[goosepimple]

My girlies have nice country padded dog coats with velcro at the front breast area and a strap which goes on the underside, nice and cosy.  I only put them on when I'm expecting it to be really cold / frost / snow.  They make a bit of fuss getting them on but if it's done whilst eating they're fine about it.
 
What do you do?

[Bumblebear]

Chuck another bale of straw in 

[plumseverywhere]

same as Bumblebear 

All 4 of mine had sheds to go into if they choose/need to but they adore the snow! Its funny because Reggie will stand out waiting for snow and then stick his tongue out to catch flakes. I was really worried 2 years ago that he loved the snow so much but when I spoke to Fay Ogden (Togg breeder) she said its quite common and all of hers love it too. I think coats are good for certain breeds though or poorly goats - oh and our winters here won't be half as cold or harsh as yours probably are.

[jinglejoys]

Same as BB and I let them grow their own coats which they can't do if they have a coat on

[NormandyMary]

Billy and Toby now have their winter coats, either that or they are both pregnant as they've got huge! Ive never given a thought to putting coats on them to be honest, so Ill be interested in hearing what others say. The boys managed last year without them though so I think they will be okay. I only worry about them at night, although they do have loads of hay in their house.

[Lesley Silvester]

Same as Goosepimple but they only have their coats on at night so they still grow their winter coats.

[Brucklay]

We don't do coats either - just their natural shaggy growth grow. The way my pygmy's nibble things I don't think a coat would last long.


I do make sure they have plenty of bedding to snuggle into though - which they add to with the hay they waste.

[goosepimple]

Oh, looks like Mad and me are a bit sappy then.....I put their coats on last night and it's very frosty this morning, coldest yet I think, white everywhere.  Our pygmies don't seem to nibble them.  They are getting their winter coats in too but a couple of ours are getting on a bit so I think it's ok to give them the extra blanket at night.
 
Lovely photo Jinglejoys - looks like a Christmas card, I tried to get it bigger but I can't, it looks lovely.

[fiestyredhead331]

ours all have waterproof winter coats but we only put them on when we get a really cold or wet day. How often they will have them on this winter will depend on what kind of weather we get I suppose. 

[Brucklay]

No GP, I don't think your sappy - when my girlies get older I can quite see me making fleeces for them, individually hand crafted while I'm going about in tat 

[jaykay]

Ellie used to have a padded dog coat, cos she shivered badly during the -18C winter three years ago. She has quite a short, sleek coat for an Old English. Rowan's coat is so thick you can bury your whole hand in it 

However, since I've insulated the goat byre roof she hasn't seemed to need it and hasn't worn it for the past two years, despite last winter being another -18C one.

[ballingall]

Ours don't wear goats unless they are sick, or they've had a bath. But they don't get baths in winter anyway. If we had hard enough ground here that I was able to put them out in winter, I might give them coats to wear outside. Even two years ago in the -18 no one was in coats.


Beth

[jaykay]

Mine were outside in that, with no coats. But I thought they could move about to keep warm. It was when they were sleeping I was worried about. Hence the Kingspan in the roof which seems to have done the trick.

[Marsbar]

The wife asked me if we needed to get our lads some coats just this morning, but they seem to have grown their own winter coat.


Richard

[plumseverywhere]

One of mine actually changes colour every winter! She goes from being bright white to black and white - its quite surprising how different their 'winter' coats are. Not only fluffier but much denser. The Toggs are very densely coated now