The other night, I found all my goats alert and awake.
This led me to wonder if goat’s sleep at night.
So do they?
So, yes, goats definitely sleep at night, but not exclusively, and they certainly won’t sleep through the night.
If we need about 7-8 hours sleep, it’s largely because we tend to do all our sleeping at night.
We don’t have the same capacity or even luxury to sleep through the day in the same way.
Let’s look further into this.
Do goats need to be closed in at night?
Generally, yes, the advice is that you should close your goats in at night.
They prefer to have a comfortable, designated safe space at night they can go where they will feel secure and able to enter deep sleep.
Usually, you should have a communal section of their enclosure, as well as individual spaces for each of them to sleep.
This maximizes their comfort and will allow them to get the best night’s rest.
Some goats may prefer not to sleep inside, but if you’re going to allow this you need to be very careful of the overall security of the pasture.
Wildlife will get in and attack your goats if it can.
My advice would be to not give them the choice.
They will eventually get used to sleeping inside, and as I say, most will prefer it this way in any case.
Sleeping inside is the best bet against nighttime predators.
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Do goats sleep inside at night?
So, you should close your goats in at night.
This means, naturally, that is where they will do most of their sleeping.
However, you’re going to need to shut them in for a lot longer than they will actually be sleeping.
This is part of why you should do your best to give each goat a space of its own.
This will prevent the goats from getting in each other’s way, or becoming aggressive.
If they can also gather somewhere communally, they won’t have the problem of feeling alone, either.
So, in any case, goats do and should sleep inside at night.
If your goat seems to prefer sleeping outside, then it is going to be down to your judgment to let that happen.
If there is any level of predatory wildlife where you live, I would absolutely advise against this.
Keeping your goats happy is, in large part, about the routine.
Once they have a routine, they will be expecting it, and changes it to can be distressing.
So, giving your goats a strict bedtime is another important part of helping them sleep soundly at night.
Do goats have a bedtime?
They, obviously, do not have a “true” bedtime ordained by nature.
But the importance of routine is vital to their health, as the unexpected can be distressing and confusing.
For this reason, I would advise assigning them a bedtime.
What you can do is simply leave the barn door open and see if they tend to go inside at a particular time.
They won’t all go in at once, but it will give you a rough idea.
Try and get them all inside before it’s dark.
This will obviously be different at different times of the year, so they may get to stay up a bit later in the summer.
Once you’ve gotten into the habit of putting them in at the same time each night, you’ll need to stick to it.
How long do goats sleep for?
So, yes, goats do most of their sleeping at night. But how much?
At night, most domestic goats generally sleep about 4-5 hours.
This may not sound like much, but domestic goats, in particular, like to take short naps during the day.
Wild goats have a similar pattern, though they can’t necessarily rely on daytime naps as much.
They may have to move on due to danger, or weather.
In total, then, a domestic goat probably sleeps an average of 6-7 hours a day—only slightly less than us, who takes most of our sleep in one big go.
Goats have a pretty standard sleeping pattern, then, as far as animals like them go.
They are pretty awake and alert for most of the day, though they will get in a lot of napping and dozing.
Then, they will get their deep sleep in the cover of darkness through the latest part of the night.
They certainly sleep less than we do, at least as far as the continuous sleep they get at night.
But, like I say, they conserve their energy by sleeping during the day.
Grazing animals have this luxury—we have to spend all our time gathering food!