Heat lamps in winter

[dcullon]

I live in R.I. and the winters can sometimes be very cold. Today it is only in the 20's and wind chill in the single didgets. I was wondering if I should put up a heat lamp in their run in barn? They seem perfectly fine but thought maybe they should have some heat sometimes? They are two nigerian dwarfs and three pygmy's.
Debbie

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I live in R.I. and the winters can sometimes be very cold. Today it is only in the 20's and wind chill in the single didgets. I was wondering if I should put up a heat lamp in their run in barn? They seem perfectly fine but thought maybe they should have some heat sometimes? They are two nigerian dwarfs and three pygmy's.
Debbie

If they're adult animals, have shelter from the rain and wind, and have plenty of forage, then I say no heat lamp.

 

[Roll farms]

I agree. I only offer heat to kids under 1 mo. old, and then only when it's under 20 degrees.

 

[freemotion]

I'm not that far from you and my five are fine. I use deeper bedding and make sure they can all get out of the wind. They will snuggle a bit, too.

I leave the door open all winter for the adult goats, they come and go as they please. The open doors face south. They can always get out of the wind and rain.

Babies get more protection, locked up at night and in very bad weather.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

this year ours havent even batted an eye - and we had a couple of subzero nites (with wind chill). as everyone else has said - get the goaties out of the wind...then figure out what works best for you.

last year our new-to-winter little gals had a complete and total breakdown. we had to have the 4H neighbor kids come over and make sure we hadnt done something terribly wrong - and then i started making inquiries for local breeders.

the best advice i got was to give a little corn, snuggle them in, and make them deal and they will get used to it. they also offered that little goats who havent experienced winter might freak out... i guess i hadnt thought of it that way - we went from somewhat nice to the arctic tundra so i guess that makes sense.

this year tho - they are as happy as clams. like Free, we give extra bedding, take them warm water 2x/day, make sure everyone has enough food and make 'em deal. we probably wont do anything different unless we get sustained subzero for several days.

one of the old timers told me (strongly) that the biggest winter mistake with livestock is not letting them get used to it - and to try and warm them by taking them inside or whatever. and he said the biggest problems are created when they are warmed, cooled, warmed, cooled etc. he also said to 'feed little and often' rather then just once a day (which we did anyway)

good luck!

 

[mavrick]

they should be fine if they're grown

 

[dkluzier]

We only use the heat lamps for newborns. The adults snuggle up and usually bed down out of the draft on their own. :/