Preparing your goats for winter.

savingdogs

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Last winter was our first with goats. We also used the method described by Freemotion already and it worked well for us.

You don't describe what you already have in place. It is very important that they have a place to go where their hooves can dry out. We created that with a lean-to next to a building, dirt floor, with just lots of their fallen hay that had accumulated over time. Whatever they think is too stemmy to eat they drop and we just leave it, kinda like the deep litter method with chickens but they tend to it themselves! The lean-to is small enough that it is covered completely with their waste hay. The footing outside the doorway and walkways to feed them is all gravel.

You need to keep their food and hay completely dry too, not sure how much rain you get in Georgia but here it is a big deal in the Pacific Northwest. It cannot be in their enclosure or they will just play on it and ruin it all or eat what they like and trample the rest and goats are very good about getting into things.

They seem to tolerate cold pretty well and grow fluffy coats, or at least mine do and they are half nigy. They also huddle together at night to sleep and romp around on cold mornings to warm up. We did not choose to turn on a heat lamp or anything because they get into so much mischief, I would be afraid they would start a fire messing around.

The other thing not already mentioned is plan to have more food than you are currently feeding them. Ours eat so much forage in the summer they don't need much hay, but overall they seem to need more food to keep warm in winter, over and above the forage issue. They seemed to consume more minerals then, too. So stock up your supplies!
I'm new at goats but hope my perspective still helped.
 

Shiloh Acres

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()relics said:
How do I prepare my goat for winter? I go out to the pasture and tell them, " Girls its going to be getting a little cold in a month or 2" ....They stare at me with obvious disbelief as I close the gate headed back to the house....but it really doesn't get that cold here anyway....
:lol:

LOL Relics, that was funny!

I've been telling my goats/llamas/rabbits/chickens for about three weeks now "they say it's going to get cooler in two more days!" which of course was just a ploy by the weather sites to prevent local rioting with our 105 temps for almost six weeks. It finally DID cool off by ten degrees yesterday and isn't supposed to go back over 100.

Seriously, everyone, good to read. It's not that cold here, but it IS often wet. The barn appears to be prone to wet, mucky floors if it rains too much. I think the roof is reasonably good and the walls not bad. I'll have to look for holes to plug up.

I have one good-sized area for the goats, but I'm planning to section part off for a kidding stall. I guess I need to start thinking about the floor out there. I can afford to put down a deep layer of hay and let it sit till spring (and HOPE I have time to muck it out then!). I also thought of building them benches but when I tried in the past, they don't usually sleep on them. I have found them on poo and pee covered concrete, lying NEXT TO their wood benches. So I kinda doubt they'd use them on a hay-covered dirt floor in the barn.
 

jodief100

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I pretty much do the put new straw on top of old and clean it out in the spring/summer/whenever I get to it. It doesn't get too cold here but we did have snow on the ground for 5 weeks straight last winter. Normally it only sticks around a few days. I have large, three sided barn stalls and they are deep enough that it stays dry inside. I do have to be carful about condensation dripping and keep those spots dry.

I do put in a warming barrel for little ones. I have a 55 gallon plastic drum with the bottom cut off and a little baby goat door in it. There is a lamp hung in the top and the whole barrel is tired to the wall securely. The door is small enough that only the babies can get in. The little ones will hang out in it when it is cold. I have found 8 babies in it at one time, all piled up like a litter of puppies. There were two barrels available but they all wanted to hang out in one.
 

cmjust0

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churchx3 said:
cmjust0,

That sounds really familiar for some reason...I think we've already had this conversation. Or am I crazy?

Give yourself some credit! Actually when I was preparing to get my first goats I had conversation with you about this very subject. You gave me good tips which I integrated in the design/build of their goat house.
YAY! I'M NOT CRAZY!

:lol:
 

aggieterpkatie

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cmjust0 said:
aggieterpkatie said:
And about bedding....I keep bedding on top of the old bedding and form a pack. Many do this up north, and the bedding stays warm and keeps the animals warm. Come spring, clean out the pack and add it to the compost pile!
We do that, too.

Except the "Come spring" part, anyway. Here, it's more like the "come whenever we have a chance, which hasn't happened for a really long time" part.

:lol:

( :hide )
Well, yeah. :lol: I just wanted to convey that it didn't have to be cleaned out in a rush. ;)
 

churchx3

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Can someone tell me how you copy another persons question/comment in your box when you respond to them...
 

aggieterpkatie

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churchx3 said:
Can someone tell me how you copy another persons question/comment in your box when you respond to them...
Instead of hitting "post reply", just click "quote" in the bottom of the text box of the person you want to quote.

If you want to quote multiples, it's a little more work. You have to do the html [ q u o t e = the person's name here ] Then put the text here [ / q u o t e ] with no spaces.

Clear as mud? :)
 

churchx3

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aggieterpkatie said:
churchx3 said:
Can someone tell me how you copy another persons question/comment in your box when you respond to them...
Instead of hitting "post reply", just click "quote" in the bottom of the text box of the person you want to quote.

If you want to quote multiples, it's a little more work. You have to do the html [ q u o t e = the person's name here ] Then put the text here [ / q u o t e ] with no spaces.

Clear as mud? :)
Thanks so much! I feel like a "big girl" now.
 

cmjust0

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You can also put the word "quote" within square brackets, then copy whatever text you want quoted, then type "/quote" within square brackets.

That way, you can make people say whatever you want.. For instance.

churchx3 said:
My goats are better than everyone else's goats.
:p
 
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