When the goats of Prodigal Farm outgrew the movable wooden sheds, Spann purchased several old school buses to serve as goat shelters. Read more: These goat health basics will help you keep your goats kicking. “If you try to build a shed while the new goat is tied to the apple tree, you’re bound to have trouble,” says Jerry Belanger, homesteader and author of Storey’s Guide to Raising Dairy Goats. Your shelter doesn’t need to be a contender for design awards, but it does need to be available to the goats from the moment you bring them home. Meanwhile, meat goats build muscle, making them less susceptible to the elements and more apt to thrive with minimal shelter. Dairy goats have a lower body condition score than meat goats, because all of their energy goes into making milk, according to Morgan Watts, livestock extension agent with North Carolina State Extension. A southern-facing shelter provides the best protection against wind. Is the location accessible in all kinds of weather?įarms in northern climates need shelters that can withstand snow and ice (and possible flooding when it melts).Will the shelter be large enough to accommodate additional goats if the herd expands?.If your goats rotate between pastures, can the shelter move, too?.To decide on the right goat shelter for your farm, think about your setup: The addition of running water, while not necessary, can make it easier to refill buckets, and electricity allows you to run clippers and disbudding irons and add heat lamps for newborn kids. While there is no one-size-fits-all goat shelter-options range from doghouses and hoop houses to three-sided run-ins and barns-an ideal shelter has several important elements, including protection from drafts and exposure to elements like wind, rain and sun. “We couldn’t make the shelters bigger because it would tear up the fields if we moved them.” Get Setup “We practice pasture rotation, and we wanted shelters that could move pretty easily,” Spann says. But as the goat population grew, Spann-who raises 90-plus dairy goats (including Alpine, LaMancha and Nubian crosses) with her husband, Dave, on Prodigal Farm in Rougemont, North Carolina-needed to search for a different option. The shelters worked when the herd was small. The shelters could be attached to a tractor and moved, ensuring the herd had a safe space to escape the elements and allowing Spann to practice pasture rotation without building individual shelters in each pasture. When Kathryn Spann started raising dairy goats in 2008, she thought wooden sheds built on skids would be the ideal housing for her herd.
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