What type of housing do goats need? It all depends upon how much effort a person wants to put into a goats shed. A person can have the most elaborate or expensive housing and the goat will sleep on the roof or they prefer to sleep under the stock trailer. Most of the time, if the weather is nice, goats prefer to sleep in the open or behind a wind break but when the weather is bad; they can’t wait to climb into the warmest or driest place they can find. The key to housing is it needs to be draft free and dry in the winter and provide some type of shelter from spring and summer rains. Let’s take a look at some simple, inexpensive ideas for goat housing.
Chemical Totes: Chemical totes are the cheapest and easiest type of housing for goats. Once you cut open a side for an entryway, you can clean them out with detergent and bleach, to ensure you have the chemical removed. Some folk worry that the residue may be an issue but after seven years of using chemical totes, our farm has not had any issues. We usually clean them out at least three times, giving them time to dry out after each cleaning. One trick that we have learned is to make sure you provide a high enough lip on the bottom of your entry, to keep the bedding from slipping out. You will have to provide some type of a step, such as a railroad tie step, for young goats to get in and out of the tote. Totes are easy to move and when the plastic deteriorates, you can remove the plastic cube and put tin on the metal frame, so you still have a hut for your goat. In the winter time, baby goats will gather in a tote because it blocks a lot of wind and the sun shining into the tote makes a great incubator. You can also use the opening on top of the cube, to place a heat lamp (use caution when setting it up), to provide extra warmth.
A chemical tote makes a great gathering spot for baby goats in cold & wet weather. On sunny days it acts as an incubator as it holds heat and the solid walls prevent drafts.
Stock racks: You probably know someone who has a stock rack sitting in their pasture or in the tree line of their property. With a little work, you can transform it into a sturdy shed that can be moved easily with a tractor. We usually weld some small angle iron rafters and a few boards to screw tin on to the framework and that is all it takes. Unlike the tote, which can house one doe and her babies, a stock rack hut can house several large framed goats or three does and their kids.
Water tanks: Using a water tank is another creative way to build housing and it will take more effort and welding. The first step is to cut the tank in half, cutting across the diameter so you have two arches. Since most water tanks have rusted out bottoms, you will have to figure out what to put on the back side, to keep the draft out. Stand the tank up on end, so you have a rounded top shed, then space the two arches and add boards or angle iron in between the two arches. One thing we learned with the shed we made, we should have doubled the space in between, to make it a deeper shed. But the goats still love it and if need be, we can take t-posts and plywood to put in the front opening, to block out the winter winds.
This water tank shed is all repurposed materials EXCEPT the metal screws. An old metal bed frame was used for the back wall. It is recommended to double the spacing between the two arches of the tank.
Grain Bin sheds: If you can find a small grain bin for sale, you can take it apart and use the sides to make arched sheds. We had to build a set of skids and bottom frame for the shed we built but the goats seem to appreciate these sheds more than the lean-to sheds as the heat is held better in a lower shed.
A grain bin was used to build this shed on skids. 2/3 of the front can be covered to keep the wind out during the winter or it can be used open as in the photo. These are easy to clean out and can be moved with a tractor.
There are many other ideas for building a goat shed and you really don’t have to spend a lot of money to throw something together, it just takes an imagination and creativity. Most of our sheds were tinned up with used tin and the only new materials used were the metal screws. Just remember that these sheds will need cleaned out periodically so you need to have them light enough to move by hand or with a small tractor and loader.
Kidding Sheds: Kidding sheds need m ore time and consideration when setting them up. If you intend on kidding out in the wintertime, draft-free buildings with some type of lighting and heating may be required. Each doe will need at least a 4 feet by 5 feet jug (kidding pen) to give birth in and that will include and area for some type of heat lamp. Many people use blue plastic 55 gallon barrels that have a hole in one end to place a heat lamp and a hole on the side in which the babies can crawl into to stay warm. Again creativity is the limit as long as you can keep the babies warmer than 35 degrees and out of a draft, you should be good.
Just remember that someone’s junk could be the start of one of your goat sheds!
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