What to Avoid in a New Goat Herd

This is a follow up to a post I wrote a couple weeks ago on what to look for in a new goat herd. A lot of people are buying goats for fall breeding right now - and, if you have never been in the goat business before, all the conflicting information can get confusing. So here are the top five things to avoid when shopping for a new goat herd.

1. Ranchers that worm all their goats on monthly intervals – This will allow the internal parasites to become resistant to the wormer. Goats should not need to be wormed more than 3-4 times a year – we prefer even less.
2. Goats that are breed solely for their color – If color is the primary breeding criteria, they may be missing other more important traits like mothering or parasite resistance.
3. Goats that rely on pedigrees over ability – Not all goats with pedigrees are bad; but, if the only thing they have going for them is a piece of paper that says their great great grand sire was a particular breed, it may be time to look elsewhere.
4. Goats that need help kidding – Goats should be able to have kids on their own. If they can’t, you’re asking for a lot of trouble and heart ache.
5. Bottle kids – If a kid’s mother didn’t have the instinct to raise her babies, the kids probably won’t either. I can tell you from past personal experience, bottle feeding kids is a full time job.