So the forecast here in Maine is calling for -30 degrees!! I am getting REALLY nervous now about the goats living in igloos. I feel as though Im being neglectful! They are PACKED full of straw and the goats seem to be warm. The igloos are free from wind for the most part. They are positioned behind my house covered in snow! They are turned towards each other w/ enough room to go in and out. I bring them boiling water a few times a day which they love!! They also have EXTRA hay in the igloos to munch on at all times! The snow insulates them so much that during one storm their water never froze!
I havent really worried until now. The weather coming is so COLD. ANy ideas on what I can do for these couple of days? I almost want to bring them in my basement... Im just afraid they will get into something and eat something they shouldn't.
I may just do it anyway!
Replies
Cassandra said:
Thank you guys!! I guess I just needed a few reassurances. I love these lil guys and hope to do the best buy them. They were very happy this morning jumping and head-butting and running about. Screamming bloody murder when they saw me coming w/ hot water this morning! LOL! They are eating well and very fluffy w/ nice winter coats!
I remember reading before I got these guys about how well they handle the elements. It was one of the reasons we ended up getting them before any type of barn went up. But when I put them to bed at night I can't help not to feel bad for them!!
Maine is getting hit w/ a REAL winter this year and its beginning to feel long! For my animals and I. We lost a Muscuvy duck a few days ago during a snow storm because it chose to hang out on the road (a very rural road!) instead of its warm coop? The other two ducks keep visiting the sight of the accident!! (How sad!) But thats another story!
We are planning to build something small in the spring for the goats and maybe the ducks (they live w/ the chickens now) If anyone would like to share a picture of their barns it would be appreciated!!! Im not sure if there is already a post w/ pics ? If there is a link to that would also be fine!! Thanks again for the replies I feel much better!
Peace & Love,
Cassandra and her Chaotic Clan!
We just went through a few days of -30F temps here on the Canadian Prairies (windchill took it to -50F, but the goats are in barns so it doesn't get to them). Our girls are in one barn and the temperature in there seemed pretty decent (i.e. warmer than -30), but the boys (one buck and one wether) are in one really big barn and I'd be surprised if it went above -30 in there. They did fine. I have started giving the buck grain as he was getting skinny (he was dewormed about a month ago so I'm sure it was just the cold weather), but other than that the two of them huddled up against straw bales together and did fine. I do think that maybe I should haul a doghouse in there so that they do have a smaller space that would hold heat better, but they managed without it.
Our goats survived -16 F just fine two years ago. The only one who was bothered was the one giving birth. She was shivering so badly that I cut the arms off one of my sweatshirts and put it on her, and she was fine. It was a challenge to keep the newborn kids' ears from freezing, but I won't get into that since you have adults.
If the igloos are small, and the wind is not whipping into them, they are probably much warmer there than if they were in a big barn, because their body heat warms up the small space. If their water didn't freeze, that tells you a lot. You didn't say how cold it was, but if it was 0, that means it was at least 32 degrees warmer in the igloo. If snow is piled up on it, that helps. The outside temperature really is irrelevant. If you're worried, stick a thermometer in there and see what it says. Our temps regularly get below zero here, and I'm sorry to say it is only about 10 degrees warmer in the barn when the sun is up. At night, there is no difference.
Here's an example -- Athena had kids a week ago, and although there is a heat lamp in the kidding pen, her kids prefer to go into the dog crate that is in there. We put it in there to separate the kids from mom so we could milk her, but ever since the first time we put them in there, they prefer it to the heat lamp.
On a slightly related note -- we have low tunnels to grow salad greens through the winter, and the man who wrote the BOOK on winter harvesting is from Maine. Unless you have four or five days of -20 temperatures with no sun, you can grow salad greens in a low tunnel, because the sun heats them up every day, and the ground never freezes in the low tunnel -- which is only a sheet of 4 mil plastic with row covers on the greens.
Hej from Sweden,
We have 6 lovely goats here in Sweden. We have had some very low temperatures here, this winter -22 and -24. Our girls are in for the most part during the winters here. They were out today for just a few hours in the cold and sun. They were brought in when the snow began to fall again. They are never out during the winter for any length of time. I am just a bit worried to allow this. They are quite happy to come out and stretch their legs running and jumping, but soon are ready to come hoe to their warm cozy boxes in our stable block.
I have heard that some people have goats out all year round. Hopefully someone on this site who does that can lend some useful advice. I too would like to know about what is the best way to handle these frigid winter temperatures and our little loved ones.
KSweden