Meat Goat Blog

Baby It's HOT Outside!

    Summer is here! And for most goat ranchers that means lots of hours filling waterers and containers. During most of the year we do not need to water much, due to the creeks and ponds scattered all over the property. But this time of year, the hot temperatures dry up the natural water forcing the goats to drink the less palatable chlorinated tap water.

    When the temperatures get hot enough, the animals can go through our 300 gallons of water in as little as 3 hours. (during the hot part of the day)

    Anyhow, all this to say: be careful with your watering, when the goats run out of water, they can get ill very quickly!

Parasites Will Kill You

Parasites will kill you in the goat business. Financially, worms or parasites will destroy your goat business faster than almost anything. You can't hardly see them without a microscope. They sneak up on you before you know it. The goats look great one day and a few weeks later are dead or to weak to walk.

Our top breeding criteria is parasite resistance and resilience. Sure we want good mothers who actually wean twins that grow pretty fast, but most importantly, does that are still doing it several years later.

We also don't have the time or the fencing to rotate pastures every few weeks the way some goat producers do. It's fine if you can do it, we can't. Our goats sleep pretty much in the same spot every night of the year. They eat all around the place including the areas near where they bed down. It would be impossible to clear the parasites without dropping alcohol or bleach from a helicopter. So we settled on the idea of goats that have the genetics to overcome the environment.

We tried Boers and crosses with miserable results. Spanish and Kikos have proved considerably better. Still we have found lines of Kikos and Spanish that aren't really able to withstand the parasites. There are parasite resistant and resilient goats out there, but you have to find them.

If a breeder tells you his goats don't have problems with parasites, ask a few more questions. How often does he worm? Does he rotate pastures? If so, how often? Does his pasture or browse get close to the ground in the late Summer? How many head of does he run and what kind of forage? Does the environment in which his goat thrive match yours? If not, it may be the goats handle the parasites or it may mean the breeder manages them better. The distinction is critical if you plan to manage your operation differently than the ranch selling you the goats.

Enterotoxemia - The Other Reason For CDT

All Things Goats did a nice job of summarizing the reason many goat farmers use the CDT vaccination other than tetanus. After our last post about working our does in the Spring, we really didn't explain the bacteria and associated over-eating very well. Check out the article for the scientific terms and a much better explanation. http://allthingsgoat.com/2010/02/enterotoxemia/

Spring is Kidding Season; Time to Work the Goats!

Spring is near; there are buds starting on the trees and green showing in places on the ground. The winter has been long and cold. It's an understatement to say Spring is welcome.

Our does should start kidding in the next 30 days so it's time to work them. We worm approximately one month before the kids are due. This year we are going to vaccinate for CDT. Some years we include CDT, some we don't. Either way, we want the does worked before the kids start to arrive.

The parasite load always hits hard with the stress of birthing and nursing the kids. It is a drain on the natural resources of the doe and we don't want them fighting the worms at the same time.

The CDT is given to avoid any more tetanus around the place than necessary. We recognize tetanus is everywhere, but prefer to vaccinate to prevent problems. The other parts of CDT is supposedly beneficial if provided late in gestation for the kids. We don't pretend to understand all the reasons, but accept the advice of our vet as well as the literature we have read.

Working the goats in the Spring is the prelude for the year. The kids will come shortly after, then starts the tagging and recording chores. It is more fun than work. The kids are tagged the first day we find them with an identification tag and scrappie. It means every evening for several weeks we chase them around with a butterfly net, catching and tagging. Looking for them behind rocks, inside tree roots, and under brush is like an Easter egg hunt every day.

If we wait, the work increases significantly. At one week, the kids are nearly impossible to catch. If we use the working pen and chute, we risk losing them to the crowding as the larger animals push together. No question about it, we want to tag the little boogers as soon as possible. Yes Sir, Spring is almost here and we're ready!

Rub a Dub Dub - A Goat's in the Tub!

The photograph of the goat in the bath tub we saw at www.allthings.comgoat was hilarious!! We're telling you, those ladies find some funny stories!. The narrative written by the Scroungeman has you smiling until you see the photo, then it's hard not to double over with laughter.

It was a wonderful way to keep a kid from freezing to death in the cold. As any goat breeder north of Texas well knows, goats don't handle the cold very well when wet. No doubt about it, Scroungeman kept the kid alive by warming him up in the tub. Great story!! http://scroungeman.blogspot.com/2009/12/i-just-might-be-redneck.html

Fecal Counts - Zero is Perfect - Or Is It ?

Some goats have extremely low fecal egg counts - zero. These goats are parasite resistant and rarely need to be wormed. Anything below 250 is considered exceptional. Obviously goat breeders like to  see these low numbers and many of us tailor our breeding program to raise offspring with these characteristics. But, is it what we the industry really needs. Is it what we really want?

Recently, I had a conversation with a fellow breeder that I respect. He has top quality goats and also places considerable emphasis on low numbers in the fecal counts. During the discussion, he disapprovingly  mentioned some breeders seem satisfied with goats that have higher egg counts although unaffected  by the parasite load they carry. He was surprised to learn I agree with these other breeders to some extent.

Whether it is better to have resistance as opposed to resilience is an interesting question. As said, we breed for resistance, but we also breed for resilience. We believe both are important. Someone will undoubtedly point out that no eggs means no worms. This is the position my friend takes. In fact, he says owning goats that carry worms means you are infecting the rest of your herd as the droppings are spread through the pasture. It is a sound position.  After all, increased parasite levels will definitely infect the others.

So why do we care about resilience? Wouldn't it just make sense to stay focused on goats who don't have parasites? We don't think so. It reminds me of the 20 year old, never sick a day in his life,  who  suddenly dies of a simple virus. Over the weekend, I listened to one of those medical radio shows. The physician talked about increasing numbers of adults contracting whooping cough. He explained the vaccines given as  a child wear off and the immune system weakens when it is not periodically challenged.

Sooner or later the goat with a zero parasite level is going to come into contact with a new strain of parasites it never encountered before. When it happens, the animal whose immunity has never been fully developed  will not have the time to build  a working immune system. 

While we are big advocates of objective tests to measure attributes such as the buck forage tests. One of our criticisms  of these tests has been the lack of resilience testing. We have suggested tests in which parasites are introduced to the participants to determine the ability to ward off the attack. So far, we are not aware of any testing facility that has a resilience test.

One of the objections posed by test facilities is breeders of expensive, registered stock will not be willing to participate for fear of the animal dying.  Our response is the tests are designed to objectively prove  that what is being sold is truly there. Sort of like, "put your money where your mouth is." If you hear of a facility conducting resilience tests, send us an e-mail and let us know.  

What is Body Scoring in Meat Goats?

"Body condition scoring (BCS) is a simple, fast method of assessing the overall condition, or the thinness or fatness, of your goats. It provides an indication of available fat reserves that can be used by the animal in periods of high energy demand, stress, or suboptimal nutrition and allows producers to make better management decisions" according to Langston University.

"Goats should be maintained with a moderate amount of body condition. When overall body condition starts to decrease in the herd and goats become too thin (under-conditioned), it is a sign that managerial intervention is needed such as supplemental feeding, deworming, pasture rotation, etc. Conversely, when overall body condition starts to increase in the herd and animals carry too much fat (over-conditioned), it is a sign that the producer should reduce supplemental feeding."

Langston warns that "Ignoring an animal’s body condition and waiting to intervene until goats become either too thin or too fat may result in production and(or) animal losses or decreased profits from overfeeding. "

The University recommends  producers' develop skills in assessing body condition of their goats and suggests evaluating the BCS of an animal will only take about 10-15 seconds if you practice. Langston concludes "adding BCS as a regular part of your management program" will allow  you to more "effectively monitor your feeding and herd health program for a healthy and productive herd. "

For a video on how to body score goats, go to:

 http://www.luresext.edu/goats/research/bcshowto.html

Famancha - Our Way

We recently discussed Famancha and how it sometimes isn't accurate as far as we are concerned. Here are some of the problems we have experienced and what we have done to make it more useful for a commercial operation.

First, we figured out pretty fast you never have one of those color chart/cards when you want one. Like most people, we found ourselves using memory to match the colors or just plain guessing. I sure most reputable breeders would never do this - unless . . . . . .  Yep, there are a lot of us who haven't always had the card available as we checked eyes.

Second, sometimes goats don't cooperate. One of our bucks was checked a week ago with the examiner lying on the ground looking up while the other one was wrestling him toward the ground. Probably should made  a video so we could show you how not to do it! It would have been a hit!!

Third, some of us have been accused of being just a little bit color blind when we pick out our clothes in the morning. If you see colors differently than others, it makes it doggone hard to consistently rate eye color unless it always the same person doing the checking. Maybe other farms are different than ours, but we don't always have the same person there to check.  Believe it or not, some days we don't even have the same person looking at all the goats!

Fourth, the amount of sunlight streaming down seems to change the way the color looks just a little. Bright days as opposed to rainy, grey days seem to give slight variations. Ever notice how the color of your truck ( for those of you who actually wash your vehicles ) looks  different in the evening than in the middle of the afternoon.

While we completely agree Famancha, to the extent it indicates a degree of health, is a useful tool. It is not always convenient to have a color chart and certainly not completely accurate means to test for parasites. It is  also difficult for some of us to distinguish one shade of pink from a marginally lighter shade except when we are matching our socks to our shirts.

We have developed our own approach that is a little simpler.

Goats are checked by one person as much as possible to maintain consistency.  The scores are marked using three colors that are suitable to meat producers: white, medium, and pink. White is pretty easy to see. Pink tends to stand out pretty well. Everything else is medium, sort of like medium well. Using three grades is easier for folks who don't count well and really gives us the information we want.

Famancha, As Good As It Sounds?

Famancha has really been in vogue the past few years. I can't recall a seminar or meeting  that hasn't addressed it. Many of the speakers make you stand up and promise to regularly and faithfully perform it before letting you leave the room. Once I was forced to commit to using it every two weeks before I could leave the talk to go to the restroom. Okay, a slight exaggeration. Still, it has been a constant source of discussion by goat breeders and educators everywhere. But is it really as good as touted?

We are not veterinarians and don't have backgrounds in animal science, but it seems like Famancha needs to be kept in perspective. It is essentially nothing more than an examination of the eye lids or other body parts to see if the color is pink. We use a form of Famancha so don't think we are against it. However, we haven't always found it exactly accurate. For instance, some goats, like some people, have different pigment. We recently wormed with the help of a veterinarian assistant. He helps us work our goats twice per year.

After we finished checking the goats and doing our traditional Fall worming, he said " those goats with the eye lids that were lighter in color, don't look wormy to me." I agreed - those does didn't look wormy. So why did some have truly pink eyes and others a lighter pink or almost gray color. Good question.

We have also seen our bucklings in a forage test have Famancha's of 2 and 3 with almost no indication of parasites in the fecal samples. Some goats just seem to show less pink than others.

We still agree with the basic premise of Famancha, but believe people need to keep it in perspective. It is an indication of anemia and possibly parasites, not a confirmation. Later in another post, we will tell  you our modified version of Famancha for those interested in what we have been trying.

Wisdom in Raising and Breeding Goats

We want to be a little careful in discouraging others in providing their experience and learning about raising goats. After all, this blog is a means of helping others with information we feel is important to the goat industry. However, one point we like to emphasize is our lack of knowledge about medical issues involving goats. We don't want to know what other people have learned, but prefer goats that avoid so many of the problems we hear discussed by other breeders.

As an example, http://www.goatwisdom.com/ appears to offer a variety of articles about goats, diseases, illnesses, and treatments. We appreciate the willingness of the author of the web page to provide the material and commend the obvious knowledge. But we require goats that take care of themselves. Our goats don't have a fancy barn and a mid-wife to deliver their babies. They must raise their kids without our help.

Again we do not mean to knock the knowledge provided by goatwisdom and the well meaning intention to help goat breeders. We simply want to contrast the difference between raising healthy, strong, and hardy animals rather than the need to doctor, nurse, bottle feed, and baby sit livestock. There is absolutely nothing wrong with these things, we just don't have the time or the inclination to do it.  

If you find yourself with a problem with your goats, goatwisdom is probably a quick source for some self-help information from  people who might be able to help you with things we don't know anything about.