without escapes, and also be big enough for a tractor to bush-hog and to bring feed or fencing materials as needed. Plan accordingly.

Regarding zoning, most counties have other zoning that allows livestock operation beside agricultural. In our county the Rural zone allows it. So you'll have more options in areas to look at. We rotate our goats through 5 paddocks which total 1.25 acres. In our dry summers they (one buck and 4 wethers) are in each paddock about 1 week. When we had the buck and four does + kids we split it into 9 paddocks and moved them every couple of days. That required more fertilization and irrigation. But I don't think two rotating pens are enough. How you do it will come by trial and error and in the long run you will come up with a system that works for you. How much land? That has to be a balance. For the activities you mention there will be a minimum but OTOH for taking care of it all there's a maximum. We started off with 40 acres and over 30 years cut it down to 5. That allows us to have all you want to do except hay. But now as retirement nears for my wife we're building on 2 1/2 acres because that's all the land we want to take care of. Good Luck! Tom

We have 40 acres thats nice.Our home is in the middle,we havehorses,longhorns,chickens,pond,stream,woods,fields.
Just enough.....

I'm heading for retirement too but my feelings are just the opposite of Tom's. We are on 5 acres now and if I were to move again I'd like to have about 50 acres and put my house smack dab in the middle of it.

I have 20 acres, it's my now & forever home. I've been here 10 years, and plan on another 30 - 40.

My home is on the edge of my acreage, close to the road. living in the frozen North, we have to deal with snow. And I'm VERY glad I don't have a long driveway to plow AND maintain. Please consider that cost when thinking about where your house will be.

I have 3 mini donkeys on 2 acres and supplement the grass with hay.

You might want to look at the zoning laws to see if you can declare agricultural zoning. In some areas, it really cuts your property taxes dramatically. In our area of SC, you have to have 5 acres, plus an acre for the house, so 6 acres total to get ag zoning.

The clean & green is good.You have to agree not to sell off your land.We have it