savingdogs
Overrun with beasties
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.
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.