Winter care for senior goats

[Zilli]

I think most of us who have had goats for awhile understand and practice basic good care for our animals - worming, vaccinations, minerals, proper feed and shelter......

But, for those of us with aged animals, what else can we do to give them the best possible care during these winter months?

For me, I notice my seniors struggling every winter. They have good food and shelter but I would like to make sure I meet all the "extra" requirements they might need.

Here, while we do get some cold temperatures, mostly it is the never ending rain. And mud. We can get a lot of snow, but so far this year, we have had very little - we just got our first dusting this week.

My goats don't come outside if it's wet, and when they do, they have to walk knee deep through mud. I've been tossing around in my head what I can do for the mud problem just outside their house and was thinking about "bridges" - pallets set on the ground and covered with 4X4 sections of stall mat. I figure that four of these would get them from their house to the grass of the pasture; unfortunately, I don't think I can set these up now because it would be very hard to level them and secure them on TOP of the mud - this is probably something much better done when the ground is dry.

I also worry about ALL my goats staying inside too much and not getting enough fresh air and exercise. If it looks like there may be a window of an hour or two between rain showers, I will feed them outside to more or less force them out for a little while.

So, what else to do? Obviously, we are all concerned about the health of ALL our goats, but are there any things specific to the geriatrics that we should be doing?

[Strange Bear]

Can you throw old bedding out there? That is what I have done in the duck pen. It lasts for awhile.

[Zilli]

Originally Posted by Strange Bear

Can you throw old bedding out there? That is what I have done in the duck pen. It lasts for awhile.

I do but it doesn't take very long for it all to just disappear into the mud.

[CaliannG]

Older animals have more trouble keeping warm. In winter, warmth is the biggest thing to watch for in geriatrics (just like in humans. Ever notice how older folks keep their thermostats on "oven"? ). For your situation, have you consider goat coats for your older ladies? You can put the coats on JUST the older goats, and in that way, you are giving them the extra warmth they need without keeping the others inside.

I have laid down pallets in mud and it seems that they "self level" really well. (Had to do this last winter when heavy rains flooded my barn. The netire barn, including the stall I have converted into a chicken coop, had a couple of inches of water. We just "refloored" it with pallets, added thin plywood on top of that, and then thick bedding over that. If we had had stall mats, those would have probably worked better.) So I don't think you have to wait until it is dry to lay them down. I have laid them down in pouring rain with running water up to my ankles, and they "stuck" and leveled out just fine.

Hope this helps!

[Backfourty,MI.]

I agree with Caliann. I'd go ahead & lay the pallets anyways. They will level themselves out & it they are still a little wobbly the goats won't care as long as they don't have to walk in the mud. Will be much better for their feet too.

[Hollowdweller]

I always just go to the gravel yard with my pickup and get about half a ton of gravel and put it on the muddy spots.

Remember that to stay warm lots of hay generates more heat inside the doe than grain, so plenty of hay is important.