# Advice for goat keeping in desert areas?



## amandarenee (Feb 18, 2018)

Hello all!

I've been lurking here for about a year, pining for a little goat herd of my own. It _finally_ looks like we will be able to set up and get two does by the end of the year, which I am very excited about! I am, however, wondering if any desert dwellers had any advice on things that they had experienced and wished they had thought of in advance? Specifically, I'm in the Phoenix area, but I know parts of TX/CA/NM can be fairly similar in climate.

So far, here's what I've thought of to deal with desert issues:
-We've decided to have an AC unit in the "goat barn" (which is going to be a repurposed 10x12 insulated metal shed we have in the yard already) for the dog days of summer; I was worried an evaporative cooler would make the air too moist and risk respiratory issues during monsoon season.
-Also, due to the fact that we live literally next door to a HUGE horse boarding facility, we have a noticeable scorpion problem during spring and summer, which we hope to offset with the addition of some chickens.  From what I've read, scorpion stings are rarely deadly, but I think that the chickens in addition to our typical pet-safe chemical spray is a wise idea.

Anything else I should consider??


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

I do not live in a desert I do know that goats are desert animals. you will need shade i worry about the AC in the barn. the rapid change of temp in the barn then out of the barn may cause respiratory problems. pneumonia is my worry.
goats regulate there temp through there horns so you may want to keep there horns.I am following this post you have an interesting set of challenges.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

There are goats well adapted to desert conditions, if I ONLY could remember their name ... Beduin goats???

Scorpions are very different, try to figure out which kind(s) of scorpions your neighbour has!


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

Nubians are from warmer climates, the ears help dissipate heat (like elephants' ears). I am sure there are many goat owners that live in the desert areas, hopefully, some will chime in soon!


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Oh, I forgot: WelCome! :bighug:


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

I agree with Fivemoremiles. I would not put A/C in the goat barn. Shade and a fan should be plenty adequate. I also agree with Goats Rock... Nubians are a great "hot climate" breed. Boers are also a hot climate breed. The ears are great radiators--better than horns in my opinion. I also love Nubians' personalities. They's such friendly, sweet goats. My Nubian bucks were some of the gentlest creatures I've ever been around and could be trusted with babies more than most of my does. I just spoke with a fellow from Texas the other day who has Alpines and Nubians. They had a heat wave of 114* last summer and his Alpines were miserable. They were panting in the shade while his Nubians never even sought the shade. He said they were lying out in full sunshine and didn't seem to to notice the heat at all.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Welcome, glad you are here.


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

Welcome to the forum! Very opposite of desert here, so no help.


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## GoofyGoat (Sep 21, 2018)

Welcome aboard!

There are a lot of goats in the Phoenix area. The YouTube channels "weed em and reap" is great for that area so is "Blue cactus dairy goats". 
Just an idea, they might have some thing that will help you get things figured out.

There's a lot of great information around here..enjoy


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## spidy1 (Jan 9, 2014)

Hi! ok you need long eard goats, NO AC in barn, just open venting spaces like chain link gates/sides open to the shade out side (east or south east) or an open front will work, good cyote proof fence, chickens will help (they are ok with the goats as long as the goats do not get into there food) rarely do scorpions bother goats, I prefer Boers, as I have yet to find a Nubian without CAE, Boer Alpine or LaManchas (cross) are great milkers, some Boer Lamanchas have short ears so if you go that way get a long eard one, and as mentioned KEEP the horns on (you will see them weep/sweat some hot days) water, water, water, NEVER let them run low, my Boer buck loved his daily bathes on very hot days when I lived in Cochise (near Tuscon) he is the black one in my avatar.
Mesquite, the leaves are good, the beans are WONDERFUL! my goats would go crazy for them!!! watch the thorns, they can cause a BAD infection in both you and the goats, I would spend hours collecting beans for them (and getting thorns in me) the beans will make the milk super sweet and higher cream, I gave my milk doe 1 gall coffee can of beans a day and the rewards where magnificent, just a though, I have lived in the semi dessert all my life, down by Tuscon for a year, be patient with me and I can answer all your questions about dessert living with goatees!!!!


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

How is the water supply at your farm? Quantity, quality, reliability?


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## amandarenee (Feb 18, 2018)

Thank you all for your replies!! I am frequently terrible at checking threads so I apologize for the delay!

As for the no votes on the AC...here in AZ, when the summer heat kicks in and we are looking at highs over 110* for weeks at a time, (with temps over 120 for usually a week every July), more than a fan is at times necessary. A lot of people here opt to use misters, which I actually did for meat rabbits I previously raised, but our soil is dry and it can make messy puddles, so I was not a huge fan. That, coupled with goat's delicate respiratory systems, made me think that a *small* AC unit would be better. In my goat barn (10x12', so, more like a shed), the AC would only manage to get the temp down to about 95-100 on the really hot days. I was planning on putting in a timer so that it wasn't running 24/7, only during the heat of the day to take the edge off for them. I will also have a ceiling fan to use when the temps aren't crazy hot, windows for getting a cross-breeze, and the goats will be free to enter/exit the barn as they want during the day to self-regulate. 

We have a small area for the goats, and so I have been planning on getting Nigerians. I think our fenced outdoor area is roughly 800sqft, so it should be plenty for two does. However, I didn't think it was enough space for Nubians. Mini Nubians I'm kind of torn on, as I've read that they're not "truly" mini unti F3, and I was worried that, since they are a hybrid, it would mean my son couldn't show them in 4H, which we plan to do when he is old enough to join in a few months.


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## amandarenee (Feb 18, 2018)

GoofyGoat said:


> Welcome aboard!
> There are a lot of goats in the Phoenix area. The \channels "weed em and reap" is great for that area so is "Blue cactus dairy goats".


Thank you for the suggestion!!


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## amandarenee (Feb 18, 2018)

spidy1 said:


> Mesquite, the leaves are good, the beans are WONDERFUL! my goats would go crazy for them!!! watch the thorns, they can cause a BAD infection in both you and the goats, I would spend hours collecting beans for them (and getting thorns in me) the beans will make the milk super sweet and higher cream


What a great idea! I knew they were edible, but I would have never thought to give them to goats. I have two huge mesquites in my front yard, and they produce plenty of beans every year!



Trollmor said:


> How is the water supply at your farm? Quantity, quality, reliability?


I live in the suburbs, so water is plentiful and clean. I have an underground tap run to the fenced area, so I was hoping to run an auto-waterer in there to ensure constant access to fresh water while outside. Buckets can dry up very quickly out here, especially in the sun!


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

So it is not a complete desert, then!  If the buckets "only" dry up due to the heat, I will be pleased! How about all kinds of microbe growth, e.g. in the tube? That would be a problem here.


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## amandarenee (Feb 18, 2018)

When I kept rabbits, the water lines would get a little gunky every year or so with mineral build-up, so I would replace them as the heat makes them brittle and prone to popping leaks. I kept the lines all out of the direct sun, as the water would get too hot to drink, so that does help to keep any visible microbe growth down a bit as well.

Of course, not all microbe growth is necessarily visible, so my hubby and I were planning on flushing the lines with something called StarSan, a "no-rinse" sanitizer that is used in restaurants. I still insist on rinsing it out, because, ew, but it does a great job cleaning hard-to-reach places! I figure that a once a month rinse will keep everything nice and sanitary--and totally worth the effort to keep the goats happy and healthy!


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## wifeof1 (Mar 18, 2016)

So if an AC is not a good idea, I suppose a swamp cooler would be frowned upon also.
Where we live in the high desert that's the system most people use inside their homes. 
No problems with dampness at all. 
When it is that hot it is also very dry here.


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## spidy1 (Jan 9, 2014)

the reason AC is not a good idea is when you cool them in the barn and they go out side for a min (or the cooler brakes), the change in temps if extreme will cause them to get instant pneumonia, just like in cold climates when you heat your chicken barn and the heater brakes overnight, all the chickens die that night, its not pretty but it happens, if you are EXTREMELY vigilant and dont let the change get extreme you may be OK, but just be aware of the danger, you may loose a few goats


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

Im like DD we are in the mountains, however I would have to agree on the AC...going from a temp of 72-75 degrees, to 110+ to me would breed colds. Which will kill them

I have a Nigi, he's pretty robust in terms of temperature...in South Ga it was NORMAL for us to have heat indexes in the 115 range with Humidity...so they can take it, but not sure how much they like it.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

No Swamp coolers with water on or air conditioners, as mentioned, too much cold and moisture right on the goats. 
Causing great chances for pneumonia.


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## amandarenee (Feb 18, 2018)

wifeof1 said:


> So if an AC is not a good idea, I suppose a swamp cooler would be frowned upon also.
> Where we live in the high desert that's the system most people use inside their homes.
> No problems with dampness at all.
> When it is that hot it is also very dry here.


Swamp coolers work great here too, except during monsoon season, which is during the peak heat. Then, it's so humid outside, they don't do much at all to change temp and just add more humidity to the air.

So you all think that just having a fan is going to be sufficient, even when my temps are 115* and above? It gets like that here for most of June and July, sometimes even in to August. And we will get about a week over 120*. The small AC unit I have in the barn (it used to be a workshop) can only get the temps down by about 10-15* during the heat of the summer. I used to run it on a timer during the heat of the day. I hesitate to use misters because of the damp, though the misters would be outside. Inside the barn, even with insulation, the temp is going to be higher than it is outside. The heat here is extreme; I grew up in Michigan and when I moved out here I was in absolute shock over how hot it is. It took me about 6 years to get used to it!!

I have been worrying about it a lot. Once, during the summer, my pool guy turned off the misters to my rabbit enclosure to use the hose to fill up my pool; when I got home three hours later, about a third of my 25 or so adolescent rabbits were dead. :'(

I have pretty well narrowed down my options to two different Nigerian breeders, so I will wait until I am close to ready to buy and ask about how they deal with the heat here! They shouldn't mind dealing with a newbie that's buying from them.


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## wifeof1 (Mar 18, 2016)

What is the night temp?
What I notice when we have weeks of hot weather is they want to be outside at night and inside in the day. My barns are wood and metal. A tige drafty. 
There is no dampness even in the morning. So I run a sprinkler to cool things down around the barns. 
We don't have monsoons, but my goats do get dry coughs when it starts going past a week of this intense heat. Then I hose down the inside and outside barn walls. 
Works for me. But it stays hot at night so everything is dry as a bone 40 minutes later


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## amandarenee (Feb 18, 2018)

Average lows during the hot season are upper 80s. So, AC at night is not really necessary, just a fan should keep them reasonably comfy.


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## camooweal (Jun 27, 2015)

<<<I just spoke with a fellow from Texas the other day who has Alpines and Nubians. They had a heat wave of 114* last summer and his Alpines were miserable. They were panting in the shade while his Nubians never even sought the shade. He said they were lying out in full sunshine and didn't seem to to notice the heat at all.>>>

Just like my Nubians !! It's summer here and the temperature has been around 115 to 120 and it seems the warmer it gets, the more they love it which is understandable, considering the breed's ancestry.

camooweal


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## spidy1 (Jan 9, 2014)

well, look at the goats native to the Pakistan desert and countries around there, they pride them selves with the length of ears, the longer the ears the bigger the status symbol!


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

when i think of heat i think of India
here is how they house goats there. there are lots of things i like in there sheds, the air flow the worm control. cleaning would be a snap with a bobcat.


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## spidy1 (Jan 9, 2014)

ME LIKE!!!


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## cristina-sorina (May 4, 2018)

So there is a YouTuber from the Phoenix area, she raises one nubian and the rest Nigerian Dwarves. She does not use AC as far as im aware, just adequate water and shade. Her channel is Weed em and Reap. I've even emailed her and she's super sweet and responsive to any questions you may have.


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

fivemoremiles said:


> when i think of heat i think of India
> here is how they house goats there. there are lots of things i like in there sheds, the air flow the worm control. cleaning would be a snap with a bobcat.


For a tropical climate I can see the appeal of a goat barn raised well above the ground for the cooling and ventilation it would provide. But in a temperate climate, such a shelter would be much too cold in the winter. Arizona is hot in the summer, but it can still get mighty cold this time of year.


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