Your dairy goats need stalls, especially in very cold and wet weather. Even small dairy goat pens also help keep your goats happy and healthy in adverse weather conditions.
Barns have other advantages for dairy goats. This will greatly simplify the process of milking dairy goats. This means you can easily milk your goats.
How to make barns for dairy goats
Sheds are also a very suitable place for veterinary treatment of your goats if a goat in your herd gets injured. Here we describe the process of creating small barns for dairy goats.
Shelter
Goats generally don’t need the comfort of a barn. But it will be better if you get some kind of strong shelter for them. Make sure your goat stalls have a tight roof and solid walls.
Try to have the barn elevated so it doesn’t get flooded during heavy rains (this will keep your dairy goats from standing in the mud when it rains). The barn must be strong enough not to create problems.
Hire a contractor to build a barn if you don’t have enough construction knowledge and skills to build a safe and durable building for your dairy goats.
If you can’t properly place the posts in the ground or securely attach the walls and roof to the structure, your animals can be seriously injured or even killed.
Therefore, it is very important to know more about building a barn. Otherwise, call a specialist.
Design
As we said earlier, dairy goats don’t need too much. You can make very simple stalls for dairy goats. You can make a simple barn with three sides and a roof, or four sides with a roof and an entrance.
In the case of a three-sided barn, try to keep the south side open. This will prevent cold winds and keep the animal warm.
Goats are generally not bothered if you keep them together in an enclosed space. So you may or may not include a stall in the barn.
Cut
It is not recommended to keep goats in a crowded room. The shed must therefore be large enough to perfectly accommodate all your goats, with reasonable space.
The actual size of your barn depends on the size and number of your dairy goats. If you don’t know how much space you need per goat, measure the length of the largest goat in your herd. And allow the goat to have at least 100cm of free space on all four sides.
When measuring, make sure “the goat can easily lie down and turn around in the shed”.
Make sure the barn roof is high enough for your goats to stand comfortably. And they can stay under the roof without the risk of bumping their heads.
Other Features
A good ventilation system is essential. Adding electricity, cooling fans and heaters will give your goats extra comfort. Although it is not mandatory. Create a safe place in any corner or side of the barn to store feed and hay.
It will be better if you have a separate room for feeding, playing and milking. You should build several large stalls to keep them separate from each other (especially during birth and when babies are especially small).
Because you’re raising dairy goats and you can’t let the kids suckle their mothers all the time. Also separate breeding cows from the herd.
