Do you lock them up at night?

[Amp]

We are planning on a 3 sided barn for 4 Nigerian wethers. I keep wondering if they need a closed in stall to be locked in at night so nothing will get them. Maybe I'm being a little overly protective but I've never had my own goats before and I just want to protect them.

 

[Mea]

We are planning on a 3 sided barn for 4 Nigerian wethers. I keep wondering if they need a closed in stall to be locked in at night so nothing will get them. Maybe I'm being a little overly protective but I've never had my own goats before and I just want to protect them.

I do close the does in at night. Summer time we have a stock panel section that fits across the door. I simply hook that into place and remove in the morning. The does are all disbudded so really have no defence against roaming coydogs etc.

When we had the sheep... at night we would close them in a 'night pasture' close to the house for a tiny bit of protection. Again... opening the field gates in the morning.

Ja... i'm a bit over-protective.....

 

[20kidsonhill]

We don't, infact, we lock them out of the barn from spring to fall. I don't like cleaning barns out.

It really depends on your fencing situation and your preditors in your area. We have never had a problem Knock on Wood. We have calf huts up in the field for rain, but they often don't even use those.

 

[Emmetts Dairy]

I have a large barn where they live at night. I leave a small 1/2 door open for them year round. I worry about barn fires so I want them to have an escape door just in case. But in the summertime when warmer weather comes I leave the large door open all the time. It depends on where you live and what your weather is...and what kind of prey you have around.

 

[vegaburm]

Being as though they are NIgerians, they are pretty small, and therefore more vulnerable to predators. You need to know the risks. Where I am we don't have coyotes, but there are often stray dogs. It would depend on how much I trusted my fence! We have two Nigerian does and 3 1 month old kids. They get locked in every night. I don't want to take risks with them. The breeder I got them from does not do that, but she also has two livestock guardian dogs. So, I guess it just depends on how much you trust you defences!

 

[Amp]

I live in Alabama and even though I've never seen one my Dad says there are Coyotes around. We will have them in a 38 by 100 ft fenced in area but they will be let out in the pasture (10+ acres) daily to graze and brought back in at night. They will be in the 38 by 100 ft area at night so I will work on making that fencing as secure as we can.

 

[carolinagirl]

I lock my sheep in a paddock area closer to the house at night. We have not had any problems this time around with stock, but a couple of years ago we had all of our goats killed one night by stray/neighbor's dogs. So I am a little paranoid right now.

 

[SuburbanFarmChic]

Two words... Barn Fire.


I NEVER lock anybody in anywhere. They have access to the outside from their shelter at all times. We are in a more suburban location though and I have to deal less with coyotes etc but they are in the area. And we've had bears about 5 miles away. I still don't lock them up. Even my kidding stall has a dog door out the back to a cattle pannel looped to make a small run.

 

[Rhondax6]

We don't lock our two small goats up at night but they go in their house to sleep on their own.

 

[elevan]

Risk of barn fire is why I don't lock mine up. Our llama (guard) sleeps in the doorway, so I'm not worried about predators.