Here in Michigan we get some nasty zero weather,lots of snow and winds but the goats wouldn't leave the barn if there was no pasture...They don't like snow or rain either...I think they instinctively know with all the hair they carry, getting wet would make them easy prey in the wild...The large males can carry up to 40 pounds of hair and they get sheared twice a year...The average hair weight is 15 to 20 pounds male and 7-12 pounds female, sheared twice a year, add water to that much hair and it can drag down the escape from a predator. Your best bet is to google goats, several different breeds take to mountains and nasty weather, but I only know about my Angoras.
You definately don't want angora's they eat a lot but also need a lot of care that other breeds don't need.
PS they originate from Turkey...
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Here in Michigan we get some nasty zero weather,lots of snow and winds but the goats wouldn't leave the barn if there was no pasture...They don't like snow or rain either...I think they instinctively know with all the hair they carry, getting wet would make them easy prey in the wild...The large males can carry up to 40 pounds of hair and they get sheared twice a year...The average hair weight is 15 to 20 pounds male and 7-12 pounds female, sheared twice a year, add water to that much hair and it can drag down the escape from a predator."
Thank you! It's good to know that they'll seek the barn, when the winds and drifts come. But we'll do what we've done with cattle before winter, anyway, feeding a little of their favorite goodies in the barn in advance in order to get them habituated.
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Your best bet is to google goats, several different breeds take to mountains and nasty weather, but I only know about my Angoras."
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You definately don't want angora's they eat a lot but also need a lot of care that other breeds don't need."
Now that's what we needed to know the most! Thanks, and I'll find some breeds to study on and choose from--maybe at auctions way down on the High Plains. We heard that Angoras are really expensive up here, too.
PS they originate from Turkey..."
...other mountain breeds, too, or only Angoras?
We're going ahead with the fence (nearly a mile) for the first place to clean up and leaning toward the following for keeping the goats in and inhibiting some of the predators. The whole place is clear, dirty pasture, with clear field of visibility all the way around. ...got the T-post drivers, lifters, proper fence pliers and gloves. We, with the dogs' help, will have to take care of the rest of security. I've fenced before and mostly back in the Ozarks (the old post oak and heavy maul way).
* 8' T-posts less than 15' apart, and large corner posts reinforced with boulders built up inside of tubes of field panel. ...8' posts are in case some lefty neighbor's buffalo bull strays.
* 4' field panel.
* 12 1/2 guage barbed wire under the bottom of the field panel.
* Same barbed wire, seven strands, over the top of the field panel, up to about 6', 3" with plenty of stays.
* Solar lights with motion detectors on posts here and there along the inside of the fence, lights facing just outside the fence. With some extra sealing against moisture (clear lacquer in seams and silicon for mounting), the cheap quartz (yellow light) and LED ones (bright white) are pretty good.
We're running an electric fence around the large yard in the middle of the place over the next week or so to keep our own critters out of the yard later on and to keep bears and range cattle out of the yard, until the perimeter fence is built around the whole place. Here's a link to the solar charger, in case you want a good deal on a solar electric fence for bear or large livestock. You might want to check your number of sun-days per year, though. We have over 300 of them, and less atmosphere overhead due to high elevation here.
Parmak DF-SP-LI Solar Pak 6-Low Impedance 6-Volt Battery Operated 25-Mile Range Electric Fence Charger
http://www.amazon.com/Parmak-DF-SP-LI-Impedance-Operated-Electric/dp/B000BWZB74/ref=pd_sbs_ol_3
Mfg. Source:
Parker McCrory
http://www.parmakusa.com/Fencers/solar2.htm