Just because our animals live outside, that doesn’t mean they can cope with extreme temperatures. For goats especially, when temperatures start to climb above 90°F / 32°C, and especially in periods of high humidity, they can start to overheat.

Heat stress reduces productivity, makes them more prone to illness, and, in some cases, can even lead to heat exhaustion, then heat stroke, and death. It’s serious stuff!

And you, as their keeper and caregiver, must never assume that they know what to do or how to take care of themselves. It’s up to you to help keep them cool, but the good news is that it’s easier to do than you might think with a little preparation.

Keep reading, and I’ll tell you about 10 clever ways to keep your goats cool on a scorching hot day.

Keep Them Hydrated

The very first tip on our list should, I hope, be obvious to everyone who’s ever taken care of animals! Goats need water, and they’ll drink a lot more than usual when the temperature is high due to perspiration and increased respiration.

Your goats must have continual access to unlimited quantities of clear, fresh, and hopefully cool water. Whatever sort of water source you give them access to, you’ve got to stay on top of keeping it filled, functional, and free of contaminants.

Your goats might have plenty of water to drink, but if it’s so nasty that they turn their noses up at it until they’re desperate with thirst, that is going to put them behind the hydration curve and intensify heat stress.

Chill Their Water

Your goats will surely love a cold drink on a hot day the same as we do! Accordingly, if you care enough to take the time to chill their water, this can help keep their internal body temperature lower.

You can do this with large quantities of ice, or, my preferred method, cooler blocks that you fill with water, freeze, and then deposit in their water source to gently cool it down gradually.

Having a few sets of these on hand can make keeping their water cool for the better part of the day a lot easier.

And if you don’t want to, you don’t have to go through the trouble of chilling their water 24/7: giving them cool water to drink during the hottest part of the day can be enough to help get them through the danger zone in conjunction with some other tips on this list.

Provide Lots of Shade

This is another critical factor, and one that I still see owners overlook to this very day. Just because our goats live outside doesn’t mean they can withstand the intensity of the sun at all hours. Far from it!

Exposure to direct sunlight combined with high air temperatures and humidity is basically a death sentence for them.

Your goats should always, and I do mean always, have access to shady spots, with enough room to accommodate all of them comfortably. This could be the shade of a building, their shelter, trees, or a hoop house, or similar temporary shade that you put up for the purpose.

Temperatures, even on a very hot day, can be dramatically cooler in the shade, and animals instinctively seek out shady patches to get relief…

Fans

Moving air, even when it’s warm, will help to improve radiative cooling and the cooling effect of perspiration. Don’t hesitate to set up fans for your goats if you can do so safely. This is especially effective if you can keep air moving over them while they are in the shade.

If they live in a barn, you can set up ceiling fans or mounted box fans or similar designs that are totally out of reach and safe for your goats. If that isn’t an option, think of a way to place the fan where the goats will not be able to access it, but it will still blow across them.

You might be able to set it just behind a fence or even erect a temporary cage or fence around it that will prevent an accident with a curious goat.

Kiddie Pools

This won’t be an option for every herd, mostly because there are many goats that’ll do anything to avoid getting in the water, but if you have some that don’t mind taking a little dip, this can be a great choice.

Setting up sturdy, solid kiddie pools or shallow livestock troughs full of water that your goats can easily get in and out of will help them cool off fast and stay that way even during the most oppressively hot days.

And before you ask, yes, your goats will get these water sources just as filthy as any other, and that will necessitate regular dumping, cleaning, and refilling.

But, you only need to leave these out if your goats will actually use them as a wading pool. If they don’t, don’t waste your time and effort; just take them up.

Use Misting Systems

Have you ever been on an outdoor patio or dining space that had one of those nice, gentle misting systems set up? Remember how nice and cool it felt when that fine mist blew across your skin? It works just as well on goats!

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Better yet, these systems are now widely available and surprisingly affordable online, and can be connected to common garden hoses and placed with tack- or nail-on brackets.

Setting up a designated cool zone for your goats near their shelter or shady spot is a great way to dramatically lower their body temperature throughout the day, and one that they will quickly figure out how to use.

Just a couple of things to keep in mind with this method: one, it is absolutely imperative that your goats cannot reach the tubing or the nozzles, or they will be destroyed before you can blink.

Two, don’t place the system inside the shelter or directly adjacent to their shady spot, since it will, in time, make the area a soggy, wet mess, and you don’t want either of those locations to end up that way.

Offer Frozen Foods

Some nice frozen treats can be a wonderful way to cool goats down quickly, give them a little bit of energy, and encourage them to keep eating, something they may stop doing when it gets too hot.

Anything that goats will normally eat can be chilled or frozen and then fed to them, though not everything works as well as a frozen treat. Some of my favorites are soft, sweet fruits like berries, bananas, and mangoes, though vegetables like cucumbers can also work well.

Note that it’s usually beneficial to let these things thaw a little bit so they aren’t rock-hard.

Another thing you might try is blending up a goat-safe smoothie from the aforementioned veggies and using a little bit of fruit.

Place Frozen Water Jugs

Remember those frozen water jugs and freezer packs we talked about above for chilling your herd’s water? I recommend you get a few extras so you can use them as cooling stations.

Set these things down on the ground or whip up a quick and easy bracket to put them at chest level on a goat, and then let your goats lay on them, lean on them, and rub on them to cool down.

These cool packs and ice blocks won’t last forever, obviously, between the body heat of the goats and the heat of the day needing frequent replacement.

If you have enough and can keep them frozen, go for it, but otherwise, I like to use this method to help my goats get through the worst and hottest parts of the day. It usually makes a difference!

Set Out Cooling Mats

Cooling mats are an ingenious way to help keep enclosed spaces just a little bit cooler for your animals.

Consisting of heavy cardboard, cloth, or plastic that you wet down, or sometimes electrically powered cooling units, they all use evaporative cooling principles to create a zone of cooler air just above them.

In theory, this can significantly lower the temperature in any shelter, barn, or shed. In practice, they only work well when the humidity is low. High humidity greatly reduces their effectiveness and so limits these devices to being a practical choice in areas with dry heat.

Despite their limitations, they can be a good choice for helping keep your goats cool if they are in an enclosure for whatever reason.

Keep Them Groomed and Clean

This is another technique that a whole lot of owners overlook! If your goats are dirty and disheveled, they won’t cool down as readily or as quickly. But if you keep them clean and brush them, they won’t struggle in the heat as much.

Don’t get me wrong; they won’t be running around like it’s a cool spring morning when it’s actually 100°F outside, but this does make a real difference…

Accordingly, I always like to give my goats a good brushing and a thorough bath, with soap, before the real heat of summer or late spring arrives. They will just feel better and stay cooler!

Likewise, it’s worth getting up early or waiting till late in the day to give them another brushing and bubble bath later on in the summer after they invariably get dirty again.

If your animals have already been through hot weather before, give this technique a try, and I promise you’ll notice the difference!