# Set up for February kidding when its cold



## Breezy-Trail (Sep 16, 2011)

Okay so I have been raising goats since late April.
I started with a FF and her son (meat) and then it was even quite cold at night.

From experience and from research I know that goats are very cold hardy, but my dad is thinking I need to run a furnace in there. To me running a furnace in there would be like lighting $20 bills on fire. It has already gotten down to 20F outside and no water froze in the pen (insulated walls).

Then after I explained that for the 3rd time he said...well the kids will need it if they are born in Feb. I told him if it was really cold I would use a heat lamp.

I would have to pay electricity for a furnace or heat lamp if it got used, but my dad is worried about me loosing any kids.

So my plan is...

1 doe will kid in February and if it is cold (for the kids sake only) there will be a creep gate with access to a heat lamp area. 

Or I could also try a "kid box" that is big enough for 2-3 kids with straw on the bottom. This keeps their body heat in for the most part and they go with mom 3-5 times a day and back into the box. Have any of you guys done this? Would this work without using a heat lamp? 

The kidding stall is draft free for the first 5 ft. I have been emailing a boer raiser near by who has been my mentor. He said there should be no draft at animal height or for about 4-5 ft and anything above that not to worry about, as they need ventilation. It is completely sealed up from the outside wall. It is a middle stall, so there is a duck coop and a feed room on the left and a extra chicken/goat quarantine pen on the right.

The stall is 8X12, so there will be the back area of 3X8 for a kid area (creep gate).
There will be lots of expensive straw in there ($8 a bale, 1 hr drive) and the the goal (as I heard from the Boer guy) is to get them dry and nursed in less that 15 minutes. I got a cheap Blow dryer for this.

Also I will have about 3 sheep "coats" made from the hide/wool of hair sheep. They are actually just a fleece right now, but I was going to cut it to fit and use leather string to tie a "kid coat" if it is really cold.

Has anyone got kid through temps of 20F or colder with no heat lamp?

Sorry this is so long. Just want to make sure I have the right set up. We could easily get sub-zero weather in Feb. but we also might get a thaw at the end of Feb.


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## Burns Branch Boers (Apr 11, 2011)

I dont have any actual experience in this--so my opinion could be incorrect, but I would think a draft free area-with straw, with momma and a heat lamp would be sufficient? You could clamp a heat lamp or two to the walls above them so they shine down? 

We are expecting december kids (It wont be nearly as cold as what you are expecting in your area in fed, since we are in TX) but I am thinking my doe, with the kids, in a stall at night w/heat lamps would be fine.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Jesse I won't lie I am sure as long as the kids are dry you can have them with no heat lamp but I always worry so my kids get a heating lamp at first. I made a box in the corner of the pen for them to go into and then it has a lamp coming from the ceiling so I can adjust the height. I have never had any problems kidding in the winter but I have been present at every winter birth to make sure they get dried off fast. Our barn is over 100 years old so there are some pretty good drafts that come threw so you just have to make sure you have a draft free space for them.


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## Di (Jan 29, 2008)

I guess I'm like your dad. Except I'm also a little cheap, so I use a piglet heater, it's like a heating pad (larger of course) that lays on the floor. I use it for a couple of weeks, my kids are born usually late feb, but one year I started early Feb and I really liked it. Didn't get organized early enough this year... :hair: We also have those "radiator" style heaters that use oil, they are also very good. You will always have the kids curled up next to or on the heater. I make a little "tent" over top of the heater to keep the heat down where I need it. 

I was very afraid of heat lamps getting knocked over and setting something on fire. With these heaters there is very little chance of knocking them over, and if they do it won't burn anything. 

The main thing with winter births is to be there when your doe kids. The one time I left for a few minutes, we had a doe kid, I always check as soon as I get home and was horrified that I may have two dead kids. They were in the birth stall, and it was well bedded with straw. So, if you can't be there when they kid in winter you take the chance of loosing a few. Thankfully, we got our little doelings warmed up, dried off and they were just fine...after having found them wet, cold and almost lifeless!


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## Burns Branch Boers (Apr 11, 2011)

Di, how would one find a piglet heater? That sound cool and safe!


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## Di (Jan 29, 2008)

I forget...old timers disease, lol...ahmmm...I may have found it on ebay...it's a company in Iowa. Let me check around and I'll see if I can find the site.


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## myfainters (Oct 30, 2009)

I use dog jackets on all my kids born in the winter. They look adorable and they keep the babies warm.


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## Di (Jan 29, 2008)

OK, it's called a Kane piglet heating matt. http://www.kanemfg.com/ Hope this takes you there.

This is not a cheap heater. But, I've had mine for 4 years now, and it's still working fine. I don't have the thermostat on mine. It seems to have different "zones", hotter near the cord (they include some pvc pipe to protect cord from chewing), getting cooler toward the other end, but still warm. We humans like to sit on it when we go out in the "frozen tundra" to do the chore of "socializing the kids".

I got the double size, fyi if I were going to buy another, I'd get the single size. Mine is to big for one "family", but, I can't get two does to use the same stall peacefully, so part of it goes unused. But, if you had two stalls side by side you could put the large one under the partition and use it for two does and kids. I may do that this year. It says it saves up 80% over the cost of electricity for a heat lamp!


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## francismilker (Oct 22, 2011)

As long as the kids are out of the wind and the doe gets them cleaned and dryed off pretty quick I don't worry about it at all. Of course, here in Oklahoma it could be 70F. or -10F in February. We get all kinds of weather and have yet to deal with bitter cold during kidding. The only ones I lost during February were triplets that were way under developed.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I try to have each of my 3 chosen bred does kid out between mid February to the first week of March...just my preference due to experience with how hardy "early" kids seem to be.

I've never used a heat lamp and never will...if I feel a kid is too weak to tough it out it will be in the house...hasn't happened yet though in 9 years of deliveries. :wink: 
Get them dry, fed and moving around as quick as possible and they'll be fine.

I have 2 kidding stalls that are solid from the floor up to 4 feet, gates are solid up to 2 feet, my barn is up off the ground so I do keep a thick layer of bedding in them...I'm present at every birth, dry kids well with towels, get them latched on the teat, fluff them up again and put a puppy sweater on them if it's below 25*.....I've had kids born in single digit temps and never had a fatality or frostbitten ears. I did miss 1 birth in February this past year by 5 minutes...I was at work when hubby called and said Bailey didn't "look right"...she wasn't showing sign before I left 5 hours earlier, I was home within 5 minutes and she'd already had him out...it was a warmish day at 38* so all was well. I'm lucky enough to work 5 miles from home and extremely lucky that I am able to come home and check if I feel the need to....I know each of my does well enough also that I can get an idea as to how long it will be before they get down to business....with Bailey though, this was her 2nd freshening and she really didn't look ready to me at all.

I have 1 doe due the end of January 1 due beginning of February and one due the beginning of March( each had their own ideas as to when they wanted to deliver


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## DulmesFamilyBoers (Feb 26, 2011)

We had kids 2/26 and 3/9 of last year without a heat lamp, and all went well. I purchased some dog sweaters from petsmart and walmart on clearance, $2.50 each, and was lucky enough to be there to help get them cleaned off. We had no problems at all. It's an old barn, but it stays pretty warm with a couple dozen steers keeping my goats company, the waters rarely freeze.


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## Tenacross (May 26, 2011)

LOL. Love that pic of kids with sweaters.

Great topic, great answers... Thanks everybody.


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## Breezy-Trail (Sep 16, 2011)

DulmesFamilyBoers said:


> We had kids 2/26 and 3/9 of last year without a heat lamp, and all went well. I purchased some dog sweaters from petsmart and walmart on clearance, $2.50 each, and was lucky enough to be there to help get them cleaned off. We had no problems at all. It's an old barn, but it stays pretty warm with a couple dozen steers keeping my goats company, the waters rarely freeze.


That is exactly when mine are due. Those kids sure do look cute. I HAVE to get some of those dog sweaters. I know goodwill has them for cheap.
What size I wonder (dairy kids, not boer)?


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## DulmesFamilyBoers (Feb 26, 2011)

The sweaters are size small. I think the kids were 7 or 8 lbs at birth.


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## JessaLynn (Aug 30, 2009)

I've had kids born Dec and first week of March.No heat lamp or sweaters.Draft free area with lots of clean straw.If it's bitter cold I give them warm water.They do just fine


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## BareCreekFarm (Nov 20, 2011)

When it is so cold when the kids are born, the most important thing to do is to get them dry and nursing on their mom. We don't use heat lamps until it gets down into the teens, because I am afraid they will burn the barn down. We always have a place to where the kids can get away from their moms, when it gets cold the does lay on the kids to keep them warm. We cut 50 gallon drums in half and cut a whole for the kids to get in and put them in the kidding jugs.


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

I always do Janurary or february kidding. I prefeer it.

I make sure i have fresh straw and a lot of it. I always have mom with lots of hay free choice and have my box of towels outside along with the kidding kit.

I TRY to be ther but that is not always possible as I am sure you are aware of. If I can be there I help mom if she needs it, and I let mom take care of the baby but I try to help her clean it off so I can get it dry as fast as I can. I never leave until I know the baby is nursing and know how to. I ONLY put the heat lamp on them IF they are very small or 20 below or colder. I clean the stall right away and pat fresh straw think so they can bed down well.

I have never lost a baby to the cold in 11 years. 

I dont keep a heat lamp on because 1. they need to learn how to maintain their own body temp (if the power goes off and they are not able to control their temp, you are looking for trouble), 2. I too am afraid of a barn fire. I know someone that had it low enough that it wasa hit and fell and burned the goat bad. I do have one in the ceiling to help take the chill off but it really does not do anything.


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