!ALERT! Frigid Weather Goat CareGet ready for winter folks and get your goats ready too.
Things to remember: 1. Good quality Grass hay Keeps the goats warmer than grain feedings- If you do grain, do it early in the day.. do not overload your goats on Grain- allow more hay for overnight so the goats can eat during the night keeping the rumen full and the goat warm. 2.
Offer warm water twice a day on the coldest days to encourage them to drink-add
molasses to it if you like and do not forget the boys! The wethers and
bucks need to drink as much if not more than the does to avoid UC
(Urinary Calculi) from developing. IF you use bucket heaters, run thwe cord through a section of PVC pipe to avoid chewing accidents. 3. Worms and lice can increase in population in the early winter days- so check the goats and treat as needed. 4. Good shelters do not have to be a barn- they can be 3 sided shelters with the side facing the prevailing wind closed off, Igloo dog houses, wooden boxes 5. Barns should not be airtight, if they are, it can create an environment for pneumonia to begin 6. NO Heat Lamps! These cause far too many barn fires and burned goats 7. A quick goat coat can be made from an old sweatshirt to keep the wind off the goat's back or those ski vests zipped up the back work Great! 8.Allow a build up of hay on the floor of the barn for the goats to snuggle into for body heat 9.
Watch tree limbs that may be above your shelters on windy days and
during ice storms that they do not fall on the shelter and injure the
goats 10. Try to spend time with the goats even in cold weather as
they do not understand why they won't see you much just because it's
cold, less stress on the goats = healthier goats. ;)
Use your imagination for coating your goats! Just About anything within reason can be used as long as the goat will not trip on it. Don't let them get wet , have a change of coat ready in case they do
How to make a Quick Baby Goat CoatUsing Polar Fleece Instruction Guide for making Polar Fleece Quick Sew Baby Goat Coats Instructions and photos by goatlady BUT WAIT! There's MORE!
We have a 'NO Sew Baby Goat Coat' as well offered by Deb of Hollow Tree Farm Here is an example of the coat on just the cutest newborn calf ever- BBQ Instructions and photos donated by Deb
HTH Nubians
Hollow Tree Hill Farm
Goatlady's Goats in various sweatshirts in AZ- as you can see rolling up the sleeves does not work well.. (they really need to be cut off) and if you could read the sweatshirt on the far left- you would see it is an Eddie Bauer Sweatshirt.. on my Georgie. Why Not?
SNUGGLE SAFE Pet Heating Pads
THIS is My Latest Discovery for keeping newborn or ill goats warm in the barn. This is Awesome! It is safe as long as it is covered (Put it in a pillow case folded over and under the hay) It comes with a fleece sleeve but I would not trust it to stay on in the barn. Keeps warm for 8 hours
This is simply the safest way to heat your pet’s bed. Snuggle Safe is a
disc shaped device that contains non-toxic Thermapol. Just a few
minutes in the microwave (times vary due to wattage) and you will have
all night or all day warmth for your furry friend. Simply slide it
under the bedding and it will provide safe, gentle warmth for up to 12
hours. Perfect for every kind of pet. Snuggle Safe can be used anywhere
for your pet’s bedding. Ideal for newborn, convalescing and elderly
pets.
Order From Jeffers!
Winter Precautions for our Goats Well Being It never
seems to matter whether we are newbie goat owners or seasoned goat
owners, we ALL make mistakes and sometimes these things are at the cost
of a beloved goat's life. (And believe me girls and boys, it is ALWAYS
a favorite) Three Things I want to remind everyone of this winter:
- 1. Do NOT use heat lamps in your barns, and do NOT close the goats up
completely in the barn where they cannot escape in case of the "dreaded
barn fire" .. Many of us are having kids born in winter and have our
does and newborns locked in kidding stalls or the goats locked in a
closed barn to keep them warm OR worse, using heat lamps to keep babies
or goats warm. Please don't. Even the heat lamps with guards on them
can get knocked off and start a fire and I hear far too many horror
stories each year of screaming goats and goat owners who are
hysterically watching and listening to their beloved goats die in
fires. Instead keep the barn open and maybe put low boards to keep the
ground air off the goats (so they be stepped over) ONLY if there are NO
tiny kids who wouldn't be able to step over them.. Keep a thick layer
of bedding straw of grass hay for them to lay down into and warm water
so they do not lower their body temperature drinking cold water. Grass
hay in the gut keeps them much warmer than grain, keep this in mind ,
if you feed grain feed this in the morning and grass hay in the night
feeding.
- 2. Make sure the ice is kept off the water trough
or buckets and the water level is to the top so the goats do not have
to bend way down to drink (this avoids the dreaded knocked into the
water and ice drownings that can happen. Try to keep smaller lower
water containers for the small kids and goats- more than one water bucket/trough
is good so they do not fight over who is drinking.
and the last warning .. while a not winter warning, comes in the form of a pitiful email I received just today from a very sad goat owner.
- 3. While many of use pasture the goats during the warm months - and bring the goats in for hay feeding in the cold months, DO NOT be tempted to use Hay Nets
or Bags- they are dangerous and can (More often than you would think)
hang your most beloved goat. If you have No feeders for your hay, you
are Far better off feeding on the ground than using a hay net even for
one or 2 goats.
In Loving Memory of Marcia's Sweet Tippi
Dear goatlady, PLEASE
help me get the word out to other fools like me who used a hay net to
feed their goats. We have been using one for almost a month. At 9:15
this morning I got a call from my neighbor that one of our goats
appeared to be down. I rushed to the barn and found our darling Tippi
dead. She had strangled herself in the hay net, there was little sign
of struggle, and the net wasn't very far off the ground. My husband had
been to the barn shortly before and everyone was fine. We love all
our goats, but Tippi had been ours since birth. She was born sick and
was VERY touch and go for the first month of her little life. Tippi was
our baby,having grown into a happy healthy 8 month old nubian/boer X
doe with blue eyes, who loved to be held. Every precaution had been
taken to keep our girls safe, and because of my STUPIDITY in thinking
this was a way to keep their hay clean, our precious little one is
gone. To lose any of them this way would be heartbreaking, but I'm not
coping with losing Tippi well at all, The guilt is overwhelming. I
haven't been able to stop crying since it happened. We are fairly new
to small livestock and NONE of the hay net manufacturers put out of
warnings of any kind. The site I purchased it from had them listed in
the general livestock section. Tippi paid a terrible price for my
ignorance and tears can't bring her back, but maybe someone else might
stop before making the same horrendous mistake I did if they read this. So, So Sorry.... Marcia
I
want to say to Marcia .. My heart aches for you.. I am SO Very Sorry,
and I appreciate you sharing this story with me - Beloved Tippi may
have saved another precious goat's life.
Read what I have posted on my blog about Barn Fires and tragedy
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