Goat Housing Complete Information

Goat housing or shelter is design for protection against inclement weather conditions. housing requires proper ventilation, solar radiation for kids during winter.

Goat Housing – why it is required?

Goat housing is one of the most important part of goat farming business. before purchasing goats from the market, there should be an arrangement for his proper living.

usually goats housing/shelter is for protection from inclement weather such as rains, excessive heat during summer and cold during winter in addition to protection from predator attacks.

Separate goat housing arrangements for different categories of animal-like growers, adult females, breeding males, etc. are required in order to ensure proper care and management as per requirement.

the first investment of goat farming spent on shed or shelter for goats. the size of shed or house totally depends on how much goats are you rear in your farm.

invest wisely on the goat housing system because it is the one-time initial investment, I have seen many beginners goat farmers or entrepreneurs invest too much money on Goat housing design. The goat doesn’t require expensive shed arrangements. in our goat farming training program we suggest to beginners try to make heavy good quality cheap cost Goat shed.

I learn’t a lot about goat farming and the all things i am sharing in this post is my experience that will help you to make your goat house. i am the owner of farmingx goat farm and i also provide two days training to new entrepreneurs, NGO’s, farmers, to get success in the goat farming carrrier.

Why goat housing is important?

• To keep goat healthy.
• The clean and hygiene environment in farm gives better health to the goats.
• The weight of the goat and their kids increase rapidly with good and hygiene shed management.
• It decreases medical expenditure
• profit also increases

How to make a Goat House?

• Goat house should be constructed in a well-drained elevated plain area with easy access to transport, electricity, and water.

• Orientation – for our tropical Indian conditions, the long axis of the shed should be in East-west direction.

• Floor: under Indian condition, the soil floor is generally recommended for goats. however, the floor made bamboo, wooden slats, or plastics are being used in elevated goat house constructed in high rainfall, high humid as well as areas prone for floods.

• Roof: roof of the goat house may be made of thatch, tiles, cemented sheets, thermally insulated GI sheets depending upon availability as well as durability required.

• Walls: side walls along with the length of the shed should be 4 feet with remaining height kept open for fixing iron mesh for free air circulation. The walls across the width of the house on both sides need to be closed up to roof height.

• Shelter surroundings: maintain the green vegetation and greenery all around the shed adjacent to the goat shelter.

• A separate provision of water and feeders of fixed or movable type should be  provided in each paddock

• keep the animals as much as possible under the thermal comfort zone so that productivity will be optimum.

• Run area should be Double the width of covered area.

• Start with minimal housing requirements and as the farm grows in size, add the sheds according to requirements.
• Design the facility so that there is a less distance involved while carrying and removing manure or other sources of contamination such as soiled bedding from the sick area.

Solar radiation for kids during winter

Exposure of kids to solar radiation is an important part of livestock management, especially in winter. It helps in maintaining the body temperature and conserve body heat. Provision should be made to provide direct solar radiation for four hours ( 10 am to 2 pm) to kids during winter that is quite helpful for proper growth.

Ventilation space in goat House design

Air is very much needed for oxygen requirement of the animals and for removal of moisture, humidity, other gases, etc. from the shed. maximum ventilation should be provided during the summer and rainy season throughout the day and night.

Space requirement for the goats

Space requires for goats depend on the size or age of goat.

Overcrowding in farm call the diseases. From overcrowding Viral bacterial diseases spread from one to another and cycle goes on. Therefore space requirement is necessary for a commercial goat farm.

the space required are same in sheep and Goat housing

Age of goats	Covered area	Open paddock
0 to 3 Months	0.2-0.25	0.4-0.5
3 to 6 Months	0.5-0.75	1.0-1.5
6 to 12 Months	0.75-1.0	1.5-2.0
Adult Goats	1.5	3.0
Pregnant and lactating goats	1.5-2.0	3.0-4.0
Bucks	1.5-2.0	3.0-4.0

These covered area and open paddock are in square meter

Floor Management

• Remove the topsoil once in three months
• Use of lime powder once in ten days to reduce the moisture content
• Provide bedding to the kids up to 3 months of age to prevent soil licking

Cleanliness

• Shed cleaning should be 3 times in a day.
• Shed washing should be 2 times in a week.
• Spraying shed with dewormer and lime powder every month.
• Coloring boundaries with whitewash,
• Burning shed for every 3 months to kill bacteria.

Goat farming housings designs & plans

Ground floor shed Plan

These are the basic type of shed seen in north and west region of India or no flooded area.

These type of sheds needed low investment for the beginners. These sheds should be clean 2-3 times in a day to maintain hygiene environment for the goat. this is the ground floor goat housing plan which is largely used in the world.

Elevated Goat housing Plan

These type of goat housing design particularly important in high rainfall and flooded area. this is elevated goat housing plan

This type of shed remains clean and hygiene because the manure of goat goes down from the floor and shed remains dry every time & the nature of the goats doesn’t like the wet floor so this type of shed is goat friendly.

Plastic Slatted for Goats

The plastic slatted floor has been considered good for the goats because floor is elevated from the ground. Less labor and management required in it. all the litter of goats goes down the ground and floor remain hygiene 24 Hours. the Goat remains healthy and disease free in the Plastic slatted floor.

Goat slatted floor is much required for the Pregnant goat and male breeder of the flock. it helps much in growth and weight gain.

You can easily purchase plastic slatted floor from Amazon and there is 50% off in it through the link below.

High altitude cold climate shed Plan

These are closed type sheds and only for cold climate Goat breeds, these sheds are much expensive than normal sheds.

Floor materials

plastic slatted floor

The plastic slatted floor can be available anywhere. it is specially designed for goat farming. it is used in the elevated sheds at 4 to 6 ft height above from the ground. all the manure and urine goes down from the space in this type of floor and floor remain dry and hygiene 24 hours. generally, goats like to live in a dry area and this type of floor liked by goats.

Wooden slatted floor

This type of wooden slatted floor also used in elevated sheds at 4 to 6 ft above from the ground. it is specially designed for low weight animals like goats and sheep. long wooden strips used in sheds fitted at half-inch space showing in the image all the manure and urine of goats go down which is used for composting fertilizer.

Feeders in Goat Housing

feeders are used to feed the goats daily two to three times a day. always enough feeders should available in the shed, goats should not overlap each other during feeding time, otherwise, some goats will be left hungry. and some will be overeating. both things are not good for farms.

Drinkers in goat Housing

Drinkers are used for drinking water for goats in the house or in the open paddock area. the drinkers should be clean and hygiene. it should be washed every day for better results. clean eating and drinking by goats give better health. goats don’t like the wet area so for better results drinkers may be outside the house of goats.

Other Equipment’s needed for Housing of goats

Side Walls: Brick, concrete, chain-link fence, bamboo, wood, etc.

Floor: Brick on edge, hard soil, cemented, wooden strips, plastic floors, etc.

Roof: Asbestos cement sheets, tiles, Thatch, GI sheets, etc.

Housing for 100 females + 5 Males with followers kids

By taking into assumptions of the following points and space requirements of different categories of goats, the housing requirement for goat house is calculated.

• For starting 100 female goat unit, at least 5 adult males required for breeding purpose. (20 females: 1 male). However, due to unforeseen reasons like the poor reproductive performance of male, it is better to rear 7 adult males.
• In the organized farm, usually 85% of females give birth to young ones every year, so out of 100 female adult goats, we expect 85 females giving birth every year.
• Suppose, 50 % of female goats giving twins birth out of 85 females that we get 84 kids. And therefore 50 % of female goats giving single birth out of 85 females that we get 43 kids.

The total kid’s strength is  84+43 = 127. Suppose 63 will be male and 64 will be female kids

• The replacement rate of adult animals is expected at 10 percent in the organized farm.
• The kids are reared up to 9 to 12 months of age sold to farmers for breeding or for meat purposes.
• the goat housing requirement increases according to their age and size.

S.NO	Categories of animals	Space per Animal	Total space Required
1.	Adult females (100 nos)	1.5 sq m	150 sq m
2.	Adult Males    (5 nos)	2.0 sq m	10 sq m
3.	Young Female (64 nos)	0.75 sq m	48 sq m
4.	Young Males  (63 nos)	0.75 sq m	47 sq m
5.	Office + Store room	40 sq.m	40 sq m
	Total space required		295 sq m

This is only for shed or housing area. The open paddock area for goats depends on how much land you have. generally, the open Paddock area should be double of your shed area.

the open paddock area is too much important for the exercise and refreshment of the goats.

What is the cost of making a goat shed?

well it totally depend on number of goat you are planning for. for example if you make a shed of 100 female goats than should also plan for their upcoming kids.

if you are plaiing for 100 female goat than you also have to plan for their 150 upcomingkids.

the cost of making 100 goat farm shed plus their 150 kids is around 5 lakh rupees. because i am doing goat farm successfully i want to tell you a suggestion that don’t over spend your valuable money on goat shed.

The rules we tell to our trainees in out goat farming training lecture is that:

”Spent money on goat shed like a beggar and Invest money on quality goats like a Rich”

Farmingx goat Farm

What is the difference between Sheep And Goat Housing?

There is no difference between sheep and goat house. the structure of the shed is the same the only difference is that sheep required more space than goats because sheep are larger in size compared to goats.

The space required for one matured goat is 10 square feet per goat while the space required per matured sheep is 12 square feet per sheep.

the space required per 100 Goats is 1000 square feet while the space required per 100 sheep is 1200 square feet.

Sheep and Goat housing PDF

well, sheep and goat housing are of equal value, they have the same gestation period and all things are the same. the size of sheep and goats also similar, some sheep breeds are heavier than normal goat size. but the housing requirement is the same for both sheep and goats.

if you are looking to make a house for goats then this PDF design will help you to understand properly.

FAQ Section of Goat Housing Plans

5 powerful tips for the beginner goat farmer

• Start with minimal housing requirements and as the farm grows in size, add the sheds according to requirement.
• Take Goat farming training first to learn completely the business.
• separate the animals according to their age in the house.
• before purchasing goats from the market do the proper arrangement of their house and green, dry, and concentrated feed.
• always keep a quarantine shed on the farm.
• construct the shed or Goat Housing according to the orientation or climate condition.

Conclusion

in the goat farming business the 60% of your animal health depends on the housing of goats and clean, hygine is the necesaary, the above information we have discussed in this post is the Basic goat housing requirment.

The ventilation, space for goats, orientation of goat shed all are the important characteristics of goat house.

If you are planning to make Goat house than above points keep in your mind.