Download PDF by Felicity McCullough: Weaning Your Goat Kids A Simple Guide (Goat Knowledge Book
Read on for another quiz question. A wether is a castrated male goat, so if your goal is to get milk from your goats, a wether will not help you! If you already have a weather goat, you may be able to sell him for his meat. Click on another answer to find the right one Even though a senior doe might already be producing milk, she may also have other health problems due to her age. Goats also thrive in groups, so one goat might be unhappy and loud. A goat certainly will not get through an electrified fence!
If you don't want to worry about your goats digging or climbing through a fence, an electric fence is your best option. A goat enclosure fence should be at least four feet high, and five feet high if you have an active breed of goats. Goat-proof fences are both high and sturdy! Goats are good at climbing trees and getting through small holes in fences, so a tree border will not keep them from staying in their enclosure. Consider bracing the outside of the fence to make sure they can't climb the fence.
Goats are tricky, and even if the fence is deep it might not discourage them from trying to get over it. A trench would also take a long time to dig- try for an easier answer1 Click on another answer to find the right one Although pregnancy is a necessary first step to milk production, your doe will not start producing milk as soon as she is pregnant. You can breed your does as soon as they are mature- 6 months old and 60 pounds. Milk production is based on having kids.
After a doe has had her first kid, she should produce milk for the next days. A doe's milk production is not just based on her age. After a doe is at least 6 months old and 60 pounds, she is ready to breed and produce milk. Proximity to other milking does will not affect your doe's milk production. If you are concerned about your doe's milking ability, talk to your vet!
All domestic goats, tethered and untethered, are at risk of disease or illness. Monitor your goats, especially their eyes and behaviors, to make sure they are healthy and happy. If your goat is tethered, make sure it has access to plenty of space to browse as well as hay and grains.
Tethering should not lead to an undernourished goat! Predators such as coyotes and large birds especially target teathered goats. Consider locking your goats in a secure building at night and building a goat proof fence around their enclosure. A tethered goat will not be threatened by all of the previous answers. For example, choose a breed like Alpine for milk, or Angora if you want to raise goats for your own supply of wool. Then, purchase a minimum of 2 goats since goats prefer to live in groups, and provide them a sheltered indoor area for sleeping, feeding, and protection from the weather.
Additionally, give your goats plenty of hay and grain, as well as a constant supply of fresh water while letting them graze on twigs, leaves, and weeds.
For more advice from out Veterinary reviewer, including how to breed and milk your goats, keep reading. When you see the green expert checkmark on a wikiHow article, you can trust that the article was co-authored by a qualified expert. The authors of this article cited 5 references, which can be found at the bottom of the page. Think about why you want to raise goats.
Before you purchase any goats, it's a good idea to think long and hard about why you want them. Do you want them for milk? For meat or fiber? Or do you just think they'd make a cute pet?
The motivation behind your decision to raise goats will influence what breed of goat you will buy and how you'll raise them. Keeping goats is a big commitment - you'll need to feed them everyday, pay for their food and veterinary bills, and ensure that they are healthy and happy - so make sure that you are prepared to take this responsibility on board. Take the time to read a few books or talk to someone who knows about goats so you have all the details before you jump in head first.
Choose a breed based on your needs.
As mentioned above, the type of goats you choose will be influenced by whether you want them for milk, meat or fiber. You will also need to consider the goats' size, temperament and care requirements. Some of the most popular breeds are as follows: Angora which produce Mohair , Cashmere, Pygora and Nigora.
Consider how much space you have. Ideally, you should have a large outdoor area where your goats can range, browse and get the exercise they need to stay healthy. The goats will also need an indoor space for rest and shelter. The general rule of thumb is to provide 10 to 15 feet 3. Miniature breeds will require slightly less space.
This will cause them to become stressed and unhealthy, and may contribute to the spread of disease. Pick the best, healthiest-looking goats. If you decide to go ahead and start your herd of goats, it's important to know what to look for. You don't want to buy a sick or unhealthy goat that doesn't meet your needs.
Look for bright-eyed and alert goats which move around quickly and easily, with an even gait. Run your hands over the goat's body to check for any lumps or bumps - as this could indicate the presence of an abscess. Check the goat's droppings to make sure they are firm, not runny. Look for goats with deep, rounded bellies, wide-set hips and large milk sacks with downward-pointing udders in does. If possible, you should also try milking any potential does, to make sure they have a good temperament and that the milk comes easily. Choose does over wethers and bucks.
When starting out, it's a good idea to just purchase does, as only they can bear kids and produce milk. Bucks can be aggressive and start to smell as they grow older. The pheromones they release can also affect the flavor of the does' milk if they are kept in close quarters. Unless you want to raise a large herd of goats, it's better just to borrow a buck when you need one for breeding, rather than purchasing one yourself. Wethers are castrated male goats, and are only useful for providing meat or as pets.
Consider the age of the does. You have a number of options when it comes to buying does - which option you decide to go for will depend on your budget and how soon you want your goats to produce milk or have kids. A baby doe, or doeling can be as young as 8 weeks old, as this is the soonest they can be weaned from their mothers. Doelings are relatively cheap to buy, but you will have to wait about a year and half before you can breed them, and another five months before they will start to produce milk.
Buy a junior doe: A junior doe is a young doe that hasn't been bred yet. These are more expensive than doelings as you don't have to wait as long to breed them and start producing milk. Sometimes you can buy a young doe that has already been bred i. Buy a doe in milk: A final option is to buy a senior doe who is already producing milk. This option is faster and cheaper than the previous ones, however there is a much higher risk that the doe you buy will have problems, as breeders will usually try to sell off the weakest animals in their herd. Understand that goats are herd animals.
Goats are herd animals, which means that they prefer to live in groups. Therefore, you will need to buy a minimum of two goats to start off. Many people make the mistake of buying only one goat. Single goats get lonely and will become very loud, as they bleat and call out for company. If possible, try to buy two goats from the same herd especially if they're related.
This will help them to adjust to their new surroundings much more quickly. Under certain circumstances, goats will bond with other hoofed creatures, such as sheep, cows and horses, so this is an option if you already own some of these animals. Method 1 Quiz Which pairing of goats would be best for milking? A doe and a buck. Give your goats access to shelter. As mentioned in the previous section, goats will require a sheltered indoor area for sleeping, feeding and protection from the weather and night-time predators.
The housing does not need to be very elaborate, and as long as the goats have plenty of outdoor space to roam around during the day, it doesn't have to be very large - goats like to sleep together in small groups. You just need to make sure that the shelter stays dry and draft-free. It's also a good idea to have a small stall where you can place sick, injured or heavily pregnant goats. The floor of the shelter should be covered in a thick layer of bedding, comprised of wood shavings anything except cedar , straw or waste hay.
Build a goat-proof fence. Goats are notorious escape artists, as they can climb trees, jump over fences, chew through rope and wriggle their way through the smallest of spaces. Therefore, it is essential that you erect a strong, goat-proof fence around the enclosure. Your fence should be a minimum of four feet high, or five feet for more active goat breeds such as Nubians. Wooden, stock panel or chain-link fences are all good options if you are building a new fence.
However, if you simply want to goat-proof an existing fence, you can use high tensile, smooth electrified wire. Also make sure to brace any gates or fence posts on the outside of the fence as this will prevent goats from climbing up them. You should also make sure that the goats' shelter does not have an easily climbable roof. Allow your goats to browse. Goats are browsers rather than grazers, which means that they prefer to eat twigs, leaves and weeds rather than plain grass. This allows goats to be raised alongside sheep, cows and horses, as they do not compete for food.
Goats can also be used to clear rough land and get rid of unwanted vegetation. If you live in a green or wooded, rural location, feel free to put your goats out to pasture and let them forage for things like young shrubs and saplings, blackberry canes, poison ivy and clover, to name but a few.
Provide your goats with hay and grain. Goats will not get all the nourishment they need from browsing alone, so they will also need a large supply of good quality hay or other forage crop. You can supply the hay free-choice -- meaning they can it as much or as little of it as they like. Does that are pregnant or producing milk will have extra protein requirements, so they will also need a pound or two of grain each day.
You should also supply your goats with a good free-choice mineral mix or mineral block, which is available in most feed stores. In terms of treats, you can give your goats a wide selection of fruit and veg, including apples, pears, peaches, watermelon, banana, carrots, celery, squash and spinach. Just avoid giving them potatoes, tomatoes and kale, as these can be poisonous to goats. Supply your goats with plenty of water. It is essential that your goats have a constant supply of fresh water, especially during very hot, dry weather.
It's a good idea to plan out how you will supply your goats with water in advance, as you don't want to be stuck carrying buckets of water back and forth to their shelter each day. If you don't have one already, consider digging a water line to your goat shelter or barn or installing a stock tank.
If you have a creek or pond on your land, this is a convenient way of ensuring that your goats stay hydrated. However, make sure to get the water tested first to make sure it is safe for drinking. You will also need to watch out for contamination or stagnation. Method 2 Quiz What qualifies as a goat-proof fence? Any fence that is at least three feet high.
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A fence bordered by trees. A fence with a trench around it. Breed your goats when the does reach maturity. When your does reach maturity - which happens when they are 6 months old or weigh at least 60 pounds for standard goats - they are ready for breeding. Their yearly heat cycles usually begin around August or September. If you don't own a buck, you can either hire a buck or bring your does to a farm that has a buck. It can be difficult to tell if a doe is pregnant, so one of the best signs of a successful mating is a milky-white colored discharge coming from her nether regions.
A goat's pregnancy lasts for days, or five months and most pregnancies will produce two kids, though sometimes there can be as many as four. Decide how you want to raise the baby goats. Immediately after the baby goats are born, give them a thorough rub down with a cloth to remove any blood or birthing material, or allow the mother to lick them clean. From this point on, there are two schools of thought when it comes caring for and feeding the kids. Some people prefer to immediately separate the kids from their mother. To feed them, they milk the mother by hand then pour the milk into bottles to feed the kids.
The reasoning behind this is that baby goats can be difficult to wean and cause the mother goat to produce less milk. It is also believed that bottle-fed goats will be be tamer and friendlier. They allow the mother to feed the babies herself though you will want to keep a watchful eye to make sure none of the kids are left out and will only separate them when the kids are ready to be weaned, between 8 and 12 weeks old. Decide what to do with the kids. If you aren't interested in significantly increasing the size of your herd, you will have to decide what to do with the kids.
Young does are usually easy to deal with, as the demand for milk-producing does is high and you can sell them on to other goat owners as soon as they are weaned. If you like, you can keep the female offspring of your best milker, as she can take her mother's place in a couple of years time. Bucks are slightly more difficult. The majority of young bucks should be castrated by the time they are three weeks of age, as they will ultimately be sold for meat. You can do this as soon as they are weaned, or wait until they have reached maturity. If you want, you can keep one buck as a breeding sire.
Understand the lactation cycle. Once a doe has produced her first offspring, she will start producing milk and will continue to do so for approximately days following delivery. The milk flow is usually highest 2 to 3 months after giving birth then tapers off towards the end of the lactation cycle.
The doe will require a two month "dry spell" before she gives birth a second time and begins producing milk again - an event which is known as "freshening" in the dairy world. If you have never milked an animal before, it is important to get the technique right. Rather than tugging on the teat, you need to wrap your hand around it, cutting off the milk supply at the top using your thumb and forefinger. Then you can use your other fingers to squeeze the teat and extract the milk. At first, you might find milking to be somewhat slow and awkward, and it could take you up to 30 minutes per goat.
But once you get the hang of it you'll be able to do it in a jiffy! You should milk your goats once in the morning and once at night. During peak production, standard-sized goats will produce up to 3 quarts of milk per day, while miniature goats will produce slightly less.
4 Ways to Raise Goats - wikiHow
Method 3 Quiz When will a doe start producing milk? When she first becomes pregnant. After she has had her first baby. A foot swelling is hot, red and painful, and will sometimes burst open and ooze pus. Your goats can be affected by internal parasites these live inside the intestines and other organs or external parasites these stay outside of the animals.
These are generally worms and flukes. Some of these internal parasites include:. Roundworms including wireworms — If not properly controlled these can cause considerable losses. The most common external parasites include:. Ticks — In addition to physical damage ticks spread a number of diseases, among them the aforementioned Heartwater. Mites — These are the small organisms that cause mange in goats, a disease that results in skin inflammation and hair loss. Fleas — These are normally found on cats and dogs, from where they jump to goats and other domesticated livestock.
The affected areas on your goats will be characterized by rubbing, scratching and hair loss. Lice — Two varieties of these are recognized i. Both cause goats to itch and rub against objects. After the goat coughs, sneezes and shakes its head the bots are ejected and they later turn into flies. To rid your goats of these parasites you should routinely carry out the following health management practices:.
Dipping — This is an effective way to prevent diseases that are caused by external parasites. Dipping should be done once every week during the summer due to high tick burden and once a fortnight during winter due to low tick burden. There are several dipping techniques as follows:. You will either use a dosing gun or a long-neck bottle for drenching. Administering injections — This is done for purposes of vaccination or treating some diseases.
Goat injections are administered in three ways:. All the goats should be regularly examined but you should only treat those adjudged to be anemic. You will also use the Five-Point Check to check if your goats are affected by one or more types of the major internal parasites.
Other ways to control internal parasites include:. You will need to trim such hooves to prevent injury. This can be done once annually before the onset of the rains. You should then dip the hooves in copper sulphate solution to make them hard and to prevent foot rot and cracking. Deadly nightshade, Lantana, and Forage Sorghum , incidences that are typically fatal. Condition scoring is the process of assessing the body condition of individual goats.
This has to do with body fat content and how it can affect breeding. Your does should not be too thin or too fat. In case of the former there is the risk of reproduction failure, low twinning rates, and low weaning rates. In case of the latter a doe can suffer pregnancy toxemia. Three different body parts will be assessed i. Ideas for housing at your meat goat farm.
Ideas for dairy goat housing. Generally, the space provided per goat depends upon its size and pregnancy status. You ideally want to provide an exercise area or paddock for each group of goats. Stock panels are a good idea but small horned goats may get caught in the fence. For purposes of optimizing bio-security you should house each group of goats in a separate shelter. In this regard, your dairy goat operation should therefore have:. The pens within each of these barns should house goats that are of the same age and size.
Goats that grow slower than others of the same group should be transferred to pens housing goats of their size. There are several ways that you can provide feed for your goats including using:. Nevertheless, whatever form of feeder you decide to go with you should just ensure that it will keep food of the ground to prevent the goats from trampling and soiling it. You should ensure that the water troughs are placed in such a way that the kids can reach them without being in danger of drowning.
Considering that refilling water troughs can be time-consuming you can invest in an automatic waterer. The goat handling facilities you have should allow for efficient handling of the animals without resulting in stress either to them or to the persons involved. Your goat handling facilities should consist of the following:. To understand the feeding requirements of your goats you must first of all consider their digestive systems. Goats regurgitate food and ruminate, i.
Maintenance requirement refers to the minimum quantity of feed that an animal which is not growing, pregnant or lactating needs in order to keep warm and maintain its body weight. Mature, dry does and mature castrates are examples of goats that only have maintenance requirements. The weather will also have an impact on this i. Your goats will need you to supply them with water, protein, energy, and various vitamins and minerals.
Critical feeding times for your goats. Supplements are available in different forms including powder licks , meal e. HPC , and blocks. It will be advisable for you to offer one of these to supplement food from the natural vegetation. This will ensure that your goats will be provided with the nutrients that are lacking in the pastures.
Urea dissolves in water and can therefore be lost. Goats that drink this water can be poisoned. After your goats eat certain foodstuffs a number of problems may occur:. To ensure that you will always have enough feed for your goats you can decide to grow fodder crops.
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When ready you can feed them fresh and also conserve some. Some of the green feed you can grow include:. You can also grow:. The carrying capacity of pasture is the amount of livestock it can carry, based on the amount of food it produces. Naturally, an area that receives high rainfall, has good vegetation cover, and good types of grass, will have the most grass and be able to feed many animals. Your pasture management strategy should take into account the following factors:. It will be advisable to practice control grazing i.
Sticking to this protocol will enable you to properly manage your herd and keep the goats healthy and productive. This breeding protocol will indicate when a doe will be bred based on number of days in milk and pounds of milk being produced. The criterion for selecting a buck and culling does will also be described. Breeding must also take into account your plan for milk production. If you intend to produce milk all year then your breeding protocol must ensure that there will be enough does to supply milk.
However, it also has several drawbacks which have to do with:. In case you opt to not use a breeding protocol , i. Additionally, random mating , while being simple and cheap, brings about high risks of inbreeding and spread of diseases. The reproduction efficiency of your flock will also be important to consider.
You can establish this by considering:. Your decision here will be about going for crossbreeding or pure breeding. This is will be straight-forward. The offspring will have the same traits color, size, and meat and milk production as its parents. There are four primary breeding systems that you can consider as follows:.
You can also have two bucks of different breeds in the same pen; at least one will breed. The buck must have sound legs and feet to facilitate breeding work. You should only keep does that kid annually. Management of the does before mating. You will need to ensure that the does have access to good browse or good nutrition during the three weeks before mating and for two weeks after mating.
Supplementation may become necessary during winter. During the mating season and for the two weeks that follow you should restrict handling to a minimum. Management of the does during pregnancy. Management practices at kidding. Raising female goats as replacements. Provided that you have been suitably growing your young does and keeping them in good condition they should be able to reach puberty, i.
You should provide the pregnant doe with a clean kidding area with dry bedding stover or hay will do and the doe can be transferred to this area several days before kidding. Separation will help to foster the bond between doe and kid. Soon after birth you should allow the doe some alone time with her kid, some two to four hours, to allow for bonding.
During this time the doe should clean its kid and remove the membrane over its nostrils. You should however intervene when you neither see the doe cleaning its kid nor attempting to bond with it. A doe should be healthy after giving birth and have enough good milk no mastitis or retained placenta, etc. You should provide green fodder for the doe so that she can stimulate milk.
For the first few weeks to about one month you should keep the kids at home, more so if the does need to travel considerable distances to browse and water. The kids will need to be kept in warm and dry conditions and be protected from heat, cold and the spread of diseases. One of the ways to house a kid will be to keep it in a kid box made of wood or bamboo and measuring cm long, cm wide and cm deep. Alternatively you can line the bottom of a large plastic tote tub with shavings or shredded paper. The lining should be replaced once the kids are completely dry.
Colostrum is rich in antibodies which are useful in increasing the immunity of kids. You should however avoid over-feeding the kids with milk as this will result in scours. At the age of about 3 weeks the kids should start nibbling on grass and leaves i. Ensuring that the kids have access to fresh clean water, as well as putting them on a vaccinating and deworming schedule will be important. This is also a good time to start them on supplemental feed in case the does have poor milk production and there are feed shortages.
Alternatively, you can prepare replacement colostrum using the following ingredients:. You should disbud the kids at between 3 and 14 days old while the bud is still visible. The main purpose of placing identifiers on individual animals will be to facilitate your record keeping efforts. Identification is also a legal requirement in the exportation of livestock and livestock products as it facilitates traceability. Ear tagging — Here you will need to place tags plastic or metal ones on the ears of your goats, preferably on both ears considering that a tag can be torn out and which will make identifying the animal problematic more so if you have a large herd and only one ear was tagged.
The information on the tags should be logical. Typically, notches on the right ear represent tens while those on the left represent units. The downside of this technique is that animals on other farms can have the same type of notches and which will make identification tricky if the herds are grazed communally. You should wean the kids when they get to a hundred days old on average and having attained a weight of between 8 and 12 kilograms.
This typically involves separating the kids and the does. Just before weaning it will be critical for you to vaccinate both the kids and the does against pulpy kidney considering that weaning is usually a stressful time for animals. Castration involves severing the spermatic cords of male kids thereby preventing them from mating with females. Doing this will also help to improve the quality of meat produced as the characteristic smell of the entire male will have been reduced.
This technique is quick, easy to use, and requires no disinfecting. However, a kid can get a screw worm infection after the rubber ring and testicles have dropped. This technique is done between the age of three weeks and three months. When getting into the Boer goat production business it is advisable to follow a number of steps as follows:. Things to consider when buying your first goats.
The typical costs of your meat goat business. Herd composition and making the herd commercially viable. How you approach this will depend on your marketing goals i. Knowing this you can then determine how many bucks, does, castrates, etc. In as far as breeding females are concerned you should replace them after years. This will mean retaining enough maiden does so that you can adequately replace the culled does.
There are various milking doe facts that you should be aware of when setting up your dairy goat farming small business:. Your milking doe should have an eight week dry period ; if the dry period is too short the quantity of milk produced during the next lactation will be reduced. To dry off your doe you should milk her every other milking for days and then stop milking her. The purpose of dry treatment is to clear up any existing infections and prevent any new ones.
You may need to give the doe a shot of BOSE selenium-Vitamin E supplementation but it will be prudent to consult with your vet about whether or not this will be advisable and if so what quantity will be enough. Only does that show signs of high infestation should be treated; routinely treating all the does for parasites will reduce the efficacy of the worming medication used on your farm. Both milkings and the third if you prefer should therefore be withheld from the tank. If however your doe was dry-treated, her milk should be tested for antibiotics before being put into the tank.
Your milk house will be the final on-farm site of quality control in your goat milk production process. The cost per head will be higher if you are starting with a smaller herd as can be appreciated in the chart below:. The following points will help you to come up with a facility that will help you to meet the objectives stated above:. Your milk should only be handled in equipment made of materials that are non-toxic and readily cleanable e.
The reason is simple: In choosing the tank to buy you must also consider the lowest volume of milk that can be produced. The supply must be periodically tested and precautions must be taken to ensure that it remains uncontaminated. To effectively clean and sanitize your milking equipment and do so with minimal effort you will need to use the right type of brushes, water that is at proper temperature, and the right cleaning materials. If equipment cleaning and sanitizing is done well, followed by rapid drying, you will manage to keep bacterial counts low.
To produce high quality milk you must learn and follow the proper goat milking procedure. Applying this procedure will allow you to:. To produce high quality milk you will have to observe three requirements:. Grade A is the milk that is sold for purposes of fluid milk bottling, yoghurt, ice cream, and other soft products while Grade B is the milk sold for cheese-making.
For example, a SCC of will be , Once you begin supplying milk to a plant a milk hauler will be fetching your milk and that of other farmers and delivering it to the plant. The hauler will take a sample of your milk from the bulk tank and do the same for the other farmers. The owner of the sample with antibiotics will be required to pay for the complete truck load of milk; plants therefore require that all suppliers show proof of insurance before shipping starts.
The price you get for your milk should obviously earn you a suitable profit margin. However, the only way to know whether or not you are making a profit is to determine your costs of production. Knowing what amount of money you spend in order to produce lbs. In this regard, you should remember that grain is fed to goat does based on their output, age, and condition. You must be logged in to post a comment. About me Achieve thought-leadership through entrepreneurship writing Resources Contact me. The rising demand for goat meat and milk implies that starting a goat farming small business can make for a sound entrepreneurial idea Goat production is a livestock enterprise whose niche products have strong demand in the United States.
Source Goat production in the U. The appreciation of goats as efficient converters of low-quality forages into quality meat, milk and hides for specialty markets. The fact that most members of the ethnic groups that have settled in the country have a preference for goat meat, milk and cheese products. The desire for Americans to be self-sufficient Considering the increasing demand for goat products and the inadequate supply of the same, starting a goat farming small business does feel like a viable entrepreneurial idea. Sounds like something you can get into? Your goat farm can be home to one or several species of goat 1.
There are many species of goat — here are some of them Man and goat are well acquainted. For these products the following breeds of goat are the most popular: Brief descriptions of well known breeds of goat: You must be aware about the basics of goat rearing and some unique traits that goats possess You, the aspiring goat farmer, must know and appreciate some of the unique traits and requirements that goats have, and which make them unique animals in their own right.
Male goats are referred to as bucks, females are known as does, and the baby goats are called kids. This can be two does or a doe and a wether. If you wish to start a herd you can start with a buck and a doe. Goats hate getting wet! Keeping your herd of goats healthy Much of the success of your goat farming small business will rest on your commitment to keeping your herd healthy. The following are some of the things you should do to keep your goats healthy: Ensuring that they can access enough amounts of feed that is of high quality.
If your goats are constantly hungry and malnourished their immune systems will have a hard time fighting off disease Ensuring they have access to clean water Vaccinating them against diseases that are common in your area Managing external and internal parasite attacks Keeping sick goats separate from the rest to prevent the spread of the disease Ensuring that all new herd members are disease-free Ensuring the goats are well sheltered during adverse weather the housing must be well ventilated and regularly cleaned An unhealthy goat will show some general symptoms ; always check for the following: