I know a lot of you here live in climates much colder than my own (northern TN) so obviously the goats can tolerate some harsh weather. But do you lock your goats inside a barn at a certain temp? And what about rain/snow? Today it is 49 degrees, breezy and drizzling and I just looked out and three of my does were out grazing! Totally shocked me, as usually they run like they were on fire at the first raindrop. They have access to their barn at all times, bedded with straw and with hay in feeders in case they don't want to go outside. I lock them in at night because even though they are fenced in with 4 ft 2x4 heavy gauge mesh fencing, there are coyotes here and it makes me paranoid. So...do they know best about what they can tolerate? If they want to go out in chilly rain, should I let them? For those of you in snowy areas...do you let your goats out in the snow if they want to go? And would someone please, please define "draft" for me? I mean, yeah, obviously I didn't get to 46 without knowing what a draft is...but in terms of a barn the whole "not air-tight but not drafty" is making me crazy. My barn has doors on all four sides...three are dutch doors and one is a 12ft sliding door. I intentionally did not have soffits put on the barn overhangs for ventilation in the hot summers. So although I can shut all the doors, the barn is always going to have at least a little bit of air moving. And how deep do you bed the sleeping area? I have a tendency to under-estimate the weather my animals can tolerate but since I am new to goats I'd rather not let them get sick.
Thanks
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I am very surprised that your goats are grazing in the rain, even if it is just drizzling. A few days ago it sounded like a coyote was attacking my herd, and I couldn't even see the rain when I looked out the window. I finally realized they were freaking out about the rain when I saw a few drops a foot apart on the concrete outside. So they do tend to be very wimpy when it comes to rain!
If it's supposed to be raining or snowing all day, I leave them in the barn. If it is going to be below zero or if there are going to 50 mph winds or something extreme, I leave them inside. But on a sunny, dry, 15-degree day in January, I put them outside, even if there is lots of snow on the ground.
I don't think I understand that drafty thing either. I think goats really just need a wind break. If your barn provides that, it should be fine. I open a barn door every day to let fresh air in.
As for bedding in winter, we stop mucking out the stalls weekly in early December or whenever we get snowfall, which makes it challenging to empty the wheelbarrow. From that point on, we just keep throwing a thin layer of straw on top of poop or wet spots so the goats always have a clean, dry place to lay down. By March, it's easily a foot deep and takes a few hours to clean out a 10 X 15 stall. The decomposing poop and straw generates heat, making it warmer for the goats. And keep in mind that they will grow a cashmere undercoat to help keep them warm. A winter goat is fuzzy!