Meat Goat Blog

How to Tell if a Goat is Sick

When looking out at your herd, it can be hard to tell whether or not the animals are healthy or not. Sometimes it's obvious, like when they just lay on the ground without moving, but often times, they display symptoms that are less apparent. So here are a few identifying characteristics of goats that are not feeling their best so you'll be able to quickly scan your herd for animals that need some attention.

It may sound kinda funny, but when goats aren't feeling well, they are more prone to having a bad hair day. When they get run down, their coats get scruffy and unkempt. This is often accompanied by a tucked tail, stiff joints, and a low hanging head. These symptoms can be caused by many different issues like worms, extended cold weather, common colds, or bullying from the other goats. You will often find goats that are suffering from these issues lag at the back of the herd.

Once you identify these animals, you may want to catch them to do a Famacha Eye Score and Body Condition Score. If you find them to be wormy, be sure to make a record - that way if they continue to get run down, you can take them the sale barn and get them off your ranch!

Castrating Bucklings - A Good Idea?

For most goat ranchers, one of the yearly rituals at the end of kidding season is to round most or all of the bucklings up and take them to the sale barn. If you don't do something with them, they will breed their little sisters. But the sale isn't the only option. Some ranchers keep the bucklings in a separate pen for a couple months to let them grow. Then, when they take them to the sale, the prices can be much higher - meaning more profit. But what if there isn't enough room for an extra pen? Many people suggest castration.

The idea behind castration is that you can keep the bucklings with the rest of the herd during the 60 to 90 day growth period. This way they cannot breed their little sisters - but this way you don't need a separate pen. Since most of the bucklings sold at the sale are used for slaughter, it doesn't matter whether or not they are intact. But, for some people, this concept has a few flaws.

For starters, the only economical methods of castration are not as safe or effective as you might like. Most ranchers use the banding method. But it can have some major drawbacks. If both testicles are not completely trapped by the band, you can have a "wether" with just enough manhood to really mess things up. While this is not very likely, it only takes one. Infection is another issue that the banding method faces. It doesn't take very many dead goats to destroy your increased profit.

But these are not the only concerns. As many ranchers are aware, much of the meat goat market is driven by ethnic ceremonies. In these ceremonies, many groups prefer to have intact bucks - not wethers. By wethering the bucklings, the potential market for the animals decreases.

All this considered, castration is still not a bad idea. For many people the advantages outweigh the risks. Besides, many of these negatives are also region specific. Certain ethnic groups are more concentrated in various parts of the country; so depending on where you live, wethering may not be an issue. Infection is also much more likely in warmer climates.

But as I often mention, part of the fun in goat ranching is trying new strategies to see if they will work for you. So don't be afraid to experiment. You might even try wethering half of your bucklings and leaving the other half intact. Then by comparing the sale prices you can quickly tell whether or not you want to castrate again next year.