We have a dairy goat at the barn. Do i need to get her a blanket for winter? Nighttime temps can get between 18-32.
Nope. Just plenty of good quality hay (alfalfa is great for does in milk). Digesting hay generates heat for ruminants (and hind gut fermenters). Also, keep her stall bedding fresh and clean.
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We get a lot colder than that and had milk goats and never had to blanket one.
They do best with company and a cozy place to get in out of the cold wind.
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Like horses, cold is fine, wind and rain aren’t. That being said, I’m the person who had her Nubian wethers togged out in quilted dog coats on really frigid nights.
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We had Nubians growing up and temps got down below zero sometimes. Adults never had issues assuming they had a barn/shed to cozy up in together. Any brand new babies sometimes got a heat lamp or even a box in the mud room of the house for a few days if it was going to be frigid.
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My Nubians needed coats (NH winters) when they got old. They would be very clear when they wanted them on and off!
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Can a goat share a stall with a horse? (Foaling stall approx 14 x16).
We got a dairy goat at our barn, and currently she is in Jet’s paddock and they seem to get along. (She sleeps beside where he stands, they share hay piles, she has walked under him with no reaction from Jet.). Just trying to plan for winter, since horses are stalled at night and out during day.
If they get along then they can absolutely share a large stall. As far as blanketing it’s really up to you. She should be fine, but just like other animals she may appreciate an extra layer sometimes. Goats are notorious for hating rain and wet snow. You could try a “rain sheet” type of blanket, but she may opt to spend the day inside anyway. Something with some fill could be used during cold snaps.
A friend of mine breeds and shows sheep. The latest they compete (and shear/bath) is November for RAWF in Toronto. At the show they have special blankets to keep them clean, but once they get home they wear dog blankets until they’ve grown some coat back.
Fair warning, we did have a goat who spent the majority of a rainy day in with our horse once (run-in shed) and chewed off half his tail! It was laying on the ground next to him. I was so sad and his tail took forever to grow back and look normal again. Had goats and horses together for years and only happened once but I kept tails in bags after that!
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Ya know the phrase, “Get his goat” to mean to annoy or irritate someone? Goats are still often used with horses to keep them calm. Back in the day (before cameras everywhere) if someone wanted to throw a horse race, they’d sneak into the stall and take the horse’s goat, making the racehorse so upset it wouldn’t run well the next day. Most horses LOVE goats.
Depending on what breed of dairy goat you have, many are native to the Alps, so genetically they are adaptable to cold. Nubians and Pygmy’s are the exception coming from the African continent.
We had Saanans and never had to use coats on them for the winter. As others have said a place out of the rain and wind with a pile of hay and they should be fine. Bonus points if you can rig something for the goat to climb up on- like a wooden spool or small table. Goats love to be elevated (goes back to their days on the mountains in the Swiss Alps) which is why many are found on the hood of cars if a gate is left open. 
Goats, like donkeys, are browsers so they actually thrive on some of the saddest plant life on the earth. Don’t let your goat over eat with the horse. They do need a CDT vaccine each year and do not let the goat eat the horse’s grain. If the barn goat needs grain Purina makes one suitable for goat’s needs.
Goats are spiritual animals and a bonus to any barn where they are added. Enjoy yours!
I’m getting so attached to this goat. Her name is Gumball. She came from a herd that was owned by a guy who didnt treat them like pets. When we got her, she would run from you, and wouldn’t let you pat her.
I am there every eve, and she gets a carrot, and now lets me scratch all over her, wipe her eyes off. Her eyes close when i scratch under her neck or on her jaw. Tonight she even let me pat on her while she was laying down. She’s pretty cute.
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Gumball sounds like a wonderful addition to your critters.
Have a picture to share?
Watch out! Barn goats are gateway drugs!
Next thing you know, you’ll be taking midnight calls from your neighbors telling you that your pet goats have escaped again and are currently standing on the roof of their luxury SUV…
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LOL!!!
So true.
I assuage my Goat Desire now with neighbor’s Dwarf.
The adorable 2’HX2’W Daisy.
When I feed for them I let her out & she jumps her rotund self onto the feed bin - some 4’ - and lets me know I am not the son, who she belongs to & whom she adores.
Nothing quite like begin told off in offended bleats.
And, as @chestnutmarebeware warns, the reasons I do not have one myself are:
#1-my fencing will not contain a goat - coated tensile, no charger & set for horse height, so eminently wiggleable-under by a goat
Goatkeepers Saying: “If it won’t hold water, it won’t hold goats”
#2-neighbor who parks his very pricy semi tractor in his driveway, just across the road
Even though Daisy stays on her side of the road, I don’t want to tempt Fate.
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