Meat Goat Blog

What Breed of Goat Should I Buy?

People ask, " What's the best breed of goat to raise "? The answer depends on what you want to accomplish and how much work you want to put into it. We know people who love the idea of bottle feeding kids around the clock with does who won't raise them. These folks take a lot of pride in explaining how they kept the little guy alive and glow about how good he looks now. Others want fresh milk to drink and like the idea of having goat milk as a healthy, natural product straight from their own backyard.

We want to raise 200 - 300 kids per year without giving up full time employment at a steady job. Bottle feeding kids doesn't work so well if you have to a 7:00am meeting the next morning. We also don't want a second education in caprine (goat) pharmacology and medication. Some people enjoy the ability to tell you about countless medicines, procedures, and remedies for ailments we didn't even know exist.

We insist on livestock  we manage rather than animals that require us to survive. The ability to thrive in brush conditions, raise and care for healthy offspring, and function independently for the most part fits our lifestyle.  We don't want a small fortune invested in drugs and goat medicine.So which breed is best - the one that makes you the happiest. We like Kikos and Spanish, and have also found  Kiko/Spanish cross to work well for us. In short, we are less interested in a specific breed than animals that accomplish our goals.

Spanish Goats

Spanish goat is a confusing term. Individuals new to raising and breeding goats need to understand some important distinctions in the way the phrase is used. Spanish goats are not a breed and there are no known registries. Recently we received an e-mail inquiring about purchasing some of our Spanish goats we have for sale. The prospective customer wanted to know if we had some with papers. There are no "registered" Spanish goats. Anyone offering to sell you "papered" Spanish goats may also have registered snipes for your  next snipe hunt.

The term Spanish is used in two contexts. Some people use it to mean all types of brush goats. We, as well as many other breeders. use it in reference to lines of goats that are considered Spanish and can be traced back to the Spanish explorers. These goats are recognized by Oklahoma State University as part of the Breeds of Goats and more information is available at their web page.  The background information comes from the American Meat Goat Association and there are some photographs. However, we like the photos at www.postoak.us better.  The Spanish goats we have are quick and tough. We like them. They are self sufficient and wonderful browsers.

Testing The Best - Oklahoma Buck Forage Test

 Wylie Harris reports in the Field Notes of the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture about the purpose of the forage tests.

"Parasites, and their increasing resistance to chemical dewormers, rank high among the challenges the meat goat industry faces in the southeast. According to Dr. Steve Hart, of the Kiko de la Garza Institute for Goat Research at Langston University, worms kill more goats than the next three most common causes of death combined."

“We can control parasites without deworming,” Hart says, “by using selection and pasture management.” In 2007, the Kerr Center and OCES launched the Oklahoma Commercial Meat Goat Forage Performance Test to tackle the first half of that formula."

According to Mary Penick, Test Manager, the test’s purpose is to identify the genetics required for forage-based goat production, with emphasis on parasite resistance/tolerance, weight gain using forage and minimal supplementation, and overall commercial viability.In its first two years, the buck test has already revealed the variability in parasite resistance and overall performance necessary for successful selection and breeding. In both years so far, champion bucks’ rates of daily weight gain have been double the test average.

"The buck test is almost as much about undoing the results of selection for the show ring as it is about exerting positive selection for pasture performance. The traits that let meat goats thrive on forage in the southeast don’t necessarily win points in the show ring."

“Emphasis on show ring quality has had a significant effect on the commercial meat goat animal, which has been selected more for its physical appearance than for the commercial characteristics of foraging ability, foot soundness, and parasite resistance/ tolerance,” Penick says.

"From the beginning, the buck test drew interest and participation from all over the country. It has also garnered quite a bit of recognition and prestige, with champion bucks beginning to bring thousands of dollars at auction. "

Harris concludes the buck test is also helping to reshape the breeding goat market, making it possible for producers to receive deserved compensation for putting in the necessary time and effort to improve meat goat lines.

http://www.kerrcenter.com/nwsltr/2009/summer09/meat-goats.htm

AKGA Convention Showcase Sale 2009

The AKGA Convention committee sent out a reminder e-mail stating:

At 1:00 pm on Saturday June 27, we will hold our Third Annual Showcase Sale
featuring 100 Kiko goats consigned by breeder/members from all over the United States to be auctioned. The AKGA will accept cash, check, and credit card as method of payment. All credit card transactions will have a modest fee added to cover the extra cost to provide this type of transaction for your convenience.

Members as well as non-members are invited to attend the Showcase Sale. It is a great place to meet some really nice people and learn about goats. Thursday and Friday before the sale there will be educational classes. It is $10.00 per person to attend the educational meetings, a guaranteed bargain! For more information, you can go to http://www.kikogoats.com/.

The Boer Goat

Boer goats are generally said to come from South Africa. The breed is another composite breed derived from other breeds of goats and distilled down to specific qualities which eventually resulted in the breed. There are some photographs and a nice synopsis about boers which can be found at http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/goats/boer/. The information appears to come from the American Boer Goat Association and part of Oklahoma State University's Breeds of Goats. Boers are readily identified by their  "red heads." Many commercial breeders like to have some boer genetics in the herd because of the size the breed offers. While we appreciate the meatiness of the breed, parasites were a problem for us with many of the boers we initially purchased. It was an expensive process to lose many of the does to parasites while spending more money on wormers that were ineffective. However, one of our good neighbors raises primarily boers and swears by them.

Meat Goats For Sale In Florida Make Sun-Sentinel News

We need more newspaper journalists covering the meat goat industry like Christine Show. She wrote a nice article about some meat goat producers in Orlando, Florida recently. It was well written and caught our attention in Oklahoma. Pleasant to see some nice publicity about the industry.You can see the article at: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-locgoat-meat-061109061109jun11,0,111478.story?track=rss. .

The Kiko Breed

If you are looking for information on the Kiko breed as a meat goat, you can find a nice summary at http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/goats/ (you'll need to use the side-bar to go to the Kiko page). The article is part of Oklahoma State University's Breeds of Goats. It features photographs from Dr. An Peischel and a short summary on the origination of the breed. Kikos were started in New Zealand and developed from other breeds mixed with feral or wild goats. The breed was developed by selective breeding and rigorous culling to create a hardy, parasite resistant, and fast growing meat goat. We like Kikos in our commercial operation because they take less work and effort for us.

Goat Fence with Cow Panels and Zip Strips

We weaned 51 of our buck-lings. It just so happened one of our neighbors needed a small paddock cleared of poison ivy, shumac, briers, vines, sapling oak trees, and thick brush. The perfect place to put these young bucks. It wasn't a big pen and only fenced on three sides so we used cow panels and zip strips to fence the last side. We puts the bucklings inside and they instantly went to work.

Some of you old hands have probably used similar temporary fencing. Well, just a reminder for you. Some of the zip strips have about a 75 -90 lb. strength. I suppose 4 -5 of them decided to climb up on it at one time to reach some leaves and the strips broke. The combined weight of the panel and the goats exceeded the strength of the strips. Some other neighbors called and said they had some unexpected company that we might want back! Just a reminder when you build temporary fences even for young goats that they can find a way to get out!

Are Monday's Always Like This?