Take the climbing out of his shelter
Goats are built to climb, which is exactly why stiff joints betray them at home: the raised sleeping platform, the stepped doorway and the jump down from a bench that suited a young goat become daily obstacles he either attempts and hurts himself on, or avoids and loses his warm dry bed over. Start at the doorway — he should walk into his shelter on the level, or up a long, gentle ramp with cleats or a grippy surface if any rise is unavoidable. Inside, bring the sleeping area down to the floor. If he still loves some height, offer one low platform at a height he can step onto rather than jump, positioned so a misstep lands him in deep bedding, not on bare boards. Check the route between shelter, water and hay for the small barriers younger goats never notice: a raised threshold, a muddy dip he must scramble through, a gap under a gate he squeezes beneath.
Bedding that works like a mattress
For a goat with stiff joints, bedding stops being floor covering and becomes equipment. A deep bed of straw over a dry base lets him sink in so his weight spreads instead of pressing on sore knees and hocks, cushions him as he lies down — the moment stiff goats struggle with most — and gives him purchase when he pushes back up. Top it up before it compacts into a hard, damp mat, and keep the whole shelter dry, because damp cold works into old joints overnight in a way dry cold does not. The shelter itself should be wind-tight at his height: a goat resting on the floor lives in the draught zone that a human standing in the doorway never feels, so get down to his level and check. Ventilation still matters, but it belongs above him, not through him. A shelter entrance he can reach without facing the prevailing wind completes the picture.
Food, water and space arranged for a stiff body
Set hay, water and minerals at a comfortable standing height — not on the ground where he must fold stiff front legs and strain his neck down for every mouthful, and not in a high rack that makes him rear and brace. A hay net or rack at chest height and a water bucket he can drink from without contorting are small changes with daily effect. Position everything within a short, level walk of his bed; a stiff goat who must cross a big pen for water will quietly drink less. Space matters at feeding time most of all. Herd-mates who would never bully a fit goat learn quickly that a slow one can be shouldered off the hay, so feed him with room to eat undisturbed — a corner pen for meals, or a feeding spot behind a barrier the others cannot crowd. Leave clear floor around his bed for the wide, careful turn an arthritic goat makes before lying down, and do not store equipment in the shelter corners he uses for that manoeuvre.
Small daily checks that catch a bad day early
Housing is only half the job; the other half is noticing when the housing needs to change again. Watch him get up in the morning: a goat who rocks several times before rising, or who stays down while the herd feeds, is having a worse spell and may need deeper bedding, a vet conversation, or both. Note whether he is reaching the hay with the others and whether his condition is holding — stiffness plus weight loss is a combination to raise with your vet promptly rather than at the next routine visit. Kneeling to graze or browse, worn hair on the knees, and reluctance on the ramp are all early information, not personality quirks. Because several people often share goat duties, KinsLe Family Sharing lets you give a cousin who helps at weekends access to his profile, so the relative bedding him down opens the goat's own page rather than working from a remembered version of it.