Goats are a delightful animal. They are hardy, loving, and loyal but they can be fiercely independent also. You might be considering getting a goat but do not know what questions to ask. Shepherdess Celeste guides you through the process of the Goat Basics. The fist thing to know is that goats are herd animals and you need at least two goats. This is a lengthy narrative.
Tool of the Trades
Image; Photography By Celeste
- A secure shelter from heat, cold, or predators
- Pasture or browse
- Several stalls separated by cattle panels, pallets, or be creative
- Fencing: Cattle panels, electric fence, pallets
- Secure grain storage
- Secure hay storage
- Water bucket
- Grain bucket
- Hay feeder
- Salt and Baking soda dispenser
- Stanchion
- Kid Pyramid
- Heat Lamp
- Lime
- Grain
- Hay
- Baking soda, minerals and salt
- Hoove trimmer
- Vet Supplies )will vary with your wold-view
- Veterinarian
Decisions to Make
Image; Photography By Celeste
What do you want from your goat?
- Dairy
- Meat
- Fiber
What breed of goat do you want?
- Large Goat
- Medium Goat
- Small Goat
- Independent
- Companion and friendly
How many goats do you want?
Once again, goats are herd animals. You need to have a minimum of 2 goats.
Do you want an open or closed herd? Open is open to the public and other animals and closed is not.
Do you want to breed your animal?
- You will want a quality goat
- You will need kid specific space and supplies
- Check the bloodlines and ensure that your goat is not transgenic, which means they have genetically-modified GMO goat.
How much do you want to spend?
- Registered goats are more but they usually are higher quality
- Unregistered goats will cost less
- DO NOT purchase your goats at an auction! You could inherit a lifetime of trouble
- You local classified ads are a great way to network but ask questions. If you have any doubts do not buy!
Do you want to learn traditional husbandry and be free of a vet?
Popular Goat Breeds
Image; Photography By Celeste
Nubian Dairy
Kinder Dairy-Meat
Saanen Dairy
Alpine Dairy
LaMancha Dairy-Meat
Pygmy Meat
Angora Fiber
Cashmere Fiber
Boer Meat
Toggenberg Dairy
Oberhausli Dairy
Nigerian Dwarf Dairy
Pygora Meat
Choose your goat wisely! Goats vary in the quality of their milk, butterfat, disposition, meat, and care. For instance, some dairy goat breeds have sweet milk while others have a bitter taste.
Image; Photography By Celeste
The Life of a Goat
Image; Photography By Celeste
Kidding Around
Your doe can have 1-6 kids (depending upon the breed)
Viable kids can be 3-9 pounds
Kids can breed at about 3 months so males and females must be separated
Do not breed goats until 1 year to 15 months
Adolescent Goats
Kids reach maturity at about 1-2 years
Kids love to climb and jump
Adult Does
Goats live about 15-18 years old
Does go into season for 24-48 hours every 21 days
Adult Bucks (Billies)
Bucks are very smelly (they think this attractive to the ladies)
Bucks are very strong and need reinforced fencing
Pregnant Goats
Make sure you stop milking 2 months prior to kidding
Maintain quality nutrition and pure water
Gestation is about 150 days
Retirement Goats you can retire your goats post-production or use them for meat
Goat Health
Image; Photography By Celeste
- Trim hooves regularly to avoid leg trouble
- Make sure all goats have access to:
Quality hay, pure water, quality grain, clean bedding, minerals, salt, baking soda - Proper nutrition and minerals keeps away most all diseases and conditions
- Do not microchip your animal. RFID exposes the goat and yourself to RFID chip-induced cancer
- Having a closed herd will avoid many diseases and conditions
For instance, despite mandatory health-checks at the fair you usually bring home “the cough” which spreads from showing at the fair
Diseases that can impact your goats:
Parasites Anemia Bloat
Hoof Rot Cocci CL
Ketosis Scours Urinary Calculi
Sore Mouth Mineral Deficiency Milk Fever
Mastitis The Cough Pneumonia
Dairy Goat
Make sure you purchase and maintain CL, CAE, Scrapie, Johnnes free goats
Shelter
Image; Photography By Celeste
- Goat shelters should secure your goats from local predators
- Shelters can be primitive using local products or very showy
- Dirt floors are best!
- Is your shelter going to be portable?
- Do you want to include electricity? Water to your shelter?
- Windows? Goats are curious and love to look out windows. Aides in ventilation
- Consider how many pens and areas before you begin
Kidding Pen Supply area
Buck Pen Feed Area
Adult Doe Pen Hay Area
Adolescent Pen Milking Parlor
Wether Pen Ease of Access to hay feeders
Isolation Pen Ease of Access to Water Pails
- Ease of Access via a large door for bedding clean up
- You want controlled ventilation, but not a drafty barn
- You do not want to build you barn in a moist area, like wetlands
- Do you want to make your barn two-story for hay storage or another secure hay area? Hauling bales upstairs is exhausting!
- Do you want waterproof inside walls for easy clean up?
- Having electricity is very nice! Do not leave extension cords lying around-goats will chew them causing damage to goat and possible fire hazard
- Composition roof your barn or shelter to keep weather out. Tar paper first!
- Painting is optional
Fencing
Fenced goats make happy owners!
Wherever you do not fence is fair game for goats to escape
Goat Chow
Contrary to popular belief goats will not eat tin cans and are quite fussy about their feed
Goats love leafy alfalfa! They hate stems!
Large square bales?
Small Square bales?
Large Rounds (those need special equipment and storage)?
- Dairy Goats need non-GMO alfalfa -grass mix, 16% protein
- Bucks and wethers (castrated males) are fed non-GMO grass
- Fiber Goats require a non-GMO grass-alfalfa mix at about 12-16% protein
- Estimate about 1 large square bale per 6 goat per week
- To conserve on hay build or buy a feeder that reduces waste (wood or metal)
- Ask questions from your hay supplier-DEMAND NON-GMO
- Hay costs about $150-$300 a ton depending upon quality and quantity
- Do not feed goats wet or moldy hay
- Keep vermin out of your hay
Grain
- Grain comes in 50 pound bags
- Organic-is healthier for your animal (and consequently you) but is costly
- Dairy-You may have trouble getting goats to eat it as GMO increases
- All Purpose-Not good for intensive goats such as dairy or Boer
- We use about 100 pounds of grain per month for 2 milkers and 2 adolescent does
- Do not give a goat to much grain it is toxic to them. It will kill.
- Organic grain costs $30-40 per 50 pound bag
- GMO standard feed store goat ration costs about $25-$35 per 50 pound bag
- Do not feed your goat wet or moldy grain. It is toxic.
Treats
Goats are like people they like treats. Peanuts and sunflower seeds are perfect!
Salt & Minerals
Salt comes:
Salt blocks
Free ration
Either way find a comprehensive salt which includes trace minerals such as selenium and copper. When you do this you will ensure happy and healthy goats!
Cost: 50 pound salt block about $5.00
Baking Soda
Goats are ruminants which means they need baking soda to help them digest their food
Cost: $17.66 plus shipping for a 25 pound bag that will probably last 1 year Bob’s Red Mill
Kids
Image; Photography By Celeste
- Kids are very friendly
- Dam raise or bottle-baby?
- You can make kids very friendly (high desirable in goats) by bottle feeding
- Collect soda bottles from your friends, buy Pritchard nipples
- Commitment: If you bottle feed- 4 bottles day 1st month/3 bottles 2nd month/2 bottles 3rd month/1 bottle 4th month
- Kids love to climb on anything and jump
- Some kids will need to be disbudded and castrated at 8 days
- Kids begin to eat hay at weeks old
- It is good to have a kidding kit in the barn
Keep newborn kids warm in a tee-pee warmed with a heat lamp
Conservatively made with 1 piece of plywood
Milkers
Image; Photography By Celeste
- Enjoy fresh from the udder raw milk!
- Know what is in your milk
- Raw milk and whey is very nutritious
- Hard/soft cheese, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, cottage cheese, butter!
- Yield depends upon high butterfat
- Time commitment: Milking twice a day,
- Get up to 2 gallons of milk per day per doe-economic!
- Extra milk? Chickens love milk!
- Watch for Mastitis
Meat Goats
- Know what is in your meat!
- Access to no hormones, antibiotic, and adulterated meat
- Meat goats are larger so your fencing will need be stronger
- Meat goats grow faster than other goats
- Goat meat is lean so you cook it slowly & longer, cast-iron is best!
- Goat sausage is excellent
- Meat goat range in size from small to large
- Goat meat is 50-60% lower in fat than beef
- Saturated fat in cooked goat milk 40% less than deskinned chicken
- Goat meat is low in cholesterol
- Of typical meats goat meat is the lowest in calories!
Stew, Grill, BBQ, Can, Sausage, Jerky
Fiber Goats
Angoras by Heaven Sent
- Sheer your fiber goats for luxurious soft and durable wool!
- Sheer once a year
- Access to high quality fleece 7 wool
- Comes in a variety of colors
- Learn to drop hand spin, spin with a wheel, felt!
- Make mittens, hats, sweaters and more from your own wool!
- Smaller goats are easier to manage!
- Fiber is high in lanolin
- Sweet dispositions
- Choose from Angoras or Cashmere
Angoras by Heaven Sent
Rules and Regulations
Unfortunately, Snares to the Right and Left
Livestock laws and regulations are “living documents” so you must continually read and watch for new laws and advocate for small agriculture
Check state federal laws on raw milk & meat sales many times they are a felony to sell, so do check it out.
Mandatory Traceability is now the law of the land
Premises Identification on any property with potential to make $1000
Your property becomes a US asset
Clouds your title, puts gov in first position
Visual and electronic identification of livestock
Your livestock becomes a US asset
RFID exposes animal and you to RFID induced cancer
Consent to 24/7 surveillance
Increasing breed association tyranny and gov collaboration
Demand advance royalties, licenses, DNA, fees, compliance
Natural beauty products are now considered illegal “drugs”
Right now public health officials through treaty, law, regulation can:
- Inspect your property and test to UN standards
- Test all your property to UN standards
- Identify all life to UN standards
- Vaccinate all life to UN standards
All these are unconstitutional will you let them get away with it?
WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW CAN HURT YOU!
***Income Potential***
And more!
Give preparedness classes
Meat, Cheese, Goat Milk Beauty Products, Fleeces for money or barter!
Reliable References
Kinder Goats: Shepherds Heart Farm
Fiber and Boer: Heaven Sent Farm
Hoeggers Goat Supplies: http://hoeggerfarmyard.com
Goats Produce II Cookbook and Recipes
QUESTIONS???????
Image: Photography By Celeste
Have you hugged your goat today?
Image: Photography By Celeste
Brought to you
by
Shepherdess Celeste
Shepherds Heart Farm
406-754-3084
Condon, Montana
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