The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: Connor on November 07, 2013, 05:24:26 pm
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Atm she has her house filled with hay and any air holes got fixed I was thinking of getting her a goat coat for during the day?
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We keep ours on a deep bed of straw and deep litter them during the winter so that helps with warming the shed.
Coats, we only use them if we have a goat off colour
If your goat is living in and you rug her during the day she will have to be rugged at night as the temperature drops at night
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YOu can of course deeplitter with sawdust/shavings..................much easier to muck out at a later date than straw. The bed builds up heat which helps . A coat is a good idea if the winter is particularly cold but it would have to stay on all the time......so 2 coats would be a good idea so one worn and the other washed.
The best type of coat would be a quilted waterproof type so your goat can come and go without getting wet. I make these coats to order and they look like mini horse rugs.......guaranteed to stay in place !!
I do rug up some of my girls/boys in the winter particularly the older ones.
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The best thing I did for my goats was to put kingspan insulation in the roof of the byre - as it only has a tin roof. And I deep litter with straw over the winter, just keep topping it up.
Ellie used to shiver and I had a quilted dog coat for her at night. Now she doesn't seem to want it, though it's there in case still. Rowan grows a really thick cashmere underlayer and has never seemed cold.
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We have 2 houses for 4 goats, one is a calf hutch the other a custom made shed with door that they can open themselves and it swings shut. This way there's no bullying of the weak ones and they all get shelter.
We give them plenty of hay TO EAT and plenty of straw or bedding to sleep in. Hay helps keep them warm on the inside. straw/bedding on the outside.
A lot seems to depend on breed and upbringing - mine are 3 Toggs (with shaggy coats ) and a saanenX. The saanenX likes to stay in the warm, the toggs stand out in the snow!
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Is she sick? I was wondering why she should need a rug. Don't block up too many holes or she will end up with pneumonia
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They are better with fresh air, but dry + no draughts, plenty of hay for their 'central heating'. They should grow nice thick coats.
I also have Toggs, (+ a BSx).
Over the back half of their pens I put boards over, makes a cosier area for them to sleep under (4' high), also makes a handy shelf for extra hay bales for insulation. Last year I ended up just leaving all the hay they pulled out onto the floor and throwing the dry onto their beds at the back, just keeping the front round the pen doors clear, heavy work cleaning out in spring though!
feeding sugar beet soaked and still warm would be welcomed, and warm water.
I made a couple of waterproof coats just to keep their backs dry and warmer if it was a cold wind but have hardly used them. (I like them to get out and have some excerise if the weather is decent).
Of course like humans different goats may feel the cold more? I just try and remember they come from Switzerland, must get fairly cold there!
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Mine shiver so we try to get them with a layer of fat on their bodies and lots of forage, to keep them warm on the inside.
We have considered coats as their shed faces north and gets no Sun.
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I use the deep litter system as well and, when it's very, very cold, I rug them at night. They also have warm water to drink and warm food to eat.
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We deep litter too, but ours never wear rugs unless they are unwell (or if they have had a bath, but that's in the Spring/summer only anyway). By not wearing a rug they should acclimatise to the cold gradually.
Beth