Question About Domestic Goats And Extreme Cold

[PA Reb]

This question would probably apply to anyone out there that owns a goat or two. Here in PA (as it is in most of the north) the temperature has dropped well below zero and the wind has it feeling like the arctic may be a little warmer right now. I have a goat and a tame deer out back in a large fenced in area. The cold doesn't bother the deer at all but I'm concerned about the goat. I have a small shelter full of straw she can go in to get out of the wind but its still very cold in there. During the day, she's out walking around a bit but it looks like she's shivering a little. She's also a little too wild to catch and take into the cellar. If you own goats, are they built to take this kind of cold? Is there something I can do to make it a little better for her?

 

[feralmerril]

I have wondered the same. When I was a small boy in cold wisconsin we also had a bunch of goats. Think we had a barn and lean to that they could get in. They are tough. They would climb the roof of the barn, even saw them in trees on low big branchs. We live in utah. Out of beaver in the high country I have seen mountain goats at 11,000 feet. Also around mount rushmore have seen wild goats. I dont know what they do in winter if they walk down to lower elevation or not. Used to see goats right on I-15 between mesquite nevada and cedar city utah on the virgin river canyon. Down there it gets 110 degrees and not bad in winter as its about 2,000 feet.
All those poor animals, tame or wild must suffer in extream heat, hot or cold. I hate to see cows and horses penned in with no options. I read that deer have hollow hair and that is how nature insulates and protects them. I would like to know myself.

 

[Mule Packer]

Having some kind of a shelter or windbreak certainly helps, but it's also important to provide a means where livestock can generate their own heat in order to keep them warm.

For example, a lot of newbies to raising livestock are under the false assumption that giving an animal grain will help warm it up. Actually, providing your animals with more hay is a better way to keep them warm because it takes more time for them to digest the hay, thus warming them up by generating body heat for longer periods of time.

When the temperatures here start dropping below zero, I start feeding extra hay. It works.

 

[Marshwheeling]

This question would probably apply to anyone out there that owns a goat or two. Here in PA (as it is in most of the north) the temperature has dropped well below zero and the wind has it feeling like the arctic may be a little warmer right now. I have a goat and a tame deer out back in a large fenced in area. The cold doesn't bother the deer at all but I'm concerned about the goat. I have a small shelter full of straw she can go in to get out of the wind but its still very cold in there. During the day, she's out walking around a bit but it looks like she's shivering a little. She's also a little too wild to catch and take into the cellar. If you own goats, are they built to take this kind of cold? Is there something I can do to make it a little better for her?

There is, but mentioning it could get me banned, and trying it could get you jailed. But it reminds me of a joke...

 

[PA Reb]

There is, but mentioning it could get me banned, and trying it could get you jailed. But it reminds me of a joke...

Now that's funny !!

 

[PA Reb]

Having some kind of a shelter or windbreak certainly helps, but it's also important to provide a means where livestock can generate their own heat in order to keep them warm.

For example, a lot of newbies to raising livestock are under the false assumption that giving an animal grain will help warm it up. Actually, providing your animals with more hay is a better way to keep them warm because it takes more time for them to digest the hay, thus warming them up by generating body heat for longer periods of time.

When the temperatures here start dropping below zero, I start feeding extra hay. It works.

Thank you sir. I do give her hay to munch on besides her regular feed and goodies. I'll certainly make sure she has enough hay though after reading your post.

 

[steelslaver]

And open water.

 

[redlevel]

It was 10 degrees here last night. I have 20 goats, one born 2 days ago. I keep hay for them, and I feed them some corn and bag feed once or twice a week. They seem to have made it OK through the cold. I am about to haul them some warm water. Their auto waterer is frozen. Little Bit and Mama were both getting dinner a few minutes ago.

 

[tork'd]

why do you have a goat???

where the camels all gone??

 

[Texas Star]

I have wondered the same. When I was a small boy in cold wisconsin we also had a bunch of goats. Think we had a barn and lean to that they could get in. They are tough. They would climb the roof of the barn, even saw them in trees on low big branchs. We live in utah. Out of beaver in the high country I have seen mountain goats at 11,000 feet. Also around mount rushmore have seen wild goats. I dont know what they do in winter if they walk down to lower elevation or not. Used to see goats right on I-15 between mesquite nevada and cedar city utah on the virgin river canyon. Down there it gets 110 degrees and not bad in winter as its about 2,000 feet.
All those poor animals, tame or wild must suffer in extream heat, hot or cold. I hate to see cows and horses penned in with no options. I read that deer have hollow hair and that is how nature insulates and protects them. I would like to know myself.

I don't know if it affects this issue, but mountain "goats" are not real goats. They're members of the goat-antelope family, like the goral or the serow. I think the tahr also fits in there.
I forgot how to spell the genus name, and haven't time to look it up. Rupripricanae? Not it, but similar. Bear Bio may be along with the answer.

Also, the pronghorn isn't a true antelope. It is related to the goat - antelopes, but is in a genus of its own. I think the scientific name is Antilocapra americana.

The mt. "goat" is adapted to life at high altitudes and low temps. But some strains of domestic goat (and the chamois) live in the Alps and in the Pyrenees. This probably does not mean that goats raised in south Texas will survive very low temps and high winds.

I heard on the news tonight that even polar beas in some northern US zoo have been moved indoors due to the weather. Being captive in normally less severe conditions, they didn't develop the blubber layer that wild polar bears do.