# Goat houses



## Jaycies (May 13, 2016)

I have one alpine and three boer/nubians that share a circle pen that gives them plenty of room to run. In fact, hubby built them a teeter totter which they love! However, this pen does not have a roof and with the upcoming occasional rains and dampness, I want to give them shelter as well. We put up a tarp which should have worked, we thought, however the goats think of it as a toy and possibly a trampoline! 

What have you all done for your goats? I obviously don't want to break the bank on this and even see that igloo dog houses, as some on Pinterest suggested, are pretty pricey when you're buying for four. Plus, I would think they would want to be in the same one?

Any suggestions would be great!


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## Goatzrule (Feb 7, 2013)

My dad got an old plastic water tank that used to be used for roads and cut it in half anf put a hole for them to get in. It creates a lot of heat


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## Deborah Haney (Jul 11, 2017)

We used free pallets to make a small house for our babies. We also have a large plastic dog crate w/o a door that they seem to like. If your goats are adults you could probably make a house that's 2 pallets wide by 2 pallets long. You could maybe use three 2x4s or 2x6s to nail across the underside of the roof, parallel to each other along the sides and center seam. Or surf Craigslist for large crates, dog houses, igloos, small sheds, etc.


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

There are often free or cheap dog houses & dog igloos on Craigslist. I have a large dog house & a small plastic garden shed up on stacked cinder blocks so the goats can go under them or in them, & also not get onto the roofs & ruin them. We drove metal posts through the cinder blocks so they don't slide around. Then I have 3 dogloos which I found for free beside the road. They also use them as climbing toys.


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## Jaycies (May 13, 2016)

Deborah Haney said:


> We used free pallets to make a small house for our babies. We also have a large plastic dog crate w/o a door that they seem to like. If your goats are adults you could probably make a house that's 2 pallets wide by 2 pallets long. You could maybe use three 2x4s or 2x6s to nail across the underside of the roof, parallel to each other along the sides and center seam. Or surf Craigslist for large crates, dog houses, igloos, small sheds, etc.


I️ appreciate your suggestions! It really helps. Would you be able to take a picture of yours for me?


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## Jaycies (May 13, 2016)

Okay I’ll see what I️ can find. Anything’s better than what we have done so far!


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I use these https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...a-box-12-ft-w-x-20-ft-l-x-8-ft-h?cm_vc=-10005

But they are $400 :/ but they last forever!!! If you put it up just right and split in half maybe you could use half for storage of some kind ????
Another thing that I see a lot of people use is those white tote things, if you just search tote on craigslist you'll see what what I mean and you can get those for $40-50 but I'm not sure if you would be able to fit more then one goat in there once they grow up but maybe you could cut them in a way that you could put like 4 together and make something so they can be together. Being that you have 3 together I would try and get something that all can go in so they can snuggle together.
Another idea if you google it is hoop houses made out of cattle panels but I tried that once and it didn't work out well lol really with our mild winters though you won't need anything too fancy just something to block the wind and keep them dry


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## GF3 Boer Goats (Sep 25, 2017)

Jessica84 said:


> I use these https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...a-box-12-ft-w-x-20-ft-l-x-8-ft-h?cm_vc=-10005
> 
> But they are $400 :/ but they last forever!!! If you put it up just right and split in half maybe you could use half for storage of some kind ????
> Another thing that I see a lot of people use is those white tote things, if you just search tote on craigslist you'll see what what I mean and you can get those for $40-50 but I'm not sure if you would be able to fit more then one goat in there once they grow up but maybe you could cut them in a way that you could put like 4 together and make something so they can be together. Being that you have 3 together I would try and get something that all can go in so they can snuggle together.
> Another idea if you google it is hoop houses made out of cattle panels but I tried that once and it didn't work out well lol really with our mild winters though you won't need anything too fancy just something to block the wind and keep them dry


These are IBC totes and are great. Also, look at calf hutches. We got 3 of these for $375


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## wifeof1 (Mar 18, 2016)

This is what we did. 5 wood pallets. Strapped together with metal. Old signs. And old plywood.


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## Einhorn (Jan 2, 2014)

We use IBC tours for our saanen. Two full sized saanen can't fit in, but one plus two babies do very well. Just so you know, the top comes off, and if you lose that, there's a big is hole in the middle. Not perfect for rain. .. also, n if it will be very wet, n I'd recommend putting it on a raised base, is plastic and the train runs down the sides and leaks underneath.


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## ArborGoats (Jan 24, 2013)

Jessica84 said:


> I use these https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...a-box-12-ft-w-x-20-ft-l-x-8-ft-h?cm_vc=-10005
> 
> But they are $400 :/ but they last forever!!! If you put it up just right and split in half maybe you could use half for storage of some kind...


Jessica do you reinforce the inside or outside at all or do your guys leave the structure alone?


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## CrazyDogLady (Aug 9, 2014)

We like these. The goats can climb and play on them, and they aren't too terribly expensive to build.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

ArborGoats said:


> Jessica do you reinforce the inside or outside at all or do your guys leave the structure alone?


The outside no but the inside I put t-posts by 3 of the ribs and tied onto them. They come with these stupid anchor things that you have to twist into the ground but our ground gets so hard that I spent 2 hours putting one in that I just went to the t posts. The frame it's self is super durable! It's not like those white car ports where the pipes just slide into each other, these they slide together then you also put a bolt threw the two pieces to keep together. It's also decently thick pipes


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## Goatzrule (Feb 7, 2013)

You can be creative anything you can find, Bonus points if they can jump on it. Craigslist have materials you can use.


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

You didn't mention if these are does, wethers, etc. Also if you have very cold weather? If you plan to have kids, I do recommend building something that you can separate moms and kids in a nice dry, draft free area.


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## Jaycies (May 13, 2016)

goatblessings said:


> You didn't mention if these are does, wethers, etc. Also if you have very cold weather? If you plan to have kids, I do recommend building something that you can separate moms and kids in a nice dry, draft free area.


Oh you're right! They're all does. Ages 7-8 months old. No kids and not planning on having any. We're in California in the valley so lows are usually bottom 30's. Very rarely go below that.


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## Jaycies (May 13, 2016)

goatblessings said:


> You didn't mention if these are does, wethers, etc. Also if you have very cold weather? If you plan to have kids, I do recommend building something that you can separate moms and kids in a nice dry, draft free area.


Oh you're right! They're all does. Ages 7-8 months old. No kids and not planning on having any. We're in California in the valley so lows are usually bottom 30's. Very rarely go below that.


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## Jaeih (Sep 27, 2017)

We use the expanded version of this dog kennel, with a roof on it. We're also adding the weather-proof panels as Tractor Supply gets them in stock. It also serves as a "corral" to put the goats in so the dogs can run around and play without stressing the goats.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...e-expandable-kennel-10-ft-l-x-5-ft-w-x-6-ft-h


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## Deborah Haney (Jul 11, 2017)

I don't have photos of the original pallet house we built but this is the re-done version using the original house's foundation and scrap wood. My dad hordes wood. He thinks he'll use it all someday. I think he's a class 2 disposaphobic. At least it comes in handy sometimes. Now we only use "The Cubby" when we need to work on the barn (some of our babies are still tiny) or when little ones need somewhere to hide.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

All very good idea's.


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## wifeof1 (Mar 18, 2016)

Put this together yesterday. It's a temporary pen while we relocate our barn. Doubles as a climbing structure.


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## ALBoerGoats (Dec 27, 2015)

Put this shelter together today


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