Keeping water and food clean

Julie Quilligan January 25, 2011 at 10:27pm

We have 20 gallon heated water buckets in the stalls in our barn currently and use the same size non heated buckets during the warmer months. Solved the problem of pooping in the water bucket in one of the doe's pens recently by putting a tire under the bucket and raising it up slightly. Even the shortest doe in the stall can stand with her front feet on the tire and reach the water. Now we need to drop by the tire store and pick up some more used tires for the other pens!

Adrienne January 24, 2011 at 7:34pm

You're right, that one would work better for the house. Thanks!

PlayRite Farm said:

this one might work better on cattle panels

http://www.hoeggergoatsupply.com/xcart/product.php?productid=3079&a... it is just the newborns that you really have to worry about falling into the water buckets, because they have a hard time controlling the bounce, they just bounce everywhere..lol..but when they are old enough to join the herd. they should be ok with a small water bucket like you have,, a large mineral tub might be a different story

Adrienne said:

Thank you for the suggestions! I could take the tarp off their house, and I think we have another one around here somewhere. That should allow for most of the porch area to be covered. They spent their first two weeks here on the porch. I put their bedding near where the water is now, but they refused to sleep on it. In fact whenever they are on the porch they refuse to sleep anywhere else whether or not it has bedding LOL. The whole farm likes the front porch... If they were all pets I would be inclined to let them stay there all the time. This area will be my milking area after the kids and moms go back to their houses. The bucket holder is a good idea, and would work on the porch, but not in their house made of cattle panel and tarp. I had a different house where it might have worked, but I ditched it in favor of the cattle panel house because I can move it without help. If I could get David to build me a chicken tractor made from these things I would be in heaven.

PlayRite Farm said:

I like that you can bring them to the porch, i wish i could. about the only think i would worry about is your water, can you have your huband build you a corner shelf a bucket holder as seen in this ad

http://www.hoeggergoatsupply.com/xcart/product.php?productid=4456&a...

I think about the only other thing i would do is put a tarp down on the floor or a heavy painters cloth and fill it with straw bedding, so that way it doesn't matter where they kid .. the straw bedding would also encourage them to lay and sleep in it. they really like the softness of it. ,

Your hay and mineral feeder look really good, and if it works for you then that is all that matters.. I have seen wooden squirrel feeders attached to the wall as mineral feeders too,

Adrienne said:

I forgot an up close view of the mineral feeder. They have their regular minerals in the top corner, Baking soda diagonal to that, and I put put Onyx 2-3 days a week and just put the lid on it and store it in the feed closet at the end of that day. The news paper on the bottom helps with cleaning it because their mouths are moist the minerals seem to get stick in the bottom, and are hard to clean off. They have only tipped it once, and that time was interesting because when I left I filled it and when I came back the piles were perfect on the ground and the whole assembly was upright... I do not know how that happened.
Adrienne said:

These are pictures of our basic setup. Their house is smaller, but I made my front porch the kidding area so that I can lock them up at night. This way I can hear them, and get out there really fast. We hang the hay feeder with wires to their house in the pen.

Here you can see Indiana and the water bucket. Usually nothing gets in it, but we check on them a lot so we can refill it if we need to.

Indiana eating from the mineral feeder. I prepared the area for kidding which should take place in the next few days...that is why it looks wet there.

Isabel Eating from the hay feeder... you can see how far apart things are here. The mineral feeder is on the other side of that wall on the left in the corner. The bowls are how we give them grain in the evenings. We keep them in the feed closet when not in use. When we start milking we will probably only give them what they get on the milk stand or find some other easy and cheap alternative for the other goats.

This is the bed area. There is more bedding there than it looks. We add more almost every day and they always spread it around themselves. The feed bags are to help pick up the mess when they kid. God willing they will do it there. If not...oh well.

This was taken from the bedding area.

Adrienne January 24, 2011 at 11:09am

Thank you for the suggestions! I could take the tarp off their house, and I think we have another one around here somewhere. That should allow for most of the porch area to be covered. They spent their first two weeks here on the porch. I put their bedding near where the water is now, but they refused to sleep on it. In fact whenever they are on the porch they refuse to sleep anywhere else whether or not it has bedding LOL. The whole farm likes the front porch... If they were all pets I would be inclined to let them stay there all the time. This area will be my milking area after the kids and moms go back to their houses. The bucket holder is a good idea, and would work on the porch, but not in their house made of cattle panel and tarp. I had a different house where it might have worked, but I ditched it in favor of the cattle panel house because I can move it without help. If I could get David to build me a chicken tractor made from these things I would be in heaven.

PlayRite Farm said:

I like that you can bring them to the porch, i wish i could. about the only think i would worry about is your water, can you have your huband build you a corner shelf a bucket holder as seen in this ad

http://www.hoeggergoatsupply.com/xcart/product.php?productid=4456&a...

I think about the only other thing i would do is put a tarp down on the floor or a heavy painters cloth and fill it with straw bedding, so that way it doesn't matter where they kid .. the straw bedding would also encourage them to lay and sleep in it. they really like the softness of it. ,

Your hay and mineral feeder look really good, and if it works for you then that is all that matters.. I have seen wooden squirrel feeders attached to the wall as mineral feeders too,

Adrienne said:

I forgot an up close view of the mineral feeder. They have their regular minerals in the top corner, Baking soda diagonal to that, and I put put Onyx 2-3 days a week and just put the lid on it and store it in the feed closet at the end of that day. The news paper on the bottom helps with cleaning it because their mouths are moist the minerals seem to get stick in the bottom, and are hard to clean off. They have only tipped it once, and that time was interesting because when I left I filled it and when I came back the piles were perfect on the ground and the whole assembly was upright... I do not know how that happened.
Adrienne said:

These are pictures of our basic setup. Their house is smaller, but I made my front porch the kidding area so that I can lock them up at night. This way I can hear them, and get out there really fast. We hang the hay feeder with wires to their house in the pen.

Here you can see Indiana and the water bucket. Usually nothing gets in it, but we check on them a lot so we can refill it if we need to.

Indiana eating from the mineral feeder. I prepared the area for kidding which should take place in the next few days...that is why it looks wet there.

Isabel Eating from the hay feeder... you can see how far apart things are here. The mineral feeder is on the other side of that wall on the left in the corner. The bowls are how we give them grain in the evenings. We keep them in the feed closet when not in use. When we start milking we will probably only give them what they get on the milk stand or find some other easy and cheap alternative for the other goats.

This is the bed area. There is more bedding there than it looks. We add more almost every day and they always spread it around themselves. The feed bags are to help pick up the mess when they kid. God willing they will do it there. If not...oh well.

This was taken from the bedding area.

Adrienne January 24, 2011 at 12:02am

I forgot an up close view of the mineral feeder. They have their regular minerals in the top corner, Baking soda diagonal to that, and I put put Onyx 2-3 days a week and just put the lid on it and store it in the feed closet at the end of that day. The news paper on the bottom helps with cleaning it because their mouths are moist the minerals seem to get stick in the bottom, and are hard to clean off. They have only tipped it once, and that time was interesting because when I left I filled it and when I came back the piles were perfect on the ground and the whole assembly was upright... I do not know how that happened.
Adrienne said:

These are pictures of our basic setup. Their house is smaller, but I made my front porch the kidding area so that I can lock them up at night. This way I can hear them, and get out there really fast. We hang the hay feeder with wires to their house in the pen.

Here you can see Indiana and the water bucket. Usually nothing gets in it, but we check on them a lot so we can refill it if we need to.

Indiana eating from the mineral feeder. I prepared the area for kidding which should take place in the next few days...that is why it looks wet there.

Isabel Eating from the hay feeder... you can see how far apart things are here. The mineral feeder is on the other side of that wall on the left in the corner. The bowls are how we give them grain in the evenings. We keep them in the feed closet when not in use. When we start milking we will probably only give them what they get on the milk stand or find some other easy and cheap alternative for the other goats.

This is the bed area. There is more bedding there than it looks. We add more almost every day and they always spread it around themselves. The feed bags are to help pick up the mess when they kid. God willing they will do it there. If not...oh well.

This was taken from the bedding area.

Adrienne January 23, 2011 at 11:34pm

These are pictures of our basic setup. Their house is smaller, but I made my front porch the kidding area so that I can lock them up at night. This way I can hear them, and get out there really fast. We hang the hay feeder with wires to their house in the pen.

Here you can see Indiana and the water bucket. Usually nothing gets in it, but we check on them a lot so we can refill it if we need to.

Indiana eating from the mineral feeder. I prepared the area for kidding which should take place in the next few days...that is why it looks wet there.

Isabel Eating from the hay feeder... you can see how far apart things are here. The mineral feeder is on the other side of that wall on the left in the corner. The bowls are how we give them grain in the evenings. We keep them in the feed closet when not in use. When we start milking we will probably only give them what they get on the milk stand or find some other easy and cheap alternative for the other goats.

This is the bed area. There is more bedding there than it looks. We add more almost every day and they always spread it around themselves. The feed bags are to help pick up the mess when they kid. God willing they will do it there. If not...oh well.

This was taken from the bedding area.

Gullringstorpgoatgal January 22, 2011 at 4:43pm

Hej from Sweden,

Sorry PlayRite Farm, that was not a feeder you saw in the photo, it was the large bucket little Alika came home in in our car and she still loves to play and sleep in it. I have not placed photos of my feeders yet. Sorry.

KSweden

PlayRite Farm said:

I now see your feeders, and i know see why you have a problem,, yes my goats also love a box or container to snuggle in .. and of course potty,, here is another idea, take a piece of ply wood cut it to fit in the corner,, cut key hole openings about 3 in it then put the hay behind it. or you can make a box type feeder with key holes and set the hay feeder up against the wall. for a horned goat the key hole feeders work better then the panel feeders, unless the squares are small. .. you can do that in front of a water pan also to keep the poop out.

PlayRite Farm said:

how fun and well behaved too ! .. yes you feed them very well, the other gal from Sweden fed oats and hay. thank you for sharing, your diet sounds very good for the girls..

Horn: alot of us Nigerian Dwarf fanatics here in America also show, to show yes it is a requirement for them to not have horns. Some farms like the horns but most here do not. there are many other benefits for them not having horns. one for me,...last summer i had a buck reach up high for weeds on the other side of the fence and he hung himself,. he was disbudded (horns removed) but the job wasn't a good one and one horn came back..and this horn is the one that killed him.. then there is the possibility of loosing and eye when we cuddle them.. since many go to pet homes we would not want a child to loose their eye... and when you remove one set of horns it is just best to remove the whole herd's horns for their own safety

Amanda told me that Sweden does not have goat shows ? Do you have a registry for the Nigerian Dwarf?

KSweden said:

Hej from Sweden,

You have a preferred hight of Nigerians in America? To tell you the truth, we have never thought to measure our girls. it never crossed our mind that they should be of a particular height. Hummm!!!! I have also noticed in all the photos on this site, the goats have NO horns. Is this a requirement in the US? As you can see our goats all have their horns.

So your friend is into rabbits; how fun.

Feeding: I am afraid am not a shining example of goat mommies here in Sweden. I am an indulgent goat mommy as in real life also.

My girls get :

Grain, a horse muesli which contains the proper amount of minerals needed for goats, copper in particular.

Oats and barley grains

Lovely hay from a near by farmer

Fresh straw

One meal of the day of; chopped carrots,apples,potatoes all from our land, sweet potatoes and kale which we also grow

My girls love a treat of bananas at bedtime

I have met some owners of goats here and they give only hay and oats. My girls love their yummies.

I will try to attach some photos of my girls full body so you can see how tall or short they are.

So here are my little ones. As you can see the photo with my husband with Pumpkin, 2 yrs old. She is about the size of all my girls. She likes her walks , by herself, around the property. A bit spoiled, I know.

KSweden

Gullringstorpgoatgal January 22, 2011 at 11:35am

Hej from Sweden,

You have a preferred hight of Nigerians in America? To tell you the truth, we have never thought to measure our girls. it never crossed our mind that they should be of a particular height. Hummm!!!! I have also noticed in all the photos on this site, the goats have NO horns. Is this a requirement in the US? As you can see our goats all have their horns.

So your friend is into rabbits; how fun.

Feeding: I am afraid am not a shining example of goat mommies here in Sweden. I am an indulgent goat mommy as in real life also.

My girls get :

Grain, a horse muesli which contains the proper amount of minerals needed for goats, copper in particular.

Oats and barley grains

Lovely hay from a near by farmer

Fresh straw

One meal of the day of; chopped carrots,apples,potatoes all from our land, sweet potatoes and kale which we also grow

My girls love a treat of bananas at bedtime

I have met some owners of goats here and they give only hay and oats. My girls love their yummies.

I will try to attach some photos of my girls full body so you can see how tall or short they are.

So here are my little ones. As you can see the photo with my husband with Pumpkin, 2 yrs old. She is about the size of all my girls. She likes her walks , by herself, around the property. A bit spoiled, I know.

KSweden

Gullringstorpgoatgal January 22, 2011 at 5:32am

Hej from Sweden,

Thanks for your hay feeder idea, looks great! You have a friend in Sweden with Nigerians,wow!! Where do they live? I am in Östergötland, feels like Nigerian Dwarf goat no man's land. There is no one that I know of. I have 6 beautiful goats including one tiny wether who is just a baby. I will try to attach photos. I am sorry, no web site yet.

This is my little herd, Frida 7 yrs, Pumpkin 2yrs, Hilda the pretty amber goat 3 yrs, Alika 10 mos , Keriana and Flynn, Frida's babies both 10 mos.

I am looking for a buck to service Frida, Pumpkin and Hilda. The other girls are too young to breed.

I have also added a more recent photo of Frida and her family taken this month.

KSweden

PlayRite Farm said:

I am about to set up my kidding barn, i will be happy

to take pictures and post them then.. How many goats do you have ? do you have a web site? I have anther friend a rabbit friend in Sweden, she also has Nigerian Goats.

PlayRite Farm said:

here is a feeder i use sometimes for kidding pens, it is made out of half of a plastic barrel with a panel piece to hold the hay in place, as you can see the barn cat likes it real well

Gullringstorpgoatgal January 22, 2011 at 5:02am

Hej from Sweden,
Thank for this idea Will. It makes a lot of sense! Will Try!
KSweden
Will White said:

I also use buckets and had the problem of the goats pooping in the water. I solved the problem by making a holder out of 2"x4"s that is off the ground. It's basically a hoop that the bucket sits in that keeps the bucket high enough off the ground to keep it clean. It works very well and keeps them from tipping the bucket over too.

Will White January 21, 2011 at 8:17pm

I also use buckets and had the problem of the goats pooping in the water. I solved the problem by making a holder out of 2"x4"s that is off the ground. It's basically a hoop that the bucket sits in that keeps the bucket high enough off the ground to keep it clean. It works very well and keeps them from tipping the bucket over too.

Forum

Keeping water and food clean

Replies