# Do you put your goats to bed at night or leave them loose?



## guessa1

Just wondering how people keep their goats at night 

So, do you lock your goats up in the barn/shelter at night "put them to bed" as we call it, OR do you let them freely choose to come into shelter if they want or sleep out under the stars if they want?

:whatgoat:

Just curious!


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## burtfarms

we put ours up in the barn at night and let them graze during the day weather permitting.
I am a worry wart! lol we have predators coyotes, bears, neighbor dogs etc.


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## nancy d

This all depends on your predator situation.
Mine have shelter where they usually hang out. 
We also have coyotes, a few off leash dogs & a big cat now & then.
But since we have a couple of LGDs we never worry.


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## ksalvagno

I have to worry about predators including the 2 legged kind so mine get locked up at night.


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## J.O.Y. Farm

I let my boys come and go as they wish.. But they have 6ft fence.. My does get locked in at night, they have mostly 4ft fence so I worry more about them... But i do know Se local breeders who have 4ft fence and let all there goats come and go as they please with no problems  it's a personal preference


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## SalteyLove

This thread is making me feel guilty! I definitely do not lock any goats in a barn at night. Actually, I would probably end up with a dead bullied doe or two if I did! My goats are still sleeping out at pasture as our construction project (new barn) is completed. The pasture is 4' woven wire. So far none have been eaten!


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## Jessica84

Lol don't feel bad salty that's how my goats get treated too  mine would also kill each other if I locked them up. I'm already going to have to build different shelters because I have brats that like to stand in the entry way and keep others out so soon they will have these shelters and other shelters with just a roof that way they can run or enter as they please.


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## guessa1

Oh gosh! I didn't mean to make anyone feel guilty! I was just wondering.... our last 2 does we locked up together in a stall in the barn and they were totally content together like that, and these 2 new goats don't even like being locked up in the barn together (and I would never put them in a stall together because of the bully thing!)...so I was just wondering as we get more goats what to do and what other people do! There's no right or wrong.....I was just curious


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## ariella42

The reason we're selling our Alpine is because we can't lock the girls up together anymore. If we had more than one area in the shelter, such as separate stalls, that might be different for us. Honestly, I worry less about her hurting the others than about Beth hurting herself trying to get away from her. We used to lock everyone in the chain link pen at night to give them some extra protection though, since we don't have any livestock guardians. We haven't had any problems with them being out at night so far, but I do worry about winter and hungry coyotes.


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## lottsagoats1

I keep the door to their pen open to the outside 24/7. The only time I close it is when the snow and cold wind is blowing into the stall. Like today. We are having a heck of a blizzard and I shut them in the barn because the wind was whipping the snow into the stall and making the bedding wet.

We have predators, both animal and human, but having them locked inside makes it easier for the human predators to get to them. I will take my chances with the animal predators over the human ones any day!

I used to pen the goats in every night. Then a neighbor kid torched my barn. The dogs kennel had a door they could go in and out at will and they escaped. The goats were locked in 3 different pens and died. I will never lock my animals in the barn/kennel unless my son or I are home.


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## 5goatgirls

Angela, hey there, I am also in NC. We use to have a night pen that all of the goats came into at night and we locked them up. Our night pen has two small sheds as well as open space if they wanted to sleep outside. I say use to because over two years ago we added 2 Pyrs and had to take the night pen fence down so the dogs could do their job. Since you are in NC (I am not sure which area you are in), we do have an increase in coyote population throughout the central part. You are right there is no right or wrong here. Do what works best for you!


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## ariella42

We're in WNC, right on the border of Pisgah National Forest. My parents lost a few cats to coyotes a couple of years ago. Where we are now, our neighbors have large dogs (in fences), so I think that that has helped keep them away for now. However, once game gets scarce, I'm afraid they'll start chancing it. When we were in Chapel Hill, we had coyotes who would come into our yard in our apartment complex at night. I think they're getting braver every year.


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## Jessica84

Ohhh lottsGoats I'm so sorry to hear about your goats. I hope the little punk was held responsible for his auctions. 
But I agree I don't think there is a right or wrong answer either. I have to admit if I only had 3 or 2 I would probably lock them up at night simply because I could lol but I have to many and the coyotes around here don't like anything that looks like a trap so they stay away from the fence. Now when I let them out to graze I've had a few I've needed to take care of and small kids are not allowed out but for the most part the coyotes are not very aggressive. Now at my brothers house about 20 miles away he has had them come on his porch and tip the rabbit cage over and dog threw the wire to get his rabbit  so I know some people probably really need to take the time to lock their goats up........just happy I don't lol


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## Greybird

Mine are free to come in or out of their shelter at any time, day or night. For the most part they stay close to it during the night but they will often bed down just outside of it if the weather is dry. Otherwise they put themselves inside.


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## Darlaj

We have to lock out girls up at night ... Cougar are plentiful.. We have 16 does right now and one has to be stalled separately.... She's a bit of a bully and likes to hit sides not good w breed does!! Even the buck get tucked away at night 


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## NyGoatMom

lottsagoats1 said:


> I keep the door to their pen open to the outside 24/7. The only time I close it is when the snow and cold wind is blowing into the stall. Like today. We are having a heck of a blizzard and I shut them in the barn because the wind was whipping the snow into the stall and making the bedding wet.
> 
> We have predators, both animal and human, but having them locked inside makes it easier for the human predators to get to them. I will take my chances with the animal predators over the human ones any day!
> 
> I used to pen the goats in every night. Then a neighbor kid torched my barn. The dogs kennel had a door they could go in and out at will and they escaped. The goats were locked in 3 different pens and died. I will never lock my animals in the barn/kennel unless my son or I are home.


That's awful!! People are sick 

As for my goats, they are not locked in unless it is brutally cold....but I live on a pretty populated road and everyone has dogs so we rarely see predators in the yard.....I do worry about 2 legged and 4 legged sometimes though!


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## RPC

When I lived at home with my mom my goats were shut in at night because we had way to many coyotes. I still don't have land so my goats are at my dad's now and there are no predators in the area so they are never locked in. If I can get the people to sell me the land behind me I am not sure what I will do. I might get an lgd and then keep them out 24/7 or they may only be out while it's day light I am not sure yet.


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## Buckleberry Woods Farm

My goats get locked up in the shelter at night. They probably don't need to be as the predator count is low and people around here keep their dogs secured on their property. It's just their little tradition to line up to go in at night. One of my does sometimes tries to bully my Saanen doeling but she stands up for herself and the doe leaves her alone. It's raining buckets here right now so I am sure they are appreciating being cozy together in their shelter right now (-:


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## kccjer

Mine also go in and out at will. Of course, we also don't have a nice cozy barn they can be locked into either. They have a metal "calf hut" type shelter and some plastic totes in their pasture. When kidding, we move them to the barn where we have 4 pens set up. 2 of those pens have doors they can go outside, the other 2 are secure (or suppose to be anyway....Cinn has discovered that if she wallops the post or gates long enough she can pop the connecting gates open).


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## Ziegen

My situation is certainly different than those who have a farm with many goats. I just have two nigerian dwarfs as pets in my back yard. They sleep in a dog create inside at night... spoiled rotten ;-)


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## mayia97420

mine go in at night - we have coyotes and bear that I have seen. I have been told we have large cats and foxes also.


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## groovyoldlady

We put our girls in the barn every night.


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## DappledBoers

My don't even think my goats know what shelter is lol... They are never in the sheds unless they have a baby


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## Trickyroo

My guys have access to their barn and plenty of calf huts all the time.
The only time I lock them up is at night when its bitterly cold. The rest of the times they have their freedom  The bucks are in their calf huts and can go and come as they please. In the winter i put up and homemade draft , snow and rain guard on their calf huts . So it keeps out everything but them  Makes me feel better too 
We have no predators here , so we are very lucky that way.


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## margaret

I'm in NC too, all my girls get locked in at night, I'm not worried about predators, i think it keeps them warmer since they were clipped for a show last month.


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## NyGoatMom

I should add all kids get locked up at night....for at least 4-5 months. The first two weeks mom gets put into a stall at night with her kids, and after two weeks mom gets an overnight break but kids get grain in their stall....


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## Trickyroo

Oh yes , i totally forgot about when i had does with babies.
Yes , the mothers and their babies would be locked up in a stall together for the night


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## ThreeHavens

My girls are locked in a barn - my boys have a shed I can't lock but I do shut them in a smaller pen at night.


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## Buck Naked Boers

We have a 36X36 barn that is mostly open except for hay and feed rooms. The herd stays inside at night, we put them to bed. lol. We don't have any LG animals so therefore we are the guardians and if we left them out....they would be eaten. We have regular coyotes around our farm but we put up a new fence this year that is about 5 ft with electric on top of that. So far nothing has attempted to come over or under that fence. We just don't take any chances just in case tho.

Good question though! I like to see what people do so it is good to ask!

Tami


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## Ikkaya

I lock everyone up because we have too many predators in our area, ie. coyotes, cougars and bears.


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## Summersun

My goats are used to being penned up 24/7. Now that I recently turned them loose, they stay out all the time. I still feed them in the pens so that the horses can't eat their feed but they come and go as they please. We have coyotes and bobcats around but never had any come after my goats or my mini horses and foals. As for neighbors dogs, they have all been warned WE SHOOT TO KILL! I worry more about our chickens and other birds than the goats.


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## PowerPuffMama

All of our does get locked in at night. There is a whole routine that my DH goes through with the does. They each have a feeding stand (SPOILED!!!) and then get tucked into their pen for the night. They only girls that do not go up on the stand are the ones that are expecting and we worry about them jumping on the stand. Of course, they jump on all the things outside without a problem but DH is paranoid.

The boys have a pen with a goat hut so they can go in and out. I notice that if it is nice, they sleep out under the stars. If it is cold or raining, they hide in the hut!


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## GreenMountainNigerians

I put all the does and the bucks to bed in their respective barns at night. In addition if I'm going to be gone and no one else home they are locked in their barn. We live on the edge of the woods and have bear,coyote and cougar on the property. Also a couple of bobcats occasionally. 
They know the routine. They get their dinner of grain so going into the barn isn't a problem


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## StaceyRosado

They have a smaller night pen. I only lock up in the actual barn on very cold nights or sudden drop in temperature.


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## Lstein

Right now mine aren't locked up at night, during the winter they were and the whole time we were kidding. Once it started getting nice out though they stayed in the pasture but had access to a horse trailer with straw in it. They ignored it and slept outside for the most part, all summer, except when it rained then there was a bunch of faces poking out the door. 

Once I get the inside of my barn done (last winter is was just an empty pole barn, this year I have more permanent fixtures in place) I'm going to start locking them up at night. Even though I have a llama who is very protective of them, I don't like how close the coyotes have been coming. There aren't as many pheasants and rabbits as there was last year and there's ALOT of coyotes now. Almost scary to go outside sometimes, when they are howling on all sides of the farm...sometimes even sounds like they are juuussst past the range of the yard light.


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## teejae

I have Toggenburgs and have always locked them in the yards at night for their own safety.We have in the past left them in in paddock at night to graze only to have them all bolt back to the yards in a panic even with our Maremma on guard.
Even the sheep will sleep near the yards,Ive never locked them up and think its the herd mentality to keep together.
We are near the tropics so cold isn't an issure we do however get Dingo's and feral dogs,teejae


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## RobynB

I was glad to see this post! With Winter approaching, I've been in a quandary about whether or not to shut them in at night. We do have coyotes in the area but we also have a large dog who does perimeter checks every night which seems to keep them at a safe distance. The goats have free access to the barn 24/7 and they voluntarily bed down inside at night. It seems, from what I am reading here, that precipitation is the only concern rather than temperature. I have been closing the doors when temps dip below freezing. Do I not need to do that?


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## ksalvagno

You don't need to if you feel it is fine. I have to keep mine locked in during bad weather because my door faces the west which is the way our weather comes in. So unless I want snow and rain in my goat area, I have to close the door.


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## HoosierShadow

This time of year they put themselves to bed. We have 2 that stay in a pen that is attached to the back of the barn/back sleeping area, then 6 others who have a large cattle panel shelter w/round bale in it. Our girls go in when the sun sets, or sometimes linger right around their shelter.

During the summer they prefer to sleep outside.

The only time I lock anyone in is usually just if they have young babies. They get stalled at night for a couple of weeks before they are due so they get used to having their kidding stall/routine. 
After that it just depends on the doe & kids. Generally we let them out for a few hours on/off through the first 3 days <weather permitting>, and work them up to staying out all day by about 7 days old, and stall only at night until they are about 2-3 weeks old.


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## Trickyroo

I lock mine up when the temps get low during the night , other then that , they have free reign to go in or out.


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## Skybison

this thread is getting me all excited for future goat plans! Right now I only have two little pet ND wethers, but the plan is to start raising Boer, so we'll have plenty of goats eventually.

We have one smaller pasture right now, which I am planning on keeping pregnant does, kids, and new dams in. It will soon have a small barn with one big stall for everybody to stay in at night, and two kidding pens. 

The bigger pasture will be connected to the smaller paddock, and will be where dams get to go during the day to take breaks from being mommies, and also for them to go munch on some brush (the smaller pen has very little roughage). And it will also be where our meat wethers and show wethers stay, as well as open does.

OH, and at night I am planning on opening the gate that connects the two pastures, so the LGDs can have access to both paddocks at night when the stock are vulnerable. And it will also be good to have a place to put our male LGD in case he is no good with kids. He is still young, so he may improve with age, but I have seen him chase our two wethers from the window. He doesn't do it when I'm outside, and I have no where to put him away from the goats when I'm not there to watch him. Fortunately our female pup gets locked up in a small pen when I'm not there and she is learning well.


Lol I think I'm a bit too excited. I've done quite a bit of planning


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## RobynB

What breed of LGD do most of you prefer or is there one?


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## eqstrnathlete

Up every night. They get into too much trouble.


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## jrf2013

I don't lock mine up, they love to sleep on their big wooden spool that has a few trees surrounding it in the middle of their pen. They will go into their house if it rains or really windy and chilly or if it happens to snow. So I just let them decide. They have a 4ft fence then another 2 ft of spaced out barb wire on top of that to help keep predators out.


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## 5goatgirls

RobynB, there are several great LGD breeds. I have 2 Great Pyrenees and they have given us so much peace of mind here.


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## dnchck

I do close my goats in at night. I have a two stall barn and they get the run of the whole thing. They all really get along and cuddle up with each other at night..i'm too afraid of keep them out at night with coyotes and dogs everywhere.That is really sad about losing your goats because of a psycho 
teenager. I would be devastated, which I'm sure you were. What is wrong with people??


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## AlvinLeanne

We don't "put ours to bed"  They are free to roam and get under the shelter if they want to. We have ours in a 6 strand high tensile fence that is electric.


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## takethelead

The shelter for our goats is open so they come and go as they please. We have coyotes and neighborhood dogs bears big cats and also some people that come through that I don't trust. But we have 2 great pyrenees with the goats. And our neighbor has a big big mixed dog that also helps keep everything away. She walks one side of our goat pen every night. She loves the goats. She's never been in with them but she licks them through the fence and she will go nuts if someone she doesn't know goes near them. 

I prefer great pyrenees because they are so motherly to my baby goats and I have a lot of people with kids that come and buy goats and they are extremely tolerant of them. I had a anatolia x akbash but he was more aggressive than what I needed but an amazing gaurdian.


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## AvyNatFarm

Mine go out of the pasture to graze every afternoon, but I put them back in the pasture every night with our great pyrnese. The coyotes start moving at dusk so I'm pretty obsessive about securing them by then. I don't actually lock them in the barn.


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## Rhandi74

Our goats have access to their shelter 24/7 but are not locked up at night. We have a smaller area fenced around the shelter that we do close at night. They come into the smaller area for feeding time each evening and we close the gate. They generally put themselves up each night when it is dark. They do prefer to sleep outside in very hot weather. They live with 2 Great Pyrenees that use the shelter also and do a great job at keeping predators away.


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