Harmonious Housing For Goats

Tamsin Cooper investigates research into goat-friendly accommodation

Unless your goats are the closest of friends or unusually mild-mannered, you’ll probably have noticed skirmishes around hay racks, troughs and within enclosed areas. This is due to goats’ natural social strategy of establishing a hierarchy to govern which goats have priority access to feed and prime locations. Subordinate goats are expected to keep their distance and out of the way of top ranking individuals. This is no problem at pasture, but it can cause conflict within the barn and around feed. In restricted areas, subordinates are not always able to get out of the way in time, and may even get trapped in a narrow space or dead end. The solution involves providing facilities that allow goats to take evasive action at any time. You can space out feeding and resting places, or provide furnishings that allow goats to avoid confrontations.

Goat accommodation needs to meet their social, physical and mental needs. We would ideally provide them with a natural environment, while maintaining an efficient management system. Where that is not possible, due to space or practical restrictions, good design can be the answer.

Designing for goats' needs

Goats need to be able to exercise (walk, run, play, climb and jump), socialize (interact with herd-mates and establish hierarchy), rest comfortably and maintain personal space. They need to groom themselves for personal hygiene and comfort, investigate their environment to ensure that it is safe and for mental stimulation, access sufficient food and water, and hide or escape when they feel threatened. Well designed enclosures can ensure that goats can satisfy all these needs.