Meat Goat Blog

Dead Goats Make No Sales - Even If They Weight a Lot

This following post was inspired by an e-mail I received from a reader. I always appreciate good suggestions - keep them coming!

Penny,

Thanks for the note. Weight gain is definitely an important topic for us goat breeders! As you mentioned, our Post Oak-goats have strong Spanish and Kiko influences. Those were the best genetics we could find when we started looking for new breeding stock after a rough welcome to the goat business from a herd of Boers.

Since we switched away from Boers a little over ten years ago, we've been focused on improving our goats' genetics in three main areas: parasite resistance, mothering, and body size. We think that parasite resistance is most important. A doe can't raise a healthy kid if she's dying from worms. However, mothering takes a close second place. A healthy doe that is infertile or neglects her kids just costs me time and money with nothing in return. We only began to consider size once we felt like we had parasite resistance and mothering pretty well in-hand. A little extra bulk can definitely improve the prices you see at the sale barn. But, a large dead goat kid is worth a lot less that a small goat kid I can load on the trailer.

Weaning weight is a tricky subject to tackle because everyone raises their goats a little differently. We had some friends a number of years back who raised the most gorgeous registered Kiko goats we'd ever seen. They were big, healthy, and even had a weaning:mother ratio greater than 2.0! But then we learned a little more about their operation. They kept their goats in a 20 acre lot with a barn big enough to use as a house. The goats were fed high-dollar bagged feed and the kids were treated like royalty the second they were born. While we were still very impressed by their livestock, we started to realize that we weren't making an apples-to-apples comparison with our goats. From the beginning, our goats have been treated like goats. We provide them with brush to eat and water to drink. If they ever get bagged feed or hay, it's because they flat ran out of brush to eat in the Winter. They kid in the pasture and we don't handle them much (other than ID tags) until the bucklings go to the sale around 90 days old. Because of their environment, our goats may not always be pretty - but they're definitely tough! While scores like average daily weight gain have their place, it can be difficult to equalize between different operations.

I hope this answered a few of your questions. I left links to a few more posts your might be interested in below:

• Average Daily Weight Gain in Goats
• How Big are Spanish Goats?
• Parasite Resistance in Goats
• How to Select Future Breeding Stock
• About Our Ranch

Matt

 

 

Goat Minerals Follow-Up Question

Post suggestion by Allan

I recently got an e-mail from a long-time viewer of the blog with some follow-up questions regarding a post I wrote a few years ago about avoiding Coccidiosis. Here's how the conversation went:

Matt,

I have several questions but first a little background. My wife and I bought a ranch as I retired ten years ago. It is in south Texas and adjoins her parents’ ranch. We have also taken over my father-in-law’s cattle operations.

However eight months ago, at age 89, he decided he would start a goat business. He knows little about goats so I have been trying to learn as much as I can from websites like your blog ever since. That said, I am very interested in learning better ways to do it both for helping today and to prepare me for tomorrow.

Your blog has me interested in Rumensin minerals. Would you be willing to give me some advice as to how you feed this product to your goats?

What period of the year do you use the SweetLix with Rumensin?

Do you control which goats have access to it?

How do you make certain all the goats you feel should have it actually get it? Our goats have a pecking order around the feed and I’m sure some don’t get any at all.

Do you have to get the doelings/bucklings you wish to sell off of the medicated feed for a defined period before they can be sold?

My father-in-law still has good forage available (50% south Texas brush, 50% pasture with mixed grasses/ weeds). The only supplemental food he puts out is corn. Initially it was to train the herd to come in every night. But as soon as we get a freeze things will change more.

Thanks,

Allan

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Allan,

Welcome to the goat business! I hope you enjoy it as much as we have.

I'm happy to tell you about what has worked for us; I'm not a vet, though.

We don't mix our minerals with anything. We just leave them out for the goats to eat whenever their bodies need them. We offer free-choice minerals year-round but mainly worry about Rumensin minerals from about a month before kidding until the kids are weaned. We offer minerals to every goat on the ranch but NOT TO HORSES. I've been told that goat minerals have too much copper for a horse and can kill them. I'm not sure if this is true for cattle. We give our goats Sweetlix 16:8 Meat Maker with Rumensin. I found an online store that carries it here.

Since the minerals are always available, the goats usually don't fight over them too much. Any goat that wants the minerals can walk over and get them. We have had to stop providing minerals for a few months occasionally; when we put them out again, the goats will sometimes eat a whole bag in about 48 hours. After a couple weeks, they slow down again. 200 goats will eat a 25lb bag about every 2 weeks. But, the rate varies wildly depending on the season.

I believe Rumensin is safe to feed to animals before slaughter. I found this FDA article that says it can be used to increase weight gain in slaughter cattle (among other uses).

We use a swivel feeder that we got from a friend to give the minerals to the goats. At the time, we never would have paid this much money for a glorified feed bowl. However, I would definitely pay for one today. We've been using ours for over 10 years and it still gets the job done. The fin on the top of the feeder turns the opening away from the wind when it's raining. This keeps the minerals dry. The swivel also prevents the goats from knocking it over. It doesn't take very many bags of ruined minerals to pay for the feeder. Here's a link to a similar Sydell product.

If we do give feed (separate from the minerals), we usually use 20% protein cattle cubes. The main reason they need feed is to supplement a lack of good weeds to eat when the property gets eaten down too much. Protein is the most important thing in bagged feed.

I hope this helps! Keep questions like these coming. I'll probably start turning them into posts that might help other people who have the same questions!

-- Matt

 

How to Transport a Goat

As ranchers, most of the goats we sell get loaded in the bed of a pickup truck or the back of a trailer so they can reach their new owner's farm further down the road. Some folks bring rigs that look nicer than most houses; others have simpler setups that get the job done just as well. But, there are a few tips we like to give prospective goat breeders before they drive off with their new herd.

A goat trailer should be fully secured from top to bottom. In case you hadn't heard, goats are pretty good at jumping! Since goats like to lie close to each other on road trips, they make excellent launching platforms for any escape-minded travelers in the group. To avoid this, the trailer walls or truck pen should either be very tall (which often isn't practical) or they should have a ceiling of some sort. No one wants to see a flying goat in their rear-view mirror!

Also, a goat trailer should have some wind protection to keep the animals warm and to protect their eyes. The air moving through a trailer at 75 miles-per-hour can get very cold very fast. Goats will do fine huddling together for warmth in most weather. However, a trailer without wind protection can produce wind chills that are just too cold for their health. Furthermore, the air running through the trailer can damage their eyes with enough time. Fast-moving air will dry their eyes much faster than the winter wind ever did on the farm. With enough exposure, that can lead to temporary 'wind-blindess' or even long-term eye problems.

So, whether you've got a Hollywood mansion on wheels or a faded stock trailer with a dent in the side, make sure you take a few precautions so your goats will be in top shape once they reach their new home.

When to Wean: There Go the Kids

With the 2017 kidding season already underway, we've been getting lots of calls from people wanting to buy goats as soon as they're available. But, the kids need to be raised and weaned before they can be sold. So how long should a goat rancher wait before weaning?

Well, there are a couple of things to consider when weaning kids. You don't want to wean them too early - otherwise their growth will be stunted. But, you don't want to leave them too long either; then, the bucklings will start breeding everything they can reach.

We've found that it's usually best to wait between 60 and 90 days before separating the kids from their mothers. This gives the kids adequate time to grow strong on their mother's milk and to begin eating a few weeds. Once the kids are separated from their mothers (preferably out of her line of sight), the doe will have a chance to regenerate her strength for next breeding season without needing to provide nutrition for three.

Thanks for the suggestion, Allan!

Good Bucks Have to be Sold Sooner

Here's a funny thought: if you have a really good buck, you'll end up selling him sooner than you'd sell a buck you don't like as much. You'd think goats would be like an old ranch truck you love to drive because it's gotten the job done for all these years. The more you use the truck, the more you like it.

However, with bucks, the more times you breed them, the more their genetics are present in the herd. This makes it hard to continue breeding without inbreeding. That's the unfortunate situation we have with one of our favorite bucks: Blue.

We've bred Blue almost every year since he was born and we really love the hardiness of the kids he produces. But, that means it's getting harder to breed him. Because so many of our Spanish breeding does are related to him (or his father), we're having to make the hard choice to put him up for sale now that he has finished this breeding season. It's funny how things work out - good bucks have to be sold sooner!

Good Body Size in Goats

From the fight on the football field to the balance on your credit card bill, it's pretty easy to tell that size matters! The same is true for goats. Since meat is sold by the pound, goats need to quickly produce heavy kids that will grow large enough to birth and protect the next generations.

Kids need to quickly grow to a prime slaughter weight so they can be weaned and sold as soon as possible. As long as kids continue to nurse, they drain their mother of resources that could be used preparing for her next pregnancy. The sooner the kid is raised and sold, the sooner the mother will be able to recover her strength and fertility for the fall. As long as the kids stay on the ranch, they are a liability that can quickly be taken by predators, thieves, or illness. The quicker the kids are loaded on the trailer, the sooner that high risk turns into high profit! Goat kids that add weight quickly increase profit by letting mothers recover and reducing the risk of loss.

But bigger kids require large mothers to carry and birth them. Pregnant does need to have enough room in their womb for large twins. A crowded uterus can impede the development of the kids during pregnancy and cause discomfort for the mother. However, the doe also needs to have a large enough frame to birth her kids. Since goats should be able to kid on their own, they do not have the option of a cesarean section if their babies don’t fit down the birth canal. Larger does have less risk of breaching during pregnancy. Goats with ample body size will have less difficulty bearing their kids through pregnancy and delivering the kids at birth.

Back to the football analogy, big goats are more difficult for predators, like coyotes, to “tackle” because they can run or defend themselves more effectively. When an attacker surveys the group, they will always choose the victim that appears smallest or weakest because they allow for an easier kill. Big goats with large horns are more difficult for a predator to neutralize. Thus, goats with larger bodies are less susceptible to predation.

Goats need to quickly grow into large bodies in order to sell faster, birth easier, and live safer. Pint-sized livestock makes for pint-sized profit. However, it is important to note that a small goat with good parasite resistance, kidding, and mothering abilities will still outperform a large, dead goat. So, with those characteristics firmly in hand, add one more item to the list. When you’re raising goats, size matters!

Good Mothering in Goats

Whether negligent or nourishing, almost every mother or father will declare themselves to be a “good parent” if asked. But when it comes to raising goats, what does it mean for a goat to be a “good parent?” Or, since the sire won’t be around once the kids are born, a better question is: “What is good mothering in goats?”. A capable breeding doe takes ownership of her babies, hides the kids from predators, and nurses her young effectively.

A good mother should not abandon her kids immediately after kidding. This may seem obvious; but, when we first entered the goat business, we encountered far too many Boer crosses who would walk away from their kids and never look back. To be a useful, productive animal, a breeding doe has one job: raising kids. Any goat that walks out on her kids the second they’re born is not fulfilling her duties as a mother. But, there’s more to mothering than just the first few hours after birth.

A mother must also be smart about raising her offspring to weaning age. Some of our does hide their kids in brush piles or under rocks for 2-3 weeks after kidding. This protects the kids from dangers like coyotes, hawks, and other aggressive goats until they’re fast enough to keep pace with the rest of the herd. If a mother needs to leave her kids to graze, she warns them not to leave the hiding place until she returns. When she gets back, the mother carefully checks the area for predators before revealing her kids. If a predator is spotted, she will try to catch their attention in order to draw them away from the hiding place. In this way, a good mother protects her kids from harm by keeping them safe while they’re too small to avoid danger.

Finally, mothers need to be able to nourish their kids. Some does have naturally unsuitable udders which are difficult for her babies to nurse because they’re too large or complex. When a doe gives birth, her bag expands to hold milk for her kids. If this stretching is too great, her kids will struggle to fit their mouths around the teat. Similarly, some does have ‘split teats’ or ‘extra teats’ which are disconnected from the functional mammary tissue. This makes it difficult for her kids to nurse while they’re distracted by the decoy nursing sites. Thus, a doe with a poorly constructed bag will struggle to provide her kids with enough nutrients and cannot be a good mother.

For a goat to be worth their upkeep, she must raise kids by taking responsibility, protecting her young, and feeding her offspring. If a doe cannot consistently raise kids, she is a liability without an expectation of profit. That’s why it’s so important to breed goats that are good mothers.

Good Kidding in Goats

How to be a successful goat: Step 1 – Eat weeds; Step 2 – Don’t get eaten; Step 3 – Make babies! The first two steps usually aren’t much of a problem as long as the goat is still alive. But step number three can be a problem if you're a rancher trying to turn a profit. For a goat to be good at kidding they must be able to give birth on their own, recover quickly, and produce as many kids as possible.

From new fathers to old farmhands, everyone knows that when the labor pains start it can mean a long night! Wouldn’t it be nice if our goats were able to have their kids in the brush without needing a wet nurse to prevent the death of the mother or kids? As it turns out, they can! When we started in the goat business with Boer crosses over a decade ago, we pulled more kids than we could count. Sometimes we’d get there too late to save the kid. Other times, we’d find a breached mother lying in the road the following morning. We’ve been much happier since we found goats that can handle the kidding themselves. A goat just isn’t good at kidding if they can’t do it by themselves. But that’s not all!

A goat that’s good at kidding needs to recover quickly so the kids can drink her colostrum while she cleans the amniotic fluids off their fur. Kids need to drink the colostrum that’s available in their mother’s milk within the first six hours after birth. Colostrum gives newborn kids immune protection against the diseases and contamination they’ll encounter outside the womb. Without colostrum, kids are sitting ducks for illness and infection. Furthermore, colostrum provides many important nutrients that will allow the kid to grow quickly and healthily. While the kids are nursing, the doe should clean up the afterbirth from her new babies. If the kids aren’t cleaned, the afterbirth on their fur will attract flies and cause putrefaction. A doe that does not promptly stand up to feed and clean her kids is not a good mother.

Since being a new mother is so much work, goats should maximize the productivity of each birth by consistently yielding twins (or more). Goats that produce more kids make more money for the rancher. No matter how skillfully a doe mothers her baby after kidding, she will not be able to produce a higher sale price (measured per pound) from a 45lb single kid than a doe with two 30lb twins. Therefore, a goat that is good at kidding must mainly bear twins in order to justify the risks of her pregnancy.

A doe that earns her stay must be able to give birth alone, begin her duties promptly, and regularly produce multiple kids. Just "eating weeds" and "not getting eaten" won't turn a profit. To make money in the goat business, you need goats that take care of themselves and produce kids that do the same.

 

Good Parasite Resistance in Goats

Like your mother used to say: “life isn’t always fair.” Whether at your job or on the news, sometimes it can feel like the world is full of parasites who take your hard work and give nothing in return. These same parasites exist in the goat business. Many goats are susceptible to gastrointestinal parasites or “worms” which leach nutrients from the animal’s bloodstream. This drain of the animal’s resources causes anemia which leaves them malnourished, weak, and unable to raise kids. Fortunately, certain goats have a genetically occurring immunity or “resistance” to internal parasites. Good parasite resistance in goats allows them to stay healthy and strong in order to care for themselves and raise their kids without adding economic strain to the rancher.

A goat that is overrun by parasites, becomes feeble and unable to reach food or evade predators. The internal parasites sap the goat’s nutrients making it difficult for them to keep pace with the rest of the herd. This means that the goat must choose between eating less while trying to stay with the group or leaving the group to become a target for coyotes or roaming dogs. If a parasite-weakened goat is attacked by a predator, they will be unable to escape because of their malnourishment. Thus, a goat with intestinal worms is susceptible to starvation or predation due to the nutritional drain of the parasites.

Furthermore, a goat that hosts too many internal parasites is often unable to raise kids because they do not have the resources to get pregnant or care for their young. If a doe (or buck) becomes undernourished due to internal parasites, their fertility will decline in an attempt to preserve their strength. Since a goat that doesn’t produce kids cannot pay their keep on the ranch, a resistance to internal parasites is an integral characteristic of a profitable goat. But, even if a doe manages to get pregnant and give birth, she will not be able to quickly raise her kids to a desirable size for sale or slaughter. If her kids do not sell for a reasonable price because they are underfed, a wormy goat is inherently less profitable than a parasite resistant goat. So, a goat that is not immune to internal parasites will struggle to provide value while skipping breeding cycles or producing underweight stock.

However, some ranchers counteract their goats’ susceptibility to parasites by investing time and money in pasture rotation and wormers. In order to curtail the number of worms which accumulate when goats stay in one place for too long, the herd can be cycled to a ‘fresh’ pen every two weeks to allow the parasites to die without a host. To be effective, this system requires that the pasture be cross-fenced to create at least 3-4 pens. Not only does pasture rotation incur additional fencing costs, but the owner must also be diligent to move their goats on schedule or risk allowing the parasites to gain the upper hand. If the parasites successfully infect the herd, the rancher must purchase expensive wormers to treat the ailing livestock. Though effective wormers are still available, the chemicals in many products have become ineffective since the worms are developing an immunity. This means that more and more wormer is required in order to treat the parasites. Raising goats that are resistant to parasites eliminates the economic and time costs required by rotational grazing and worming.

So, don’t let parasites get you down by killing your goats, ruining your kid crop, and robbing you of time and money! Goats that are not burdened by internal parasites will outperform their peers in the metrics that really matter. Then, even if you can’t solve all the problems you see on the news, at least you’ll still have great goats!

Hornless Goats are Hard to Handle - Quick Tips

If you're trying to decide whether to purchase horned or polled goats, consider this: goat horns make great handles. When you're trying to move a hornless goat, there's not much to hold onto. Although this means the goat won't get stuck in the fence, it also means that you'll need to wrestle with the goat anytime you want to work it.