Infrastructure ( shedding, bedding, fencing etc.) I am writing this book from a mild area of Australia where we don't get weather extremes and animals can usually spend their whole lives out in a paddock. In many other areas of this country and the world, extremes of heat and cold means that you will need to provide more shelter than I will describe here for the comfort of your animals. Shelter from heat, rain and cold are important for not only the welfare of your animals but milk production too. In hot weather, livestock do not spend a lot of time grazing so milk production will suffer and in cold and wet weather their bodies use up so much food in keeping warm that they don't have much reserves to put into making milk.
Shedding, shelter:
Always have shelter from hot sun and driving rain, even if it is a strong hedge of trees or a three sided shed with a dry floor. If you build a tin-roofed shed, keep the roof high as the sound of rain on a tin shed can scare some animals and they won't use it.
In countries with severe winters, you may have to keep your animals in a shedded environment for much of the year.
Keep drafts to a minimum but allow for good air flow, which means having a quite open shed with wind and rain protection or a very closed shed with high ventilation windows. There must not be drafts of cold air flowing under doors or through gaps.
Goats: Goats must have shelter from rain and cold. Cows are usually just fine out in the weather but goats are tender and can easily become sick or die in cold weather. All they need is a warm, dry floored shed to keep healthy.
Problems:
Mice/rats
Mice and rats are a universal problem in sheds where animals are fed. There is not much you can do about them except have one or two good mouse catching cats. Remember not to use rugs/coats on shedded animals to keep them warm as mice will crawl under the rugs and annoy the poor doe or cow to such an extent that she goes off her milk. Try not to have extra feed in the feeding troughs, only feed enough that the animals eat it all within 20-30 minutes.
Your feed room should be separate with cement floors and a mouse-proof door. You can use stronger trapping measures in this room but don't use poisons as dead mice and rats will contaminate the feedstuffs and could kill your animals with botulism poisoning.
Manure/hygiene
If you are shedding your animals for an extended period during the winter there will be a build-up of manure in the bedding. The most often way of managing this is to have 'deep litter' bedding. At the start, a deep layer of straw is laid down on the floor. The floor should be cement with a central channel (to help drain away moisture), or dirt.
The straw layer will thin as it is trampled and manure laid on it. Occasional top-ups of straw are required. The layer of manure in the straw will heat up due to bacterial action and keep the shed warm. In the spring the bedding layer is forked or bulldozed out.
Before you use a shed for winter shedding, make sure you will easily be able to remove the bedding, it should have a wide door.
If any wet spots occur in the bedding, that patch should be forked out as it occurs.
Goats – If you are shedding goats during the winter, you should make sure they don't get bored by placing levels in the shed for them to jump on. These can be strong boxes or logs. Goats don't do well if they are bored and can also get into bad habits like chewing and self destructive behaviour.
Goats may eat their bedding, this is usually impossible to combat.
Fencing:
Good fencing is a must for all animals. NEVER tether animals for more than a few hours at a time.
Problems:
Getting out
Make sure you fencing is good before you get and animal for two reasons: 1, if she gets out and gets hit by a car you may get fined and lose your animal. 2, An animal that gets used to getting out is a nuisance and will keep this habit and always be trying to find a way out even after being put behind good fencing. For this reason always buy a (goat especially)that has been reared on a dairy or that you know is trained to fences.
An animal that gets out of your fences should be sold as it is usually not worth the trouble but you can try electric fencing. This is a good and safe way of keeping your animals where they belong. It does not take them long to learn that the fence 'bites' if they lean on it.
You can pick up electric or battery powered devices as well as insulators and the other stuff you need for electric fencing at your local rural/farm store as well as advice on setting it up. If you have no experience in putting up fencing, it is worth paying a fencer to do it for you.
Don't try the old ways of keeping an animal in by tying a stake around its neck, this is illegal in most places and can cause chafing and sores on the animal.
Tethering: Never to tether your animals except for short periods. The reasons are many:
1, It is cruel, she cannot graze where she likes in a more natural manner and will get bored. She will stomp on an make the grass around her too sour to eat.
2, She will need more than she can get in such a small area
3, She will be limited in the shelter she has access to if needed
4, She might knock over her water and you might be away and not able to refill it
5, Animals like dogs might worry her and she cannot defend herself. Many goats are killed by dogs while tethered.
6, She might get tangled even if she is used to being tethered. Some cows and many goats are killed in this manner. I have also seen goats with missing legs after getting tangled while their owners are away and the blood is cut off to their legs.
The only time an animal should be tethered is for a couple of hours while you are keeping an eye on her. This should only be used if there is a bit of lawn you want eaten and to give your girl a bit of a treat.
Rubbing
Some cows, and goats especially like to have something to rub on and if your paddock is bare, they will choose your fence posts, eventually breaking or loosening them. Always have a post or tree in the paddock for them to rub on.
Note – if your animal is rubbing, make sure they don't have lice or another skin problem.
Chewing
The above advice goes for chewing goats also. Be aware that chewing could also be a sign on a nutritional deficiency. Try to always have a salt block or mineral block in their shed for them to lick.
