IN GOAT-KEEPING ' 



25 



USING OLD BUILDINGS. 



'Tis true that almost any building will answer for a goat 

 house, but if best results are to be obtained, it must be made com- 

 fortable. It must be absolutely dry with a tight roof that will 

 keep it so. A floor of earth will not answer; at least a portion 

 should have a tight board floor elevated a foot or so upon which 

 the stalls (if any), should be built. If concrete floor is used, care 

 should be taken to see that it is higher than the surrounding 

 ground and unless a board platform is built over it, the bedding in 

 cold weather should be at least six inches deep as concrete floors 

 are cold. The building should be papered and boarded on both 

 the outside and inside to insure warmth. The door and windows 



stalls with mangers in front, as used by Rev. D. C. Mayers, and shown 

 in Am. Standard Milch Goat Keeper. The opening's enable the goats to feed 

 from mangers without dra"wing hay under foot. I have same plan w'ith 

 openings out square instead of circular; tlie bottom portion should be 3'^ 

 inches wide and the upper 7 inches for most goats. 



should be on the warm side and the latter should be large enough 

 to admit plenty of sunlight in winter and air in summer. There 

 should be a small opening for ventilation, near the top, which 

 should be covered with wire netting on the outside and fitted with 

 a slide so that the size of opening may be regulated according to 

 the temperature. A coat of whitewash, spring and fall, and an oc- 

 casional sprinkling of any good disinfectant will keep it in good 

 sanitary shape, provided of course that it is cleaned at regular in- 

 tervals and is not over-crowded. If they eat the lime, it will do no 

 harm and is rather beneficial. Most places have a barn or out- 

 building that with a few changes can be converted into a goat 

 house. Poultry houses are frequently used but under no circum- 

 stances should the same building be used for both at the same time 

 as chicken lice will be apt to attack the goats and prove a serious 

 trouble. For this reason, if a poultry house is used, it should be 

 thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before introducing the new 



