Low-cost Goat Housing

Adequate housing provides conditions for good health and comfort of animals high reproduction and more efficient management. Housing also minimizes, if not eliminates, theft problems. Good housing is ideally cheap, yet it can protect the animals from strong winds, draft, heavy rains, wet grounds and attacks by predatory animals. It must also be well ventilated, well-drained and easy to clean.

Location

For good drainage, locate your goat house on a slight slope or on sandy soils; ideally, near the feed source. The goat house should be oriented in such a way that the greatest amount of sunshine and air enter the house.

Housing specifications

Use indigenous materials available in the locality, such as round Umber, bamboo and cogon or nipa.

1. Provide at least 15-20 sq. R. of floor space per adult goat. A separate housing is provided for the buck.

2. Raise the floor at least 3 feet above the ground to facilitate cleaning and removal of manure.

3. Do not nail the floor boards or slats closely; provide slits between the boards so that manure can fall through them. This will keep the flooring clean and dry.

4. The house should be well-ventilated. The wall around the house can be made of bamboo slats spaced 44 inches apart.

5. Provide a sack cover on the windside of the house. This can be rolled up when not needed.

Housing specifications

Note: For two does and one buck raised together, the size of the goat house will be 6′ × 8′.

Ipil-ipil. Remove bark. Soak Umber in running water (river/stream) for 3 days to dissolve the carbohydrate content of the wood. Dry.

Bamboo. Mix 1 part crude oil: 2 parts kerosene. Paint this mixture on the split bamboo and season (sun-dry) for 4-7 days. Bamboo is more durable when harvested at the right time (mature, light green or yellow in color). Cut before the onset of the growing season, before the young shoots appear.

Feeding facilities

Provide the goat house with the following facilities:

1. Fodder rack. Elevate the feeder 1 1/2 ft above the floor and attach it to the goat house from outside.

2. Water container. Plastic basins or pails can serve the purpose. Place this outside of the pen to avoid contamination with urine or manure.

3. Salt container. A bamboo tube with 2 or more slits at the bottom can serve as container for the ordinary table salt for the goats to lick. Hang the bamboo tube inside the house.

4. Hay rack. Store the fodder/forage in hay rack under a shade or shed adjacent to the goat house.

Source: nzdl.org