# Simple Shelter Ideas?



## Skyz84 (Jul 25, 2011)

We are sectioning off several areas of our property for Nigerian Dwarf goat pens. The main pen for my does has a good sized shelter for them. I am working on smaller pens now. (To temporarily keep kids, a buck & a wether, or possibly a mom with babies). I am hoping to make simpler shelters in these pens. Maybe 3 sided shelters? Does anyone have photos? Would love to bounce around some ideas.


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## GotmygoatMTJ (Apr 25, 2009)

Calfhuts are good. I've got 4 at the moment. Used to have 8. I also have cut in half metal culverts.

Then I have tarp shelters. Cattle panels and t'posts, and zip ties and a tarp make excellent housing.


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## Maggie (Nov 5, 2010)

We have a couple shelters we built. This particular one has been moved around a few times. It is 4 X 8 at the base, and 4' tall at the opening towards the center. I plan to expand it this winter and put a front across half of it for our buck to get out of the wind better. We just push it onto our flatbed trailer with the tractor and drive it into another pasture, then push it off the trailer by hand. Out buck beats the crap out of it and hasn't busted it up yet. It is a little difficult to clean inside of it, but I manage. 








It now has a hay feeder inside that you can see behind the does.


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## Epona142 (May 26, 2008)

I have a few doghouses, a wooden house, a three sided shelter, and my newest homes...










Love them. So do the goats. And come winter, I could set up heat lamps at the top if need be.


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

Epona like those! :wink: Reuse. :thumb: 

I have and love calf hutches but they are very expensive. I also have plastic dog houses and big dogLoos and wooden structures but calf hut is my fav. Heavy no wind issues. No bottom so pee soaks right into ground. Can be moved by 2 people.


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

Maggie, I love the shelters you built. Very nice and efficient.


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

Our first shelters were dog kennels covered with tarps. These worked very well for new mammas with their babies as we could lock them up inside at night. We have built permanent structures now but still use the dog kennels during kidding season for newborns. We put a tub inside for the babies to crawl into for safety. They love to crawl into small spaces. The dogaloos are what we also love to use for the older kids. We have large and extra large ones we have found on Craigs lists inexpensively. The young kids love these and will sleep 4 or 5 until they can not any longer fit inside. The dog kennels make a quick easy set up for a shelter that you can easily cover with a tarp.


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## Ebony Queen (Oct 8, 2011)

I have a lean-to roof shelter with 4" boards and chicken wire up the sides. Epona, LOVE it! Reduce, reuse, recycle!


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## Skyz84 (Jul 25, 2011)

So many good ideas!!

I have seen Calfhuts before but I had no idea what they were called. Now I know what to start asking around for 

When I 1st brought my girls home I had made this hoop shelter for them :









Worked great for several months until my REALLY naughty girl decided it gave her a GREAT view of the world. Once she discovered she could perch on top it didn't take long for it to give way.

While we were in the middle of building another shelter I tried the tarps & T-posts idea but we have some crazy high winds here at times. Didn't work too well.

We had some scrap lumber from an old fence.... turned it into this:









For $15 in material it works pretty well. Put a tarp over top to help keep rain out. Added a 1/2 door in case I need to keep anyone IN, Made it tall enough my naughty girl can't jump on top! Now I just need to insulate it more. I think it has too much of a draft if we use it for kidding.

Maggie I love your shelter! Very nice looking! onder: I think that tops my list at the moment! I think something like that would be perfect for our buck pen.

Epona142 ~ Neat idea! Would be great for winter but where I live I think it would get too hot in the summer. Very good idea though!

I thought about dog houses but I just have a hard time picturing a goat fitting in one. It makes since.... my Shepard is bigger then my goats so they should fit. Might have to just pick one up and see. Then again I'm not sure my girls would go into something like a dog house.


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## Epona142 (May 26, 2008)

Oh yeah, they get hot in warm weather, but of course, my goats prefer to sleep out in good warm weather anyways, so I don't worry about it. Plus they have the large shelter to hang out in if they feel the need for shade and don't want to walk out to the trees.


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## DulmesFamilyBoers (Feb 26, 2011)

We have built shelters that can be moved wherever needed. We rent the pasture from my husband's uncle, so we can't build anything permanent. I'm pretty excited about how it's coming together.


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## jaycee (Aug 3, 2011)

Here's the shed I just built for my two feeder pigs. It's 6' X 3' ... behind it you can see the lean-to shed I attached to my barn also this fall which is 20' X 10' ... I saw an old barn falling down made of rusty corrugated metal. I asked the farmer if I could pay for some of it, he said take what you want that's less he'd have to haul off. I also saw them taking down the roof over the pumps of a moto-mart they said it was hail damaged and let me have it. That's what I used for the roof.

I built the lean-to with 6X6 posts and beams to house my buck and split it in 2 pens letting the pigs have the other side... but I decided very fast I didn't want those smelly pigs in there making a mud-hole of my shed. Will probably use that side for some hanging rabbit cages later. The little hog hut cost about $30 in lumber... used 2 8 ft treated 4x4's cut in half for the posts and 3 treated 12 ft 2X6's cut in lengths of 6 and 3 feet... basically just make a box from the lumber then nail the tin to it. Its not in the ground but its heavy, I can move it around one end at a time but the pigs cant move it. When the pigs are butchered in the spring, I'll push it into one of my goat pens...


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

I get old apple bins for free from our fruit warehouse, cut an opening on one side and flip them upside down and tarp. :thumb:


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## milk and honey (Oct 31, 2010)

I LOVE this topic !!! Great pics everyone... and great ideas!


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

One of our doe shelters. We just built another one like this one for our yearlings come kidding season as they will be out in different pen then. The smaller area has a fence with a smaller hole in it that the young babyish kids can go into and eat away from the mommas without getting smashed.


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## Busy Bee (Sep 17, 2010)

We wanted something for shelter that wouldn't empty our checkbook also for our Nigerians. We came up with this, modified industrial shipping crates. We reinforce the sides and put a roof on them, and they are already on skids which keeps them from getting rotten. You can find them in all different sizes. The biggest one we have made is around 6' long, 3' wide, and 4' hight. They are easy to clean out with a shovel & rake, and can be moved all over the pasture.


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

Oh those are cute.. love those.


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

Those are great!!


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## Burns Branch Boers (Apr 11, 2011)

Busy bee--those are great! Super idea

We just got done w/building our first shelter. This is the buck house. It is 8 ft long by 4 ft deep. There is also a wind wall attached so if they want to stay out of the wind, but don't want to go inside the house they will be sheltered. It is made so that the house, itself, is 10 inches up off of the ground. The house sits under the overhang of our barn. We made the door of the shelter face the barn wall so the wind would not blow init. It has been done for 1 week and our buck and wether sleep inside every night. THey poke their heads out, side by side, every morning when they hear us coming :laugh:


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

Oh.. Burns Branch, 
Thats super nice. Very nice property too.


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## Busy Bee (Sep 17, 2010)

I love all the idea's they are so ingenious. I wish I had known about this site awhile ago when we started with our goats. I have enjoyed reading all the posts, and so many times I lose track of time.


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## CluckyJay (Aug 3, 2011)

I just love this site!


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