Critique my goat housing?

beccachow · #21 07/05/10, 11:07 AM

The only thing I might be a tad concerned with is the bungee cord; if a goat were to nibble at that or manage to get it unhooked, there is a LOT of pressure behind those things and it *could* cause an injury. Otherwise, I am jealous as heck! Very nice!

Minelson · #22 07/05/10, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beccachow

The only thing I might be a tad concerned with is the bungee cord; if a goat were to nibble at that or manage to get it unhooked, there is a LOT of pressure behind those things and it *could* cause an injury. Otherwise, I am jealous as heck! Very nice!

Excuse me....(clearing throat) I already mentioned the dangers of bungee cords.....

Great minds think alike!!

The bazaar thing is that Mygoat posted about her goat eating half a bungee cord shortly after this thread was started!

motdaugrnds · #23 07/05/10, 04:12 PM

Nice set up; lots of consideration for those goats apparently has gone into its construction....lucky goats!

ROFL ... I thoroughly enjoyed your pictures. What your goats have done is so typical of goats in general. Thank you for posting those pics.

You are getting neat information here. The only thing I would add concerns your water buckets. I would hang them on the wall so they can be kept clean.

To answer your question about Baking Soda, leave it out all the time for "free choice" (goats eat as needed).

VegRN · #24 07/05/10, 07:53 PM

I swapped out the bungee cord for a horse trailer tie...it has clips on both ends that are goat proof, unless they develop thumbs, lol, and it is not stretchy.

I like the idea of raising the water buckets also...will implement that as well!

I am wondering what sort of feeder to use for the baking soda, though?

Minelson · #25 07/05/10, 08:27 PM

I just made a holder out of wood for minerals on one side baking soda on the other side. But my goats don't really mess with the stuff in their pen too much. Nothing ever gets dumped/stepped on/trashed...so a simple bowl would work for me. Mine never gets cakey...I replace it oh every month maybe?? It might get cakey now though with all the humidity.

Backfourty,MI. · #26 07/06/10, 09:14 AM

I have the black 2 sided dishes from TSC that I use for their loose mineral & baking soda. Since you already made such a nice mineral feeder you could use them just for baking soda. My brother & dh made feeders for us for the deer feed out of the PVC just like yours only taller(That was when we could still feed the deer!).

Your goat set up is very nice, looks very roomy, clean & alot of thought went into it it looks like as well!

My goats have different pasture areas that aren't attached to the barn or there other pen's & they walk with me to them no problem everyday. If needed I take a feed pan & whistle, they'll follow me anywhere for that.

Hapaz Farms, those pictures are too adorable & EXACTLY the things goats do!!

mominpa · #27 07/06/10, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by st1055

Looks good!!! I am jealous!! For my feeders I got a piece of 6" pvc pipe , cut it down the middle and put legs and ends on it. Easy to clean, movable. It could also be attached to the fence. Mine has been in the buck pen for over a year with no problems.

Do you happen to have a picture of this??

VegRN · #28 07/06/10, 01:56 PM

I found a great solution for the baking soda. When my dogs were puppies we crated them to help with potty training. We had those little clip on the crate food and water bowls for them. Since they are older now we don't crate and those bowls have been sitting around gathering dust in my pantry...voila! Baking soda holders! I will have to attach them with plastic zip ties to goat proof them, but I think it will work! I'll post pics if it works out.

I am still working on my PVC feeder like the above one, but I will post pics of it too when it's done.

Cannon_Farms · #29 07/07/10, 08:41 PM

Oh how I wish I had a picture of little tots estates feeding set up, im working on it but its great, no goat hooves ever! Its basicly he has the cattle pannels and on the outside 8 inch pvc pipe cut in half, there are no goats on the other side so it doesnt get contaminated and since they have to stick there heads through the fence there is even less fighting. He has about a 100 head and has less waste than my 15 make.

The only thing I can say about the goat housing other than i like it is that I had partical board up for mine and they liked to chew on it. might want to get some Quit horse stall spray and soak it down this winter.

springvalley · #30 07/07/10, 08:52 PM

looks wonderful, regular goat hilton, >Thanks Marc

Cannon_Farms · #31 07/08/10, 06:55 AM

oh, btw its much harder to much out straw for bedding than it is to clean out shavings. You would be surprised how heavy it can get and smelly once you start cleaning it out. I use shavings and clean out consist of getting the leave blower out and blowing them out into the pasture much easier.

VegRN · #32 07/08/10, 11:20 AM

I do use shavings for the older goats and horses. I bedded this one with straw because it was intended for a 2 week old bottle baby and straw is less dusty and from what I hear, there are fewer respiratory problems with it for the little ones. I will switch to shavings when he is a bit bigger.

Cannon_Farms · #33 07/08/10, 11:45 AM

I have a different opinion on that and its because if you get the thicker shavings not saw dust most of it is heat treated to kill off yuckies where as straw is just cut and baled. Another thing about using hay and straw as bedding its more prone to mold and on a rainy day goats can and will nibble on it and that leads to some rough illnesses even with fresh hay out there. Its also bad drainage and builds up the ideal environment for microbs to thrive.
Little tots estates and double durango both use shavings in there kidding pens and baby pens as well as every goat farm I have been on. They compost better as well and leave no real odor. I personally use the compressed pine pellets that turn into fluff as its not dusty and breaks down even faster in the compost pile.

If your going to keep the straw then I suggest you get a couple chickens as they will keep it fluffed up making it more sanitary plus eat any left over goat feed that falls on the ground which as we all know immediately becomes unfit for goat consumption. I have a couple in my pasture that throw scratch out for under our hay feeder so the wasted hay that was about 3ft deep is steadly getting lower. With the new hay system I wont need them but they do work great for now.

Minelson · #34 07/08/10, 01:53 PM

The only time I would use straw instead of shavings is during kidding...the shavings really stick to all the goop and gop