Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
India
Taiwan
Figure 17.1
Elevated slatted fl oor design. Courtesy of Dr. George Haenlein, Professor and Dairy Goat
Specialist. For color detail, see Appendix A.
Table 17.2
Space allowance for housing goats, m
2
(ft
2
).
BGS
1
Adult Goat
UNH
2
Adult Goat
Type of management
Adult goat
Doe with kid
Confi nement Housing
Individual
1.4 - 1.8 (15 - 20)
2.3 (25)
4 (50)
1.8 - 2.3 (20 - 25)
Group
0.56 (6)
2
Exercise Pen
2.3 (25)
2.3 (25)
3 - 4 times the pen
4 (50)
Exercise Pasture Hectare
(acre)
0.065 (0.15)
Extensive Housing
Group Shelter
1.1 - 1.4 (12 - 15)
1
British Goat Society. http://www.allgoats.com/housing.htm
2
University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension
and urine accumulation, and help in controlling transmis-
sion of diseases and parasites.
allowance retrieved from searching the Internet for
“housing goats” and available published goat handbooks.
Generally all the U.S.-based generated data for space
allowance was less than the values considered adequate for
goats reported by the British Goat Society (BGS) (2002).
According to the BGS, if the fl ooring is made of concrete
and can be cleaned and disinfected on a regular basis, a
space allowance of 4 m
2
(43 ft
2
) per goat is adequate when
goats are housed individually, and 2 m
2
(21 ft
2
) is adequate
when housed in a group. This area can be reduced when
goats are housed on elevated slatted fl oors. According to
the American Dairy Goat Association (ADGA) (2004),
1.4 m
2
(15 ft
2
) of clean, dry, well-ventilated, and draft-free
bedded area is needed per dairy goat. An additional
minimum of 2.3 m
2
(25 ft
2
) of well-drained and properly
fenced area per animal is needed for exercise. If goats are
Space Allowance
Space allowance recommendations for housing goats must
provide for freedom of a goat's natural movements,
stretching, bipedal stance (a natural goat behavior), social-
izing, resting, and feeding. Also goats seem to be more
vulnerable to parasite infestation when kept in confi ne-
ment. Providing adequate space is an important factor in
health and social management of goats. Recent studies
have shown that when resting space allowance was
decreased, goats rested less and interacted with other goats
more (Anderson and Bøe, 2007). They also reported that
low ranked animals spent less time resting than others.
Table 17.2 represents collective information for space
