I'm wondering if those of you who have Nigerians in cold climates could help me out with some winterizing advice? I've added some pictures of my barn to my photos so you can see what it looks like now. The goats share a fairly large indoor space. Right now I have a few areas with straw/hay on them, but the rest of the floor is bare cement. I like it this way as I can sweep up berries from the bare floor once or twice a day, and I don't use so much straw. I'm wondering if I'll have to cover the entire floor for warmth this winter. What else would you experienced cold weather goat owners suggest? Thanks!
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It makes perfect since to me. When Deborah pointed out to me that the deep bedding was warmer than the pallets, I understood what she meant. It was very logical , but my next thought was exactly what you just said, so there is two of us thinking of combining the two ideas together. I like it and believe it would be the best of both worlds. It would allow any urine, milk etc to get even further away from them than just the bedding, but still provide the deep bedding also. I like very much Chaverah. I am going to stuff pallets with bedding and then cover them with bedding this year and leave them through the winter for beds!
It gets quite cold here too, about the same as what you are describing. We have had low 30s three times already this fall. We also do the layered bedding over the winter. Another thing you might consider is getting a couple of pallets for the goats to lay on. It will elevate them a little bit, the pellets can slip through and you could put hay under them before you lay them down and then layer it over the winter on top of them... don't know if that makes sense!??
Thanks Patty, You did a great job recapping that and it is so interesting to see how all the advice comes together to help with decisions and what the end result turns out like. It really sounds like you did a great job too and have it down to a science now.
I did not have my herd during our long, about a month, of winter last year so I am not sure what I will do but it won't have to be much. Probably a few pieces of skirting under my storage building that they like to lay under and a bunch of bedding and they will be fine. We don't have a barn as yet, don't really need one, right now where we live. I do have one of those cool storage buildings that look like little barns, built by the mennonnites(love it), when they delivered it I had them block it about three feet off the ground. Not sure why I wanted it so high but I just did for some reason. I guess God had me preparing for a herd of goats back then too. I just didn't know. It is 12x32, so it is big and they all love it under there. It seems a comfy height to them without wasted ceiling space that they don't need. They seem to feel secure like that and it is plenty farenough off the ground for us to see or rake and clean up under or even crawl under if needed. I discovered this summer that it was very cool under there. I would crawl under to stash hay for them to snack on or sleep in and wow it would feel like walking in a root celler. I told hubby I could just lay under here and visit with them for all I cared, it was cool compared to the 100 degrees outside.
I was looking at the picture of Deborah Painchaud' barn a while ago thinking yea where she lives that is a great barn. It's like an island get a way vacation for a goat, to cute. Lucky goat I always wanted to go there when I was little. And that goat gets to live there, not fair! pout pout! lol!
The coffee table milk stand is working well, but definitely needs the strips of...whatever the grippy, sand papery tape is called. :) I have actually been thinking about attaching a rubber mat to the top of it because their hooves slip on the areas where there's no tape, and it's slippery for them when it gets wet.It's also hard to wash off...but I still love it!
Last winter went really well. I didn't even have electricity in the barn then, so this winter will be an improvement. The barn hovered around 25 to 35 degrees for most of the winter. It is insulated, but there are plenty of cracks in the foundation and I kept a window cracked open and also opened the door every day. The water in the rubber buckets I use didn't freeze for most of the winter. I just brought a new bucket of warm water to them every morning and evening. They did great! :) I used a deep bedding that I let build up on the floor all winter. I cleaned the barn for the last time in October sometime, and then again at the beginning of April. That's over FOUR MONTHS! Maybe even five. I thought it would be awful by then, but it was fine. It had built up pretty deep (about a foot) by the end of the winter and was quite a hard job to clean, but it didn't smell awful or anything. Besides letting the bedding build up, I also put a couple of straw bales on the floor for them to rest on. They seemed to like that a lot, so I think I'll do it again this year.
I don't think I would have had to start building the deep bedding as soon as I did, maybe not until November sometime. They seem able to tolerate quite a bit of cold, but not the wind. I think this year I'll be generous with the straw and not clean as often from now until some time in November, but I'll clean the barn completely sometime in November for the last time.
I may get a heated water bucket, but maybe not. The water was never really an issue last winter. We're about as cold as most people would see in a winter, so I hope this helps everyone. :)
Margaret Langley said:
Patty, I just realized what the base of your milk stand is, and I gotta tell you , that is so cool! Those are not usually hard to find at yard sales, thrift stores etc. great idea, I just love it! I would like to find one with a drawer under it to put things in, that would be cool! Since this was started before last winter,I am curious about how your winter plans worked for you and if there were things that you have found needed improvements for this winter!
It's warmer if they can sleep on a thick bed of straw because it will insulate them from the ground.
Margaret Langley said:
Does it help to have things for them to get on, off the floor, like pallets with wood on top so they can actually sleep on a raised area or spools inside the barn for this?
This is a cool idea, but don't put it in an area where there are also adults. I've tried things like this before, and the adults will jump on them, and they'll collapse. Of course, the kids jump on them too, but they're not as heavy, so it's not a big deal if a kid falls on top of another kid.
Deborah Flint said:
when it comes to nigerians I have found that those inexpensive totes in the dollar stores you can cut a hole in one end (with a hot knife) and turn upside down for the little ones helps with drafts and gives them a safe place to sleep.
Patty, I just realized what the base of your milk stand is, and I gotta tell you , that is so cool! Those are not usually hard to find at yard sales, thrift stores etc. great idea, I just love it! I would like to find one with a drawer under it to put things in, that would be cool! Since this was started before last winter,I am curious about how your winter plans worked for you and if there were things that you have found needed improvements for this winter!
Hi, I would defiantly put rubber mats over those concrete floors. And bed with straw. Letting it build up over the winter helps too. I don't strip out my goat pens as often in the winter.
About the water - some time ago my middle son suggested rope light for heating under seedlings. Specifically, he suggested running it through a thick layer of sand so the rope warms the sand which in turn would keep the soil warm in the starter pots. I've been thinking something like this would work well for heating the goats' water. Use a larger bucket or tub to put the sand in running the rope lighting through the sand. Because I am always paranoid about things like that, I would put the rope inside PVC piping to help ensure there would be no punctures. Place one bucket in the tub, lay the pipe/rope light around it, layer of sand, more pipe/rope light, more sand. Keep that bucket in the tub all the time and put the water bucket inside it. The first bucket keeps the sand in place while you refresh the water in the water bucket.
Since he told me about the rope light, I have seriously considered making something like this for my hens' water but using the vermiculite concrete mix so it would be permanent but not too heavy to move around.
As he pointed out to me, it is low wattage but continuous warmth. I'm considering asking him to make something so he has some practical home application to use his engineering skills - not as impressive as what he does for a living but certainly every day practical.<g>
Does it help to have things for them to get on, off the floor, like pallets with wood on top so they can actually sleep on a raised area or spools inside the barn for this?
Replies
It makes perfect since to me. When Deborah pointed out to me that the deep bedding was warmer than the pallets, I understood what she meant. It was very logical , but my next thought was exactly what you just said, so there is two of us thinking of combining the two ideas together. I like it and believe it would be the best of both worlds. It would allow any urine, milk etc to get even further away from them than just the bedding, but still provide the deep bedding also. I like very much Chaverah. I am going to stuff pallets with bedding and then cover them with bedding this year and leave them through the winter for beds!
It gets quite cold here too, about the same as what you are describing. We have had low 30s three times already this fall. We also do the layered bedding over the winter. Another thing you might consider is getting a couple of pallets for the goats to lay on. It will elevate them a little bit, the pellets can slip through and you could put hay under them before you lay them down and then layer it over the winter on top of them... don't know if that makes sense!??
Thanks Patty, You did a great job recapping that and it is so interesting to see how all the advice comes together to help with decisions and what the end result turns out like. It really sounds like you did a great job too and have it down to a science now.
I did not have my herd during our long, about a month, of winter last year so I am not sure what I will do but it won't have to be much. Probably a few pieces of skirting under my storage building that they like to lay under and a bunch of bedding and they will be fine. We don't have a barn as yet, don't really need one, right now where we live. I do have one of those cool storage buildings that look like little barns, built by the mennonnites(love it), when they delivered it I had them block it about three feet off the ground. Not sure why I wanted it so high but I just did for some reason. I guess God had me preparing for a herd of goats back then too. I just didn't know. It is 12x32, so it is big and they all love it under there. It seems a comfy height to them without wasted ceiling space that they don't need. They seem to feel secure like that and it is plenty farenough off the ground for us to see or rake and clean up under or even crawl under if needed. I discovered this summer that it was very cool under there. I would crawl under to stash hay for them to snack on or sleep in and wow it would feel like walking in a root celler. I told hubby I could just lay under here and visit with them for all I cared, it was cool compared to the 100 degrees outside.
I was looking at the picture of Deborah Painchaud' barn a while ago thinking yea where she lives that is a great barn. It's like an island get a way vacation for a goat, to cute. Lucky goat I always wanted to go there when I was little. And that goat gets to live there, not fair! pout pout! lol!
Hey Margaret,
The coffee table milk stand is working well, but definitely needs the strips of...whatever the grippy, sand papery tape is called. :) I have actually been thinking about attaching a rubber mat to the top of it because their hooves slip on the areas where there's no tape, and it's slippery for them when it gets wet.It's also hard to wash off...but I still love it!
Last winter went really well. I didn't even have electricity in the barn then, so this winter will be an improvement. The barn hovered around 25 to 35 degrees for most of the winter. It is insulated, but there are plenty of cracks in the foundation and I kept a window cracked open and also opened the door every day. The water in the rubber buckets I use didn't freeze for most of the winter. I just brought a new bucket of warm water to them every morning and evening. They did great! :) I used a deep bedding that I let build up on the floor all winter. I cleaned the barn for the last time in October sometime, and then again at the beginning of April. That's over FOUR MONTHS! Maybe even five. I thought it would be awful by then, but it was fine. It had built up pretty deep (about a foot) by the end of the winter and was quite a hard job to clean, but it didn't smell awful or anything. Besides letting the bedding build up, I also put a couple of straw bales on the floor for them to rest on. They seemed to like that a lot, so I think I'll do it again this year.
I don't think I would have had to start building the deep bedding as soon as I did, maybe not until November sometime. They seem able to tolerate quite a bit of cold, but not the wind. I think this year I'll be generous with the straw and not clean as often from now until some time in November, but I'll clean the barn completely sometime in November for the last time.
I may get a heated water bucket, but maybe not. The water was never really an issue last winter. We're about as cold as most people would see in a winter, so I hope this helps everyone. :)
Margaret Langley said:
It's warmer if they can sleep on a thick bed of straw because it will insulate them from the ground.
Margaret Langley said:
This is a cool idea, but don't put it in an area where there are also adults. I've tried things like this before, and the adults will jump on them, and they'll collapse. Of course, the kids jump on them too, but they're not as heavy, so it's not a big deal if a kid falls on top of another kid.
Deborah Flint said:
Patty, I just realized what the base of your milk stand is, and I gotta tell you , that is so cool! Those are not usually hard to find at yard sales, thrift stores etc. great idea, I just love it! I would like to find one with a drawer under it to put things in, that would be cool! Since this was started before last winter,I am curious about how your winter plans worked for you and if there were things that you have found needed improvements for this winter!
Hi, I would defiantly put rubber mats over those concrete floors. And bed with straw. Letting it build up over the winter helps too. I don't strip out my goat pens as often in the winter.
About the water - some time ago my middle son suggested rope light for heating under seedlings. Specifically, he suggested running it through a thick layer of sand so the rope warms the sand which in turn would keep the soil warm in the starter pots. I've been thinking something like this would work well for heating the goats' water. Use a larger bucket or tub to put the sand in running the rope lighting through the sand. Because I am always paranoid about things like that, I would put the rope inside PVC piping to help ensure there would be no punctures. Place one bucket in the tub, lay the pipe/rope light around it, layer of sand, more pipe/rope light, more sand. Keep that bucket in the tub all the time and put the water bucket inside it. The first bucket keeps the sand in place while you refresh the water in the water bucket.
Since he told me about the rope light, I have seriously considered making something like this for my hens' water but using the vermiculite concrete mix so it would be permanent but not too heavy to move around.
As he pointed out to me, it is low wattage but continuous warmth. I'm considering asking him to make something so he has some practical home application to use his engineering skills - not as impressive as what he does for a living but certainly every day practical.<g>
Does it help to have things for them to get on, off the floor, like pallets with wood on top so they can actually sleep on a raised area or spools inside the barn for this?
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