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Do baby goats (4 months old) really need coats if they are inside a stall? I have 3 new goats. They are inside a stall with shavings as their bedding. Their coats are very thick and they are not thin at all. It will be in the 20s tonight with a wind chill (but that shouldn't matter as they are out of the wind). I am new to goat ownership but with all of my other livestock, I typically don't blanket until they are considered senior. Like my 32 year old horse and 12 year old dog who is short haired with no cuddle buddy right now.
 
No, they don't need a coat unless they are very young or just shaved. Really old or sick goats might need a coat, if they are weaker and can't keep their body temp up enough to fight the cold. There is a reason why goats have hair on them. You don't see goats dropping dead from cold in the -25 degrees celsius weather of the French Alps, do you?

My philosophy with blanketing goats is like my philosophy with medicated feed. You can't solve a problem that isn't there.

Edit: I think people are more concerned with the health of your goat in the event it rains than whether or not it looks cute.
 
Last edited:
Talithahorse said:
Do baby goats (4 months old) really need coats if they are inside a stall? I have 3 new goats. They are inside a stall with shavings as their bedding. Their coats are very thick and they are not thin at all. It will be in the 20s tonight with a wind chill (but that shouldn't matter as they are out of the wind). I am new to goat ownership but with all of my other livestock, I typically don't blanket until they are considered senior. Like my 32 year old horse and 12 year old dog who is short haired with no cuddle buddy right now.
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My kids are 3 days old today with only a 3 sided shelter with straw. It was -1 this morning and they are fine.
 
I did lose a kid the other day in the 30's. It was from a different nanny and she didn't really take care of it and it walked off out the pen. I should've locked her up with the kids.
 
Sorry to hear about your loss
sad.png
. My problem is I know very little about how they were raised/ set up. They are kind of rescues as my farrier got them as part of a batch deal but as he wanted all Billies, asked me to take the two doelings and the youngest billy. They seem to be a little chilled although since they have not been handled a lot, it could just be that they are nervous about us. They seem to be eating and drinking and their poop seems like normal to me. The vet comes out in the next day or so (as soon as I call him tomorrow) to whether the billy, give them all shots and make sure they are fine. We did end up finding a little dog sweater from my daughter's indoor dog which fit each of them so outside of my DH laughing hilariously at me, they seem to be doing well. As I get to know them, get some good fresh food in them and get them up to potential I suspect by next year they won't need sweaters.
 
You can put them in the dog sweaters if you want. I wouldn't worry about them inside a stall with bedding no wind and a decent dinner before bed. A little extra on the really cold nights.
 

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