Meat Goat Blog

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.

What to Look for in a New Goat Herd

Breeding Season is rolling around again soon. That means a lot of people will be doing some last minute goat shopping to get in on next year’s kidding. So here are the top three things to look for in your new herd.

1. Goats need to be parasite resistant – without it, you will watch a lot of wormy goats drop dead for no apparent reason.
2. Mothers need to have good maternal instincts for raising and protecting their kids. Breeding does need to birth and raise kids every year – and they should usually be twins or more.
3. Goats should be living in a similar environment to the one you will put them in. If they were raised to lounge around a barn and you throw them into the pasture to fend for themselves, you will be doing a lot of “natural culling” – at your expense. "Breeding up" doesn't work.

Parasite Management Workshop in East Texas

If you've been reading Meat Goat Blog for very long, you know that we're all about parasite management and parasite resistance. For this reason, I thought I'd let everyone know about the parasite management workshop the East Texas Goat Raisers Association and Prairie View A&M will be hosting Saturday, September 20, 2014 starting at 9:00 a.m. The convention will take place in the Rusk County Youth Expo in Henderson, Texas and lunch will be provided.

If you're interested in hearing Dr. Niki Whitley's seminar about parasite management, register your $20 with Gwen VanderMartin at 903-388-0655, [email protected] or Ann Rodgers at [email protected].

Livestock Guardian Dog Directory

We're happy to annouce our new Livestock Guardian Dog For Sale Directory! If you've been in the goat business for very long, you probably know how important it is to protect your herd from predators and how difficult it can be to find a Livestock Guardian Dog or Puppy. This directory is free to post and view. The main Livestock Guardian dog breeds (although there are many more than just these) are Anatolian, Great Pyrenees, Akbash, and Komondor. Just send me an e-mail ([email protected]) if you have Livestock Guardian Dogs for sale. Check out the directory here!

Why Goat Pedigrees Don’t Matter

It’s been a running joke in the family that my great grandmother could prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she wasn’t crazy – she had a note from her psychiatrist that said so! Just like someone who needs a piece of paper to prove their sanity, you shouldn’t distinguish a goat’s quality by a piece of paper – but by whether or not it’s got the genetics to back it up. So until there’s a pedigree that measures a goat’s ability to stay healthy and raise kids, I’ll determine the quality by their performance – not their bloodlines.

Goat Conventions and Seminars 2014

With 2014 firmly underway, many of the meat and dairy goat associations have started releasing their calendars of events for the year. That means conventions, conferences, and seminars!

Here are the meat and dairy goat conventions and seminars that I have found for 2014. If there are any that I have not included here, feel free to e-mail me with the details - [email protected].

Heartland Meat Goat Conference and Spotlight Kiko Sale; Sedalia, Missouri; May 2nd and 3rd 2014.

AKGA Convention and Breeders Showcase Sale; Murfreesboro, Tennessee; May 30th and 31st 2014.

Oklahoma Invitational Conference and Kiko Auction; Porum, Oklahoma; September 12th and 13th, 2014.

East Texas Parasite Management Workshop; Henderson, Texas; September 20th, 2014.

The Great Goat Gathering; Choteau, Montana, October 17th and 18th, 2014.

American Dairy Goat Association Annual Meeting and Convention; Portland, Maine; October 18th - 25th, 2014.

Where to Tag a Goat's Ear: Here Come the Kids!

Well, it's that time of year again - babies will be hitting the ground pretty soon, and that means lots of little ears to tag. I know I've given a lot of advice for Kidding Season in the past, but the other day I was thinking back to when we started raising goats (I can't believe it's been over a decade!). I still cringe at some of the silly mistakes we used to make while tagging, but I hope this blog will help you avoid our mistakes.

Tagging kids doesn't seem like it should be that hard. All you do is grab the kid and pinch their ear with the applicator - but if you do it wrong, you'll be kicking yourself for as long as you own the animal. If the tag is too low, it will rip out. If it's too high, it may be hard to see (or even worse, it could damage the ear). So where's the best place to tag a goat's ear?

 

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I thought I'd better use one. As you can see, the tags in this little goat's ears as just about dead center both top to bottom and left to right. In my opinion, this is usually a pretty good way to do it - but it depends on the circumstances. Like people, not all goats are exactly the same.

Some may have big veins running down the center of their ears. If you can miss them, you always want to avoid veins. Not only does it decrease the chance of infection, it also just hurts less when you poke the hole (it seems like the areas without veins have less nerves).

Others goats may have ears that are very thin and prone to ripping. You may want to take this into account by tagging a little bit higher. But don't tag too high - it gets easier to hit a vein the higher you go.

Another problem we've had with goats with short "airplane ears". The little boogers have ears that stick straight out like an airplane. It makes them very cute, but when they get older and the tags are no longer heavy enough to bend their ears down, it makes them hard to read at a distance. With goats like these, you may want to tag a little lower - but not too low, otherwise it might tear out.

Now it may not seem like it could be that hard to get the tag in the center of the ear, but goat kids learn quick. Especially if you're using a system that puts a tag in both ears, you may get off easy with the first tag, but the baby will be ready as you grab their other ear and prepare to "bite" it. Baby goats are very good at shaking their head right before you tag them. The best solution is to grab a second person to help you - that way they can hold the baby's head still. Just ask your helper if they want to come hold some baby goats this afternoon - they'll be dying to come along!

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.

Famacha Eye Scores Tutorial

If you've been wondering how to do a Famacha eye score, this video by Purdue University gives a nice tutorial of how to perform Famacha eye score exams. They also explain that Famacha eye scores let you determine if your goat is wormy. They also do a really nice job teaching what Famacha eye scores are, why they are used, and how to worm a goat.

Early in the video, they mention the increased resistance that parasites have developed to dewormers. That's exactly why parasite resistance is so crucial! This was a very good educational video!

If you'd like to learn how to tell if your goats are getting enough (or too much) food, check out this video on How to Body Condition Scores by Goat eXtension.

 

101 Fun Facts About Goats

Whether you're starting into a new 4-H project or have been raising goats for decades, sometimes it can be good to know a few facts. So here are 101 of them!

101 Fun Facts About Goats

1. Not all goats have horns.
2. Goats do not eat tin cans.
3. Goat-owners do not always look (or smell) like their livestock.
4. Goat meat is one of the leanest red meats.
5. Goat milk is very healthy.
6. The markhor breed is the national animal of Pakistan.
7. Horns of goats grow in lots of different directions and patterns.
8. Various goat breeds are used for milk, meat, wool, sacrifice, and pack animals.
9. Goat meat is one of the most popular meats on the planet (mainly outside the US).
10. Baby goats are usually born without horns - they start growing after a few weeks.
11. Domesticated goats are sometimes kept as pets - similar to a dog or cat.
12. Goats are very curious - if you do something they see as strange, they will stare at you until they figure out why you're doing it.
13. Some people use goats to pull children in small wagons or carts.
14. The most expensive goat ever sold cost $194,547.20 US Dollars.
15. Nubian goats are the most common dairy goat in the US.
16. Goats are very agile.
17. Race horses are often given a 'goat friend' so they will not be lonely in the stall.
18. The phrase 'getting someone's goat' comes from the (unsportsman-like) practice of stealing the competition's goat to unsettle the horse before the race.
19. Goats only have bottom teeth. The top is just gums.
20. Goats and cattle are not susceptible to many of the same types of intestinal parasites.
21. Goats come in thousands of color combinations from jet-black to blue.
22. Gloves made of goat hide are soft but tough.
23. Like humans, goats can have accents.
24. Baby goats love to run up and down their mother's back while she is lying down.
25. The pupils in a goat's eye are slits, instead of round. This gives them better peripheral vision.
26. Traditional 'mountain goats' are actually more similar to sheep than goats.
27. There are about 450 million goats in the world.
28. Male and female goats often have beards.
29. Some goats have bundles of skin under their chins called wattles which serve no known function.
30. Most goats prefer weeds to grass.
31. Goats hate getting wet - whether from rain or standing water.
32. If a goat is raised by humans, they often have great loyalty and fondness for their owner.
33. Goat fur is fairly resistant to water and dirt - except when they are run-down or unhealthy.
34. Goats prefer to eat the tops of weeds more than any other part.
35. A defense mechanism in fainting goats causes them to appear to pass out when threatened.
36. The tallest goat ever recorded stood almost 6 feet tall.
37. The LaMancha breed is born with ears so small that many people think they have been torn off.
38. Nubian goats have ears so long that reach down to their noses.
39. Goats make different sounds and calls which have different meanings.
40. Goats in Ethiopia first discovered coffee beans.
41. There are companies that transport goats to various locations to landscape the foliage.
42. There are over 200 official breeds of goat.
43. Worldwide, more people eat and drink milk from goats than any other animal.
44. Goats have 24 molars and 8 incisors.
45. Goats can be born with or without horns (polled).
46. Goats have a four chamber stomach.
47. Goats are one the cleanliest animals.
48. Goats are more selective feeders than cows, sheep, pigs, swine and even dogs.
49. The top ten states with the largest population of meat goats are Texas (1,010,000), Tennessee (98,000), Georgia (77,000), Oklahoma (65,000), Kentucky (63,500), North Carolina (52,200), California (50,000), South Carolina (41,000), Alabama (37,800) and Florida (36,000;NASS, 2005).
50. Having 15,000 taste buds, goats have 5000-6,000 more than humans!
51. There are goats on every continent except Antarctica.
52. Goats love to jump and climb on rocks.
53. While climbing, goats often play King-of-the-Mountain by trying to push each other to the ground.
54. 'Judas Goats' are trained to herd other animals to slaughter (though their lives are spared).
55. Goats were not known to the Americas until Columbus brought them in 1493.
56. Most goat medications were originally developed for other species.
57. Goat milk is less allergenic than cow milk.
58. About 1.5 million pounds of goat meat is imported into the US every week.
59. Goat kids can stand minutes after birth.
60. Goats do not have tear ducts.
61. China has the most goats in the world with over 170 million.
62. Lactating does produce around a gallon of milk a day.
63. Some people use tobacco as a wormer for goats.
64. Goats can have life spans up to 15 years.
65. Approximately 72% of the milk consumed by humans worldwide is goat milk.
66. Goat milk is more digestible than cow milk.
67. It takes 20 minutes to digest goat milk (cow milk takes an hour)
68. Some goats bond with their kids for life while others refuse to associate with them after weaning.
69. Goats often stand on their back legs to reach leaves that are to high too reach on all 4's.
70. Goat milk is sometimes used in soap.
71. Sailors used to bring goats on voyages so they could have fresh milk every day.
72. The US imports the most goats worldwide.
73. Australia exports the most goats worldwide.
74. Goats eat around 5.5 pounds a day.
75. Mothers can identify their kids by the smell.
76. Mothers can also tell if their kids have tampered with using scent.
77. Goats move their jaws between 40,000 and 60,000 times a day.
78. Goats have about 340 degree panoramic vision.
79. Goats have excellent night vision.
80. When milk does are kept with bucks, the milk reportedly tastes more "goaty."
81. Goats skins were used as parchment by ancient Greeks.
82. Wild goats do not sleep.
83. Goats milk is naturally homogenized.
84. Early explorers used goat skins to carry water.
85. As president, Abraham Lincoln’s sons kept two goats in the white house with them.
86. Goat horns never stop growing.
87. The oldest goat ever recorded lived 22 years 5 months.
88. Goat cheese has about 60% the fat, cholesterol and calories of cheddar cow cheese.
89. 100 pounds of goat milk makes about 25 pounds of goat cheese.
90. Google rents goats to cut down on brush at Google HQ.
91. When in a herd, goats will select a matriarch as to lead.
92. One Angora goat will produce 11 to 17 pounds of mohair per year.
93. Domesticated goats choose a central bedding area to return to every night.
94. Mountain goats will sometimes eat moss when other food sources are lacking.
95. Goat milk soap is used as a treatment for skin disorders such as eczema.
96. Spanish goats are an actual breed - they are not 'mutts.'
97. The longest domestic goat horns measured were 52 inches tip to tip.
98. Happie, the skateboarding goat, has the world record for longest ride at 118 feet.
99. Goats have natural oils that help repel ticks.
100. The thickness of an Angora goat's hair increases with their age.
101. The high of mohair production was reached in the 1990's with appx. 28,000 tons a year.