Cedar fence boards for goat house?

[RosieNPearl]

We were given a free solid structure (6' high, 5'w, 12' long approx) but it had no sides. It did have a raised wooden floor (which I have lined deeply, and realize this may not be ideal). We will address that later. My baby ND goats will be about 6 months by December. We are usually at the coldest in the high 20s to 30s. Some of the fence boards have 1/4" gaps. This is great for our hot summers (lots of ventilation, plus we built a summer door out of a security panel, and they will have a solid winter door built before the weather gets cold. Should we address these gaps? We get more rain than snow (Souther OR). Should we line the inside in plywood? They have a sleeping bench and their hay feeder is inside the barn. I just want to know if this will provide adequate warmth or if someone has a better suggestion than lining the inside with plywood. Thank you !

 

[RosieNPearl]

I've seen people build goat houses out of pallets, so I was curious how much warmth they will need.

 

[OneFineAcre]

They will have nice thick winter coats by then. High 20's is not really bad. They need a dry, relatively draft free place. Cold weather isn't bad for them, cold and wet they don't like. If it's dry and calm, mine will sleep outside when it's in the 20's. But, if it's wet and/or windy they stay inside.

 

[RosieNPearl]

So Onefineacre you dont think we should address these 1/4 inch gaps here and there? If we get wind and rain it could blow in and make them damp. Thats what I worry about. Thank you so much!

 

[RosieNPearl]

here is an example of the gaps...(just built the hay feeder yesterday) look to the left, its like that all over...

 

[OneFineAcre]

So, that's basically the wooden privacy fence panels? You are probably OK. And, you might be completely re-doing the whole thing to take care of all of those gaps. If it is 5' wide by 12' long, and you are really concerned about it, maybe you could just put an igloo doghouse inside there and that way if it is really cold and drafty if they wanted to they could get in there? We have several of those in our goat pen that some of ours prefer.

 

[mysunwolf]

For a quick fix, we've put heavy duty plastic up over a wall that had similar gaps (on the outside so the critters couldn't eat it). I've also built livestock housing out of pallets and have used a method of chinking where you take cheap pine and screw small boards (usually in the 1"x2" or 1"x3" range, rough sawn) over the gaps. You could even just protect a corner of the building with solid sides and leave the rest of it with the 1/4" gaps.

And by the way, that is a really nice hay feeder!

 

[Bryan99705]

All sheep and goats need is 3 sides and a roof, no matter the temp. Ours stayed out (and spring lambed) at temps colder than -40 using a temp carport with 2 sides and a roof of tarp material (sold at Walmart) with no issues. If you seal up your barn they can have major illness issues due to no fresh air. As long as there is good hay and fresh water, they will thrive.