Goat Basics

To avoid many woes, buy your goats from the most HEALTHY HERDS that you can. Herds that are free of sore mouth, tested for CAE, CL, and Johnes.

WATER: Goats must be provided with a clean water supply at least twice a day.

FOOD: Provide a sweet smelling variety of grass and alfalfa hay. Note about Hay: goats like to waste it. To reduce waste, we use a 4" by 4" cattle panel cut into sections and attached to walls and fences for feeders.

Goats will not eat what they have stepped on.

Goats like a variety and prefer to browse on brambles, blackberries, and other weeds.

POISON: Watch out for toxic plants: Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Laurels, Yew, Nightshade, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Cherry, and Plum (stone fruits). Sometimes wilted leaves, and wilted grass clippings can be toxic.  Do not let your neighbors feed your goats any yard prunings or clippings!  See your county extension service for any suspicious plants in your pasture.

• Never change a goats feed suddenly!
• Never put a goat out to spring, or drought pasture, without first offering some hay!
• Never allow your goat free access to grain, or change a grain ration quickly! These can make your goat very sick!

Grain is like candy, feed it sparingly. Feed a balanced goat ration. Gradually, Gradually increasing to 1 lb is plenty. Kids need some to grow, and does in the last 2 months of pregnancy, and during lactation. Bucks during breeding season to keep up stamina.

Please feed your goats free choice loose GOAT minerals only. Make sure you have one with enough Selenium, if you are in a deficient area.

SHELTER: Provide a draft free shelter from rain, wind and predators.

HAZARDS: Make sure your pasture is clean of unsecured pallets to break their neck in, baling twine to hang themselves, key hole feeders to choke in while being mobbed, sharp things to wound, or step on, holes in the middle of old growth logs to swallow goats alive, slits in old logs to catch a leg in, page wire fences to catch a head in. toxic plants, including the tomato that volunteers in your manure pile.

FENCES: 2" by 4" Woven wire horse fence, with one or two strands of "hot" wire, proves very effective. Adult Angoras and Boer goat does may be effectively contained if trained with a 4 or 5 strand hot wire fence.

PARASITES: Goats being browsers by nature have not developed the resistance to intestinal parasites of most grazers.
Avoid parasites by:

• Rotational and multi species grazing
• Letting a pasture rest for at least one month
• Having a cow or horse or sheep graze it as well
• Always allow the goat to eat the tallest grass first, then bring in the clean up crew.
• Do not force your goat to eat or graze close to the ground
• Feed hay in mangers with feet rests

DE WORMERS: We treat for worms with DE, and Natural herbs, Ivomec pour on, Eprinex pour on, Safeguard, Rarely Valbazen, and Cydectin. We treat once and then two weeks later to break most parasite life cycles and then put out to fresh pasture. Repeating as necessary usually on a monthly or three month schedule, and more often in young animals. Young animals also receive treatment for coccidia. We use Deccox or a calf starter with Deccox.

TO ROPE or NOT TO ROPE
that is the question?

WARNING WARNING WARNING
this story is not intended for the squeamish.
GOATS ON ROPES ARE PRONE TO CHOKE or worse.

A Short "Tail".
by
Aline Bright

I was just gone for five (5) minutes! My daughter's pet Boer goat wether "John Paul" was tied out in the front yard on a weed control project. He was behind a closed gate and "SAFE"! The next thing to do was take the other goats out to browse in the opposite direction. Don't worry, it's just for 5 minutes my mind reasoned. Then I heard "John Paul" screaming, and I started from the back of the property, my four year old daughter in tow for most of the way.

There, I found "John Paul" , protected partially but also entangled in the bamboo stand, choking on the end of his rope, frantically trying to escape every bite the neighbors dog was inflicting. He was still alive! Thank God! Seconds away from a strangled goat, I desperately worked on loosening the rope around his neck, the dog STILL biting at his rear ( a mighty fun game for the dog). I said a prayer, and frantically kicking the dog off, finally got "John Paul" loose.

Now my daughter is screaming, and crying "John Paul, John Paul, OH John Paul", as she arrives at the scene and realizes what has happened to him. I kicked the dog off again, shooing it home. I know of some guys out there saying" why didn't she shoot it??" Believe me, I was wishing for a gun, this would have been the most excellent use for one, if ever there was one. The fact is, if I had of gone into the house to get it, John Paul would have strangled. Gone are the days when you could yell into the house, "Pa, get the gun", and Pa would come out in two seconds, with a fully loaded gun, that hung loaded, above the fireplace, or leaning up against the door.

My daughter and I discovered "John Paul's" tail lying on the ground, his tail was de gloved, with at least 2" of bone sticking out, multiple bite and laceration wounds on his rump and what remained of his tail. As I was catching my breath, I stood pondering all of this and kicking myself (mentally). I realized that John Paul was safe until he knocked the gate latch off, which was in a state of disrepair, and he was only able to do this because I tied him to the gate post, and then left. Lesson learned.

Many thanks to our neighbors Tracy, Katrina and Jakub, who came to our rescue, and aided in John Paul's emergency surgery, and also supported me during this crisis. John Paul has healed completely and is in training to be a cart goat. If you look really really, close you may spot him in the field as the goat with the short tail.