Goats and Snow

I have an Oberhasli, Annie, and a Nubian, Winnie, and Annie doesn't mind the snow, but Winnie hates it!!! I had to drag her out of the barn this morning. We just got snow, and you can see the grass still. Winnie was shivering, but she got on the road and caught up with Annie, who was happily eating grass. So Winnie didn't seem very happy, so I drug her and Annie back in the barn.

Does anyone else's goats hate snow?

[dosthouhavemilk]

Originally Posted by Rye

I have an Oberhasli, Annie, and a Nubian, Winnie, and Annie doesn't mind the snow, but Winnie hates it!!! I had to drag her out of the barn this morning. We just got snow, and you can see the grass still. Winnie was shivering, but she got on the road and caught up with Annie, who was happily eating grass. So Winnie didn't seem very happy, so I drug her and Annie back in the barn.

Does anyone else's goats hate snow?

Ours generally do not appreciate the snow, no. Neither do I. :haha:
I have to haul water to the goat pen in the winter because our water lines freeze. Hopefully we will get the water fixed down there so I won't have to haul it so far. Hauling water for 16 goats isn't fun. I think our three doelings will be wintering in the stock trailer so they will be easier to water...and the kidding does will probably come into the cow barn so they won't be as hard to care for.
The goats make a path around their shed, to the gate, to the hay bale and that is it. They spend the majority of their time in the shed, which opens to the East I believe so they get a lot of sunlight in there.

[Lt. Wombat]

Originally Posted by Rye

I have an Oberhasli, Annie, and a Nubian, Winnie, and Annie doesn't mind the snow, but Winnie hates it!!! I had to drag her out of the barn this morning. We just got snow, and you can see the grass still. Winnie was shivering, but she got on the road and caught up with Annie, who was happily eating grass. So Winnie didn't seem very happy, so I drug her and Annie back in the barn.

Does anyone else's goats hate snow?

Ours don't like being outside during active snowing, but once it's over they can be located anywhere in the upper 100 acres any hour of the day. They always come down into the barn for the night though.

[Kazahleenah]

Having many of my babies born in very late winter/early spring... I did notice the goats that saw snow as "babies", didn't mind it, while those born in late spring/summer... hated it. Espically the very first year, after that, they sort of got used to the world changing the way it looks. (and I hate the cold to... but snow is pretty, just from inside, looking out! LOL)
Amy

[nappy]

Has anyone considered the ancestry of Nubians? They originated in Africa, India, and our American Nubian was mixed with the English Anglo-Nubian. Their ears being droopy and long perhaps suited them to the desert sand more than to wintry cold and snow. Has anyone seen frost bitten Nubian ears? The alpine group of goats with upright ears including French Alpine, Saanen, Toggenburg, and Oberhasli have originated in the colder climate of the mountains of western Europe. Maybe their tendencies to accept cold and snow better than Nubians is due to their ancestry. Just a thought. Now I'm not sure of Nubians as I don't have any but my Alpines have a very thick winter coat now. Hope that doesn't mean a colder than normal winter.

Nappy

[Rye]

Originally Posted by nappy

Has anyone considered the ancestry of Nubians? They originated in Africa, India, and our American Nubian was mixed with the English Anglo-Nubian. Their ears being droopy and long perhaps suited them to the desert sand more than to wintry cold and snow. Has anyone seen frost bitten Nubian ears? The alpine group of goats with upright ears including French Alpine, Saanen, Toggenburg, and Oberhasli have originated in the colder climate of the mountains of western Europe. Maybe their tendencies to accept cold and snow better than Nubians is due to their ancestry. Just a thought. Now I'm not sure of Nubians as I don't have any but my Alpines have a very thick winter coat now. Hope that doesn't mean a colder than normal winter.

Nappy

That's what I thought. I knew Oberhasli's were from the cold mountains, and the Nubians from the desert, so I figured it was their ancestry. My nubian has a thick coat, too.

[dosthouhavemilk]

Originally Posted by nappy

Has anyone considered the ancestry of Nubians? They originated in Africa, India, and our American Nubian was mixed with the English Anglo-Nubian. Their ears being droopy and long perhaps suited them to the desert sand more than to wintry cold and snow. Has anyone seen frost bitten Nubian ears? The alpine group of goats with upright ears including French Alpine, Saanen, Toggenburg, and Oberhasli have originated in the colder climate of the mountains of western Europe. Maybe their tendencies to accept cold and snow better than Nubians is due to their ancestry. Just a thought. Now I'm not sure of Nubians as I don't have any but my Alpines have a very thick winter coat now. Hope that doesn't mean a colder than normal winter.

Nappy

We lost parts of ears when our does kidded in January two years ago (along with losing five kids) to frostbite. Our goats (a portion of them are half Nubian) are all fluffing up and gettting witner coats already. I hope it doesn't mean colder than normal winter either.

Definitely makes sense. Our goats tolerate the weather differently.