As we were driving past a field the other day, my son saw a horse standing up that appeared to be completely asleep.
He wasn’t sure, but it did seem like this huge animal had locked its legs into place and was simply sleeping right there.
When we got home, I looked into it and it turns out that horses do indeed do this.
My son asked, then, whether goats could do this as well—they had similar legs in a couple of ways, so maybe they could lock them too.
So, if you think you’ve seen your goat sleeping while standing up—it probably wasn’t quite asleep.
It’s quite a rare ability to be able to sleep standing up, and even horses don’t usually prefer to sleep this way.
Nonetheless, they do have fairly interesting and unique sleeping patterns, so let’s take a closer look.
How do goats sleep?
Goats sleep lying down—not standing up.
They might sleep alone, or with other members of the herd.
Generally, you’re advised to give them somewhere to sleep on their own at night, but they may become bonded to another member of the herd and sleep in a pair.
They tend to be quite light sleepers—a common feature of animals routinely preyed upon in the wild.
They will wake at slight noises, even if they then go immediately back to sleep.
Being able to move in and out of sleep like this is essential.
Domestic goats usually sleep 4-5 hours through the night.
They wake up very early in the morning, typically.
This might not sound like a lot, but they do tend to take naps through the day where they can get them.
It can be hard to see them sleeping, given the fact of their cautiousness.
Even the slightest noise from your approach might wake them.
In terms of the position, it can be on their side, or lying down but in an upright position.
Either way, they will be lying down.
They can’t sleep standing up. If they have a companion goat, they might lie on their companion’s back.
Are they capable of sleeping standing up?
Can goats sleep standing up?
No, is the simple answer.
There are a few examples in the animal kingdom of animals that can do so—but they are very much in the minority.
As I said, the most commonly cited example is the horse, but its cousin the zebra can also do this. Elephants, too, as well as some birds like flamingos.
While the mechanism is not identical in every species, it essentially comes down to a locking of the legs which prevents them from falling over when they fall asleep.
Horses have special kind of tendons and ligaments which lock the major joints in their legs.
This is the sole reason they’re able to sleep while stood up.
Goats no have any such mechanism, and are thus totally incapable of sleeping standing up.
If they were to fall asleep standing up, they would topple over or jerk themselves awake.
Have goats ever slept standing up?
The interesting question, though, is whether goats or their recent ancestors were ever able to do this.
Why exactly this trait has evolved in certain species is a matter of debate among scientists, but the most plausible explanation is that it allows the animal to quickly jerk itself awake and flee in the face of any threats.
For herd animals, this is a workable system because they can be alerted to the danger by others in the herd.
While modern goats do not have a stay apparatus that allows their legs to lock, their ancestors may have.
There is no direct evidence for this, though, so at the moment we can only speculate.
The complexity of the stay apparatus, however, implies that it would take a rather long time to develop.
Thus, we can safely assume that goats have not had such a mechanism for a long time, if they ever did.
What animals sleep standing up?
There are a few examples, interesting in their diversity.
We have talked extensively about horses, whose hind leg tendons and ligaments are able to lock the major joints into place and keep the horse on its feet while it is asleep.
Elephants also sleep standing up—though much more common in captivity than in the wild.
This is, for the most part, due to the simple fact that it takes an elephant a long time to move its bulk.
Lying down has to be optional to make sleeping more efficient.
Flamingos, too, have a locking mechanism just like horses.
However, they have to stand only on legs or they would fatigue their muscles.
This gives them greater maneuverability to sleep since they can stand in water which would otherwise get their feathers wet.
So, goats do not sleep standing up.
Though it is hard to say with any certainty, there seems no evidence they ever did, either.
It is a selective advantage in horses as they can be quickly alerted to prey even when asleep, and quickly run away once jolted awake.
Goats have simply adapted different mechanisms for threat protection.
Horses do still need to lie down to get proper, restorative sleep.
Therefore, goats wouldn’t necessarily benefit a huge amount from such an evolutionary trait.