Prepping the Goat Herd for Snow and Bad Weather

Tornadoes one day and snow literally the next – Kentucky weather seems to get crazier every year. How do we keep our goats happy, healthy, and safe when inclement weather pops up and Mother Nature doesn’t want to play nice?
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You can donate to the Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund here: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/WKYRelief

Many individual communities have urgent needs as well. Contact local emergency management personnel to find out what items – like shampoo, blankets, diapers, etc. – are needed and where they can be donated. The Kentucky towns of Bremen and Mayfield are near and dear to our hearts, but Benton, Eddyville, Princeton, Dawson Springs, and many others were greatly impacted as well.

Thank you and God bless.
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If you live in Kentucky you undoubtedly have heard the phrase “If you don’t like the weather stick around, it’ll change.” This has never felt truer than it has this past weekend. After a week of unseasonably warm weather (we celebrated Christmas in shorts and t-shirts) Mother Nature reared her ugly head. Inches of rain fell, flash flooding occurred in low-lying areas, and a tornado even popped up in the next town over. But then the bottom fell out of the temperature and we had about a quarter inch of snow the very next day!

★ Livestock Bedding Score Chart: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10O-qgFIcXusL6D_gd_Jf3KD0mSuVyU6g/view?usp=sharing

Extreme temperature swings are hard on everybody and farm animals are no different. When it gets cold we have to take a few extra precautions to keep our critters warm and healthy. Keeping their bedding dry when its driving snow or rain is very important because it dry bedding insulates the goats from the cold temperatures. We also bring our entire herd into one barn stall so they can huddle together however they see fit, isolating the youngest ones so our buck doesn’t pester the young girls (they get a heat lamp). And then plenty of hay and clean water keeps their rumens active so they are constantly generating their own heat.

Temperatures are forecasted to drop even lower before week’s end so our goal is to get them some new, fresh straw before that happens. Subscribe to the channel if you’re enjoying these videos so you won’t miss the next one. Thanks for watching!
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