Sheep & Goat Housing

General information about Dairy Goat Barns

NZ’s No. # 1 in Dairy Goat Barn’s

Goat milk is suitable for infants and the demand for goat milk outreaches the current shortfall of goat farmers.

At Aztech we have a specialist division focussing on Dairy Goat Barns. The aim is to increase the return on investment by providing cost-effective protection from the elements through our innovative building solutions whilst surpassing our clients expectations in customer care and service with a hassle-free building process from start to finish.

The zero-graze technique – integrated with Aztech’s Dairy Goat Barns

To get the most production out of the herd, goat farmers practise a zero-graze technique meaning the goats are housed in Dairy Goat Barns full time and they do not graze directly on the pasture. Fresh grass is cut and carried to the goats along with other nutrients and supplements through one of the various feeding system methods. The goats are a lot happier in the warmer and dry environment of the barn. Aztech sustainable timber structure design provides optimum warmth and permanent safety for the herd.

Although the Goats don’t eat off the ground, they have access to the outside to soak up the vitamin D from the sun and for further fresh air. Air-flow and temperature is optimised with Aztech’s barn designs to enable maximum fresh air and productive conditions.

The benefits of the zero-graze technique for Goat farming include:

1. Elimination of the worms issue which is a major problem in large herds that graze on pasture. Goats don’t develop a natural resistance to worms and require regular drenching resulting in milk being withheld from the vat and loss of production. In the Aztech Dairy Goat Barn; farmers never have to worry about the goats being worm burdened.
2. The barn reduces foot problems, scald and foot rot meaning less foot treatments are required.
3. The goat’s diet can be managed better when they are indoors where they are fed anything from cut grass, meal, maize silage, hay, haylage, molasses and brewers grain to name a few.
4. Dairy Goats can’t stand the rain and cold and will drop production in bad conditions. However with the barn protection, when the weather turns sour, the goats will stay tucked up in their cosy barn with access to food and water.

A start to designing the Goat Barn

The design of Dairy Goat Barns is a specialised and systematic process led by Aztech Buildings specialists through-out the country.

The standard building coverage area for goats are 2.5 square metres for each kid and 3 square metres for each doe although various goat farmers make their own adjustments to the building size to suit specific situations and future requirements. Contact our Dairy Goat Barn specialists to discuss the best feeding system for your project, which is an additional building area to the square metre requirements for the herd.

The herringbone or rotary milking shed is an important asset for the goat barn- to ensure the goats can be milked twice a day in a safe and efficient manner. Talk to Aztech about your requirements because we provide the optimum roof structure for the milking shed and are in close contact with the best milking system companies- for the milking platform.

Different Aztech Dairy Housing Build styles:

• Dairy Goat Barns
• Kid rearing sheds
• Covered Dairy yards and laneways
• Buck sheds
• Feed commodity sheds
• Covered feed bunkers

Sheep & Goat Housing: An Essential Part of Animal Welfare

Sheep and goats are important livestock for New Zealand farmers. Thus, it only makes sense how important building the best sheep and goat housing is. They’re sources of meat, milk and wool, are adaptable to different types of climate, aren’t too particular about what they eat and can be used in varying production systems.

Each type of animal has similar needs and so they’re generally considered together when deciding what this treatment will be. However, their adaptability shouldn’t mean those needs can be largely overlooked because the animals will be more productive if they’re treated and housed correctly.