C Davis

Joshua LeDuc wrote:

C Davis wrote:I love this topic! My family is also preparing to bring in a few goats. They will be rotational grazing in about 8 acres of woods. We have a ton of kudzu, brambles, and grapevines on the edge of our woods, too.
I have a question for all of you who have experience with rotational grazing in the woods where you move them from one electric netting paddock to another… what do you do about shelter for the goats, since they need shelter from rain? Do you have some sort of lightweight skiddable shelter? I have been trying to come up with a plan for something that the goats won’t be able to knock over/climb on/fall through, yet is light enough to move around in the woods by one person.

C, I built a plywood floor on two pallets that I screwed together, and then built a back wall, two side walls and a sloped roof.  I then covered all in corrugated metal sheeting.  This way I can move the shelter around with the pallet forks on my tractor.  I also put wooden "skis" on the bottom of the two pallets so I could pull the shelter as well with a chain or strap.  Finally, I put 4 brackets with holes on the sides of the skids so I can stake down the shelter.  I use trampoline wind stakes.  I learned the lesson of staking down the shelter the hard way.  One evening we had a storm roll through with really high winds and the shelter tipped over trapping one of the goats underneath it.  Luckily she didn't get injured and is doing okay.  

Oh my! Thank you for sharing your experience. I did not think of having to stake down the shelter, but that makes sense, especially if it need to be lightweight enough for me to pull by myself.

Thank you for your informative post!

“Myotonics are great non-fence-jumpers. Meat goats are good at eradicating brush, and nimble enough to get out easily. And get horns stuck. I'd look for kikos, personally.”

There is someone local who has myotonic goats for sale. It is good to know that they don’t tend to jump fences. Do they try to climb on things like their shelter?

“For the goats' shelter we use XL or L dogloos (igloo dog houses found used or on the curb) and we have a couple window wells on wood frames that we can move around.”

People around here don’t tend to put things like that out to the curb, but you gave me a great idea! I can get a used IBC tote pretty cheap and turn that into a goat shelter.

I love this topic! My family is also preparing to bring in a few goats. They will be rotational grazing in about 8 acres of woods. We have a ton of kudzu, brambles, and grapevines on the edge of our woods, too.
I have a question for all of you who have experience with rotational grazing in the woods where you move them from one electric netting paddock to another… what do you do about shelter for the goats, since they need shelter from rain? Do you have some sort of lightweight skiddable shelter? I have been trying to come up with a plan for something that the goats won’t be able to knock over/climb on/fall through, yet is light enough to move around in the woods by one person.

Andrew Palmer wrote:Can’t see a set reminder button on my iPhone.

On my iPhone, I can see the reminder button overlayed on top of the video image. I’ve posted a screenshot. I hope it helps!