Table of Contents

Introduction 1


Part I: Getting Acquainted with Goats 7


Chapter 1: Discovering the Joys of Raising Goats 9


Finding Goat Basics 9


Glimpsing the Benefits of Owning Goats 10


Becoming more self-sufficient 11


Using goats for companions or helpers 14


Raising goats as a 4-H project 16


Determining Whether Goats Are for You 16


Devoting time and effort 17


Deciding which goats are right for your situation 17


Finding out about local ordinances 18


Knowing your neighbors 19


Chapter 2: Glimpsing Vital Goat Statistics 21


Doe, a Goat, a Female Goat 21


Taking a Look at Goat Anatomy 22


Parts of the body 22


The digestive system 23


Hooves 25


Teeth 26


Beards 27


Wattles 27


Eyes 27


Signs of a Healthy Goat 28


Noticing posture 28


Identifying the meaning of goat cries 29


Determining normal temperature 30


Using ruminations as a health indicator 31


Taking a goat’s pulse 32


Counting respirations 32


Recognizing life expectancy 32


Using a Goat Scorecard to Evaluate a Goat 33


Chapter 3: Knowing Your Capra Aegagrus Hircus (Goat, That Is) 35


Looking Into Dairy Goats 35


Standard dairy goat breeds 36


Miniature breeds 40


Discovering Meat Goats 45


Boer 45


Tennessee fainting goat 46


Kiko 47


Spanish goat 48


Newer crossbreeds 49


Investigating Fiber Goats 49


Angora 49


Cashmere 51


Miniature fiber goats 51


Chapter 4: Getting Your Property Ready for a Goat 53


Figuring Out How Many Goats You Can Support 53


Making Sure Fencing Is Adequate 54


Running through types of fencing 55


Planning for gates 56


Protecting Your Plants 57


Considering which trees to protect 57


Making trees goat-proof 57


Protecting Your Herd 59


Putting hazards out of reach 59


Avoiding tethering 60


Providing a safe place to bunk down 61


Considering local predators 61


Using guardian animals for security 62


Removing poisonous plants 65


Part II: Bringing Your Goats Home 67


Chapter 5: Home Sweet Homestead: Sheltering Your Goats 69


Outlining Shelter Types 69


Using an existing building 70


Building a shelter 71


Providing a Safe, Cozy Place for Goats to Bunk 72


Building a sleeping shelf in an existing barn 73


Using and maintaining bedding 76


Keeping Your Goats and Their Living Space Clean 78


Controlling flies and other bugs 78


Feed storage and ratproofing 79


Chapter 6: Dinner Time: What and How to Feed Your Goats 83


Goats Don’t Eat Tin Cans: What and How to Feed 83


Understanding the two types of feed 84


Feeding hay and alfalfa 84


Using chaffhaye instead of hay and alfalfa 85


Feeding grain 85


Following a feeding schedule 87


Choosing organic — or not 87


Minerals are a must 88


Supplemental feeds 88


Using Body-Condition Scoring to Fine-Tune Feeding 90


Feeding for Special Cases 92


Pregnancy 92


Milking does 93


Kids 93


Old goats 93


Getting the Basic Supplies 93


Bowls 94


Buckets 94


Water supply 95


Mineral feeder 96


Hay feeder 96


Storing feed 97


Building a Simple Hay Feeder 98


Building a Mineral Block Holder 99


Chapter 7: Getting Your Goats: Choosing, Buying, and Bringing Goats Home 103


Choosing the Right Goats for Your Needs 103


Goats need company 104


Size matters 104


Horns can hurt 104


Registered or unregistered 105


Looks count: The basics of conformation 105


Finding Sources for Goats 106


Visiting local feed stores 107


Reading the agriculture paper or thrifties 107


Checking out Craigslist 107


Surfi ng breeders’ Web sites 108


Joining registries and goat clubs 108


Going where goat people congregate 109


Making Sure You Get a Healthy Goat 109


Asking questions 109


Examining the goats 110


Observing the home herd 111


Protecting Yourself with a Contract 111


Bringing Your Goats Home 113


Transporting your goats 113


Quarantining new goats 114


Watching for signs of stress 115


Chapter 8: Working with Your Goats 117


Identifying Normal Goat Behavior 117


Establishing a “pecking” order 118


Biting, butting, and mounting 119


Conducting Basic Training with Your Goats 121


Collars are not just decorations 121


Handling goats regularly 122


Walking goats on a lead 123


Teaching basic manners 124


Moving Up to Advanced Goat Training 125


Teaching tricks with a clicker 125


Using an obstacle course 126


Housebreaking 126


Preparing goats for packing 127


Training goats to pull a cart 129


Supervising Your Herd 131


Meeting their social needs 131


Evaluating the time you have to be home 132


Finding and training a reliable helper 132


Maintaining Physical Fitness 133


Walking with your goats 134


Furnishing your yard or pasture with toys 134


Taking Your Goats to Schools or Nursing Homes 135


Chapter 9: Handling Routine Care and Important One-Time Tasks 137


Grooming Your Goats 137


Brushing 138


Bathing 138


Clipping 138


Specialized clipping 140


Caring for Hooves 140


Preparing to trim 141


Trimming the hooves 141


Dealing with Horns 145


Horned or not? 145


The case for no horns on goats 146


When to disbud 146


How to disbud 146


Preventing and dealing with scurs 150


Castrating Your Bucks 151


The problem of poor Elmer, or why to castrate 152


Knowing when to castrate 152


Choosing a castration method 153


Identifying Your Goats: Microchipping and Tattooing 155


Choosing a method 155


Tattooing your goat 156


Microchipping your goat 157


Part III: Glimpsing Goat Health and Breeding 159


Chapter 10: Outlining Basic Health Care Requirements 161


Recognizing Signs of Illness 161


Working with a Veterinarian 162


Finding a vet 163


Knowing when to call 163


Preparing for a vet visit 164


Working with a non-goat veterinarian 165


Building a First Aid Kit 165


The Straight Poop: Fecal Analysis 167


Giving Injections 169


Considering Vaccinations 171


Deciding whether to vaccinate 171


Looking into common vaccinations 172


Giving a vaccination 173


Keeping Health Records 173


Documenting important information 173


Keeping track of recurrent problems 174


Providing information for the vet 175


Tracking trends 175


Testing to Avoid Problems 175


Knowing what to test for 176


How to draw blood for a test 176


Knowing the Law Regarding Drugs in Food Animals 178


Chapter 11: Addressing Common Health Problems and Ailments 181


Managing the Creepy-Crawlies 181


Controlling external parasites 182


Minimizing internal parasites 184


Helping keep parasite problems at bay 187


Acquainting Yourself with Goat Viruses and Infections 187


Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Virus (CAEV) 188


Abscesses 189


Hardware disease 190


Johne’s Disease 191


Listeriosis 191


Soremouth 192


Pneumonia 193


Wounds 194


Ringworm 194


Foot rot 194


Examining Feed-Related Problems 195


Scours 195


Bloat 196


Enterotoxemia 197


Nutrient imbalances 198


Poisoning 201


Chapter 12: Breeding and Looking After Pregnant Goats 203


Preparing for Breeding 203


Running Through Goat Mating Habits: Courting Is Crucial! 204


Identifying the season for goat love 204


Manners, or what to expect from your goat 205


Doing the deed 207


Housing a buck after breeding 207


Finding Breeding Solutions When You Have Only Does 208


The invaluable buck rag 208


Leasing a buck 209


One-night stands, or driveway breeding 209


Artificial insemination 210


Looking Into the Finer Points of Goat Pregnancy 210


Length of gestation 210


False pregnancy 211


Dealing with common pregnancy problems 211


Getting Ready for Kidding 214


Preparing the doe 214


Setting up a kidding pen 215


Being prepared with a kidding kit 215


Knowing when she’ll kid (and what to do!) 216


Chapter 13: Now Comes the Fun Part: Kids! 219


Grasping the Basics of Kidding 219


Knowing what to expect from labor and birth 220


Handling multiples 223


Taking Care of Mother and Kids after Kidding 224


Caring for the new mother 224


Caring for newborn kids 225


The importance of colostrum 226


Dealing with kid problems 226


Tube-feeding a weak kid 229


Vaccinating 231


Feeding the Kids 232


Deciding between hand-feeding or natural feeding 232


Choosing milk 233


Feeding individually or as a group 233


Feeding schedule 234


Introducing solid foods 235


Weaning kids 236


Part IV: Living Sustainably and Making


Money from Your Goats 239


Chapter 14: Discovering Goat Milk: How to Get, Use, and Sell It 241


Developing a Milking Routine 241


Knowing when to milk 242


Keeping the milk fresh 243


Caring for the udder 244


Preventing mastitis 244


Keeping records 245


Ending milking (Drying off) 245


Getting a Grip on Hand-Milking 246


Getting the supplies 247


Running through the hand-milking process 247


Using a hand-milking machine 249


Using a Motorized Milking Machine 249


Handling Milk to Keep It Clean and Fresh 252


Straining the milk 252


Cooling the milk 252


Storing the milk 252


Staying Legal While Selling Milk 253


Chapter 15: Goat Meat: From Breeding to Selling and Beyond 255


Getting the Basics of Raising Goats for Meat 256


Cross-breeding standard dairy goats to produce meat goats 256


Using your dairy goats for meat 257


Selling Your Products 257


Identifying potential buyers 257


Selling goats 260


Advertising 262


Legal considerations 263


Determining what to charge 263


Using marketing terminology properly 264


Slaughtering Goats 265


Doing it yourself 265


Using a licensed slaughter plant 265


Hiring a mobile butcher 266


Humanely slaughtering goats 266


Using All of the Goat 267


Hide tanning 267


Animal feed 269


Using the organs for herd health check 269


Chapter 16: Further Benefits of Goats: Fiber, Breeding, Weed Control, and More 271


Harvesting and Selling Fiber 271


Reviewing fiber types 272


Shearing: How and when 273


Processing the fiber 275


Spinning 277


Selling your fiber 278


Showing Your Goats 280


Finding shows 280


Preparing your goat for showing 281


Getting your supplies together 284


Earning more than just ribbons 284


Marketing at shows 285


Creating Mini Breeds 285


Offering Buck Service 287


Selling Compost 288


Hiring Out for Weed Control 289


Providing “Goat Therapy” 289


Part V: The Part of Tens 291


Chapter 17: Ten Common Mistakes First-Time Goat Owners Make 293


Getting Too Many Goats Too Fast 293


Failing to Educate Yourself before Getting Goats 294


Underestimating the Costs 294


Paying Too Much or Too Little for Your Goats 295


Getting Only One Goat 295


Buying Unhealthy Goats 296


Neglecting Routine Management and Care 296


Overlooking Your Goats’ Dietary Needs 297


Giving the Goats Too Little Attention 297


Getting a Buck before You’re Ready 298


Chapter 18: Ten Tips for Showing Your Goat 299


Practice Walking with Your Goat before the Show 300


Thoroughly Clean and Groom Your Goat before the Show 300


Dress Appropriately 301


Keep Your Goat between You and the Judge 301


Keep Your Eyes on the Judge at All Times 301


Don’t Talk with Your Neighbor 302


Remain Calm Even If Your Goat Is Misbehaving 302


Do What the Judge Asks 302


Keep Your Goat Properly Set Up 303


Be a Good Loser (or Winner) 303


Chapter 19: Ten Misconceptions about Goats 305


Goats Will Eat Anything 305


Goats Stink 306


Goats Aren’t Very Smart 306


Goats Make Good Lawn Mowers 306


Goat Milk Tastes Bad 307


Goat Meat Tastes Bad 307


Goats Get Most of Their Water from Plants 307


Goats Are Only for People Who Can’t Afford Cows 308


Only Male Goats Have Beards 308


A Dog Makes a Good Friend for a Goat 308


Appendix: Goat-Milk Recipes 311


Cheeses and Yogurt 311


Drinks 314


Entrees and Side Dishes 316


Desserts 322


Index 325

About the Author

Cheryl K. Smith has raised a small herd of dairy goats under the herd name Mystic Acres since 1998. She published Ruminations: The Nigerian Dwarf and Mini Dairy Goat magazine and Goat Health Care. She writes a blog (ruminationsongoats.blogspot.com) and is an expert on goats at allexperts.com.