[Declan]

Hi,
I have an 8ft x 8ft x 6ft high galvanised pen (typically for dogs)that I have sheeted with tongue and grooved timber about 3/4 of the way up- although I can clad it the whole way up if necessary) It has a tin type roof on it. I have loads of room in the back field- currently being used by the  a dozen hens and 2 zwartable ewes.
Will this type of house construction suit goats/pygmy goats. I know it should more than suffice for summer but i am worried that it might not be warm enough in the winter.  I am reading up on the whole thing currently but i find the advice given on here is more accurate/useful as it covers a number of opinions and not just the authors.
All comments will be greatly appreciated.

Declan

[Anke]

I would be a bit worried about condensation from the roof, and you should make sure that there is enough ventilation above head height (for goats), so that they dont start to cough. Goats can stand quite a lot of cold as long as there are no drafts and no damp. I had snow blown into my goat house through the louvre ventilation this winter and it stayed for quite a few days... Goats were fine.
8 by 8 should be big enough for two goats, more for pygmies I guess.

[langdon]

anke at the mo the door to the goats shed is the bottom half  of a stable door,
the top half had been missing when we moved in(not the shed the house).
is this to much of an opening or is it ok

[Roxy]

Most of my goats are housed with just the bottom half of the stable door.  I prefer to let fresh air in, there are no draughts at the bottom obvously as the door is there .....and also they stand up on their back legs to look out.

I have a tin roof on my barn where some of the goats are, although thats quite high, but do not have a condensation problem.

[ballingall]

Hi Declan,

We generally have the top half of our stable door open as well. Would be good to check if any rain blows in if its particularly wet and windy, but it should be ok. The metal might be a bit cold, but if you deep litter them (give them lots of straw and only muck out every 2-3 months) then it shouldn't be too bad. I might be tempted to put a wood inner lining on, but that might depend how much extra room it would take up, and how much it would cost too!.

Our old property, which we moved away from about 5 years ago, was originally a fever hospital built in 1912. Therefore it was constructed with brick foundations, corrugated iron, and then internally lined with a double skin of wood panelling. Our house itself was the matron and nurses accomodation, but we had a cookhouse and 2 wards as well, and we kept goats in the cook house (and wards sometime) for well over 30 years. The problem with internal wood lining, is that the goats tend to chew it. We didn't have a problem with condensation.


Beth

[Anke]

Langdon, if you have got your goats through this last winter with the bottom door only you are fine! Mine have an inner mesh door (double width), and its open during the day, with outer wooden shutters for nighttime.

[langdon]

thanks roxy we got a coggragated(spelling?) sheet roof on ours,
glad to know that door is ok, even in the winter would just the bottom half be good enough or
do i need to add the other half.
thanks roxy