Goat Care and Info

Goat Terminology:

Basic Care Information

Goats are hardy creatures but have basic care requirements that must be met to ensure they live a healthy, productive life. The essentials are food, shelter and water. These seem obvious but some consideration must go into each component. Goats are not grazers like cattle or horses. Instead they are browsers and prefer many "weeds," bushes, saplings and other brush over grass. As a result, rotating goats on pastures alternating grazers can improve pasture quality. Goats will also quickly clear overgrown, brushy areas if given the opportunity. They will also obliterate your rose bushes given the chance, so adequate containment is a big factor with goats.

Feeding

Generally an adult, dry (not lactating), open (unbred) doe or buck will require little to no grain to maintain a healthy weight. They can live comfortably with either hay alone or hay supplemented with appropriate browse. We feed Blue Seal Dairy Goat pellets to our breeding stock and kids. All of our goats have access to either plentiful browse or free-choice grass hay at all times. Minerals are also a vital component of goat's diets and should always be available. We feed Sweetlix Meat Maker 16:8 minerals free choice and offer free choice Thorvin Kelp as well.

• • Grain - The amount of grain each goat needs will vary greatly depending on their growth/production status and their individual body chemistry. For does in milk who have just freshened and are rather thin, they should be fed as much grain as they're able to consume. Does in mid-lactation with good flesh covering should get 1lb of grain for every 3lbs of milk produced (a gallon is approx 8lbs). Does in late lactation and/or with good flesh covering need approximately 1lb grain for each 5lbs of milk produced. We use these as a starting point and adjust the amounts fed based on how each individual doe looks throughout her lactation. (reference) Goat kids just leaving our farm should get approx 1/2 cup of grain 2x daily. You can later adjust to suit your own program.

  • Hay - We feed all of our goats free-choice grass hay. "Horse Quality" soft, second cut grass hay is what ours prefer. Make sure the hay is free of mold or excessive dust.

  • Minerals - Free choice minerals with a calcium/phosphorus ratio of 2:1 are important for goats. Loose minerals (as opposed to blocks) are generally the better choice. Special goat minerals are generally formulated correctly for goats but cattle minerals may be fed as well. It's best to avoid sheep/goat minerals as minerals intended for or safe for sheep do not have adequate copper for goats.

  • Other supplements - We offer free choice Kelp meal to all of our goats. Kelp meal has some amazing nutritional qualities and enhances milk production and overall health. We also provide baking soda free choice as this helps prevent bloat by aiding in releasing gas from the rumen. Ammonium Chloride (AC) is a good idea for male goats, especially wethers who are prone to urinary calci (similar to kidney stones but can cause intense pain and/or death in goats due to completely blocking the urethra). AC is included in many commercial goat feeds or can be purchased alone and added to your choice of feed. Prevention is the best defense against urinary calci.

  • Water - Clean, fresh water should always be available to goats. This will be especially important for lactating does. In the winter, goats will appreciate warm water. Increased water consumption will improve milk production and decrease the chance of urinary calci in male goats.

Bottle Feeding

Our preference is to dam raise our kids (leave the kids with their mothers and allow them to nurse). This is not always possible and some folks prefer to bottle feed. During the first 24 hours, it is vitally important that the kids receive colostrum. This can be in most any form, with the ideal being fresh colostrum from their dam (assuming she's CAE neg). Other choices would be frozen colostrum collected from a previous freshening or powdered colostrum for goats. If possible, feeding the kids colostrum on demand (as much as they'll consume each time) will give them the best start. If on demand feedings aren't possible, feeding at least every 3-4 hours will suffice.

When we bottle feed kids and fresh goats milk from CAE free does is not available, we feed either Meyenberg Whole Powdered Goats Milk or whole pasteurized cow's milk (or a combination of the two). Amounts will vary and almost every bottle-feeding goat person will give different recommendations on what to feed, how much and how often. Some people have success with powdered milk replacers but I have never liked the idea nor had personal success with it so I really cannot speak to it other than it is not what we prefer to do. If there were no other options, it would be better than nothing. Our friends at Freedom Star Farm have a great schedule posted for feeding Nigerian Dwarf babies, here. Full-size breeds have much higher requirements and the amounts for Nigerian Dwarf kids could easily be doubled (at least). For our full-size kids we have been successful with starting with a schedule similar to the Nigerian Dwarf's with approx double the amounts for them and then after the first week, feeding 12-16oz per feeding 3-4 times per day (to total 48oz) through week 4 then dropping to 3 (16oz) feedings per day through week 6, 2 (16oz) feedings per day through week 8, two (8oz feedings) through week 9 and then one (8oz) feeding through week 10 when they're weaned.

Shelter

A sheltered area that protects the goats from the wind and rain while maintaining good ventilation is ideal. This can range from a traditional barn to a three-sided run-in or calf hutches. We have an area in our barn designated for our milking and/or soon to kid does. The rest of the herd rotates through pastures with Polydome calf hutches for shelter. Goats are prone to pneumonia and therefore will avoid rain and damp conditions if at all possibile. This is also the reason good ventilation in their housing is important.

Fencing

Goats are notoriously hard to contain. They are intelligent, inquisitive, attention-seeking animals. As a result, keeping them in one place can be difficult. We use a variety of fencing for different groups of goats. Cattle panels are easily movable, relatively inexpensive and hold up well. They will contain adult Nigerian Dwarfs (over 8 months), full-size breed adults and kids over a few weeks old. They WILL NOT contain Nigerian Dwarf kids. Woven wire horse fencing (2" x 4" squares, 4 ft high) will contain most goats, including all kids (assuming there are no large gaps underneath). Some folks have success with electric fencing or netting, we have not used it ourselves yet. Predators are a consideration with any type of fencing. Nigerian dwarf goats and kids of any breed are particularly vulnerable. Predators include wild animals in your region AND stray or household dogs.

Breeding

Goats of either gender can be fertile as young as 7 weeks (rare for does, but possible). That does not mean they should be bred then. Bucks can generally be used for breeding starting at 8 months of age. Does can be bred for the first time around 8-10 months of age IF they're healthy, have been growing well and are at a good weight (60-70% of breed average adult weight). Goat's gestation is approx. 150 days. They typically have 1-3 kids per litter with 2 being most common and 4-5 being possible but very rare. Most kiddings occur with no problems and need little or no human assistance/intervention. However, problems are possible and do occur on occasion. For new goat-owners it is advisable to educate yourself as much as possible about the process and potential problems. Having a vet and/or experienced friend on stand-by is also an invaluable precaution. Some excellent information is available on other sites. I have referred to Fias Co Farm's site often. These pages may be particularly useful regarding breeding and kidding.

Milking

Once a doe freshens, you have a few options. You can leave her kids with her full-time and they will take care of "milking" her for the first few weeks or months. You can "pull" (take away) the kids, milk the dam and bottle feed the kids. Or some combination of the two. Since we dam raise kids, we leave them with their mothers full-time for the first two to four weeks. After that, we start separating kids at night and milking the does in the morning. The kids are back with the does to nurse all day then. By the time the kids are weaned, we start milking the does twice a day. This maximizes production and leads to very healthy kids. It also gives us the flexibility to milk only once a day if needed .