My goats are shivering and won't drink

I'm glad they drank. All of my barn animals have been drinking like crazy for these past two cold miserable months. They have also doubled their hay intake. They need to to keep their bodies warm.
If your yard for them is snow covered I would leave them inside of the garage on the really cold days. Bring their favorite dog house in and maybe they will sleep in that.
Also try a heated water bowl or bucket.
Good Luck and try to stay warm. This winter can't last forever. For me it can't end soon enough!

Are your goats ear tips warm?

We have had freezing temps here in the Pacific NW off and on. I provide warm water twice a day, extra hay, and I add a little more BOSS (black oiled sunflower seeds) to their grain that I add their goat mineral too. I figure the BOSS being higher fat is good at keeping their temps up. At the beginning of the cold snap they slow down water consumption, but after a day or two, they will gulp it down. They also ate snow when it was on the ground.

I have nubians with really long ears. I'll see them shiver from time to time but I figure they are warm enough because the tips of their ears are always warm.

My two also played butting heads more when it's cold to stay warm.

Good luck with yours.

I'll have to check ear tips next time I'm out. I had put the bowl of molasses water just outside the garage door and saw them drinking some a little bit ago so must be doing better. Plus, just looked out my back bedroom window and they are laying out in the goat pen, on the only patch of dirt (protected from the other day's horizontally-blowing snow by a wall). I also saw them eating one of my garden boxes earlier (the box, not the dirt) so it's about time I closed the gate to the pen again.

My thermometer says 23 degrees but ... I see ice melting. Huh?

I think I'll go let my black australorps out for a while. They've been "cooped" up for 2 days and really hate that!

Is there anyway you can run extension cords to their pen and use electric buckets? It'll make a difference.

I have a herd of American Cashmere Goats and can share a couple of things:

Your goats like the smaller house because it makes them feel cozy and its probably warmer. Drape several layers of old towels/blankets over it for insulation, and the larger house too, and they will be a lot warmer when they use them.

A shivering goat is not in a good position and needs some help to get warm.

When I have a cold goat (usually a youngster) I make up a goat coat. I don't sew at all, but its easy to do. Make a rectangle of fleece (2 layers is fine too, especially if the material is thin). Make it the length of the goat from their tail to just past their nose or a couple of inches longer. The width should be across the back from about the top of one knee to the other. Drape the cloth over the goat and mark where the head would go (there should be enough overhang to cover the chest). Cut a slit there and put over the goat's head. Feel for the top of each leg under the coat and mark the location with chalk or a magic marker. Cut a slit for each leg and put the legs through the slits. The fleece should fit relatively loosely and not hang down too much so they don't pee on it.

My goats run all over the place in their coats and don't seem to have any trouble maneuvering.

Good luck with the cold temps!

Elaine Murray
Harley Farm

I second the suggestion for a heated bucket...they don't cost much and they last a long time. They save you time and effort and the goats can drink ad lib.

I like the idea of the goat coats but how do you keep them from nibbling on them?