Goat Management
Here's a rundown on how we manage our goats. Note - this works for us. What works for us may not work for everyone so please do not take this as what you should be doing if what you are doing is working for you!
Feed
Bucks and wethers are fed Producer's Pride All Grain at the rate of 1lb per 100lbs of body weight per day. They are supplied 16:8 Meatmaker Mineral free-choice specifically formulated for the buck and/or wether's needs. They also have a white salt block to lick if they want. Due to our location, bucks and wethers are on natural forage almost all year. When we do feed hay, we make sure to feed first or second cutting grass hay with lots of weeds. The point here is that we are very careful to never feed more than 10% protein to our bucks and wethers.
Does are fed Purina Goat Chow. Our other feed was discontinued but we wish we had been feeding Goat Chow all along. It is everything we were feeding separately all rolled into one! Does are fed grain minimally throughout non-pregnancy and non-lactation periods with increasing grain feeding during pregnancy and lactation. They are supplied Goat Power free-choice mineral. Due to our location, does are on natural forage almost all year. When we do feed hay, we feed a better quality grass/alfalfa mix than the boys get.
Kids are on natural forage and creep feeding as soon as they want to be. All kids are sold ready to eat a wide variety of food.
Feeders
We make feeders ourselves out of barrells (see below). They do not leak and ensure there is no urinating/defecating or standing in the hay. Kids can get into them, however, so we don't use them in the maternity pens. We also have 2 big V-rack bale feeders for hay.
Grain is fed out of our homemade "goat feedlot" (see pics below). Again, no standing in! We use other free-standing troughs as well when needed. Troughs are wiped out with clean scrap rags when it rains or snows. You may also notice the river rock in front of the feedlot trough. We only have to trim feet about once per year since we added the rocks. Our goats' feet have never looked better! Also, the rock ensures that when goats are eating at the trough when it has rained, they are standing on rock rather than sinking in mud or slop. We take every precaution to make sure our goats NEVER eat off of the ground, thus greatly reducing the parasite load!
Water
We run fresh water through a constant drip system year-round, even in winter. No stale water here.
Shelter
We have gotten very creative in building shelters! The simple shelter below is constructed of wood pallets and old scrap barn boards.
The shelter below here is a 4x7x7 shipping box with one side cut out. Plastic or tarps are placed directly on the tops then an additional wood roof is placed over the plastic. They are leak-proof and will last a long time. They have no floors and when bedding gets soiled the whole structure is moved to a new, clean location.
The range shelter below is permanently built. You can see we have also built a permanent feed trough along side.
For bedding we use Cottonwood chips or grass hay. We are in the process of building a barn but for now we have made sure we have adequate dry and warm shelters for every goat.
Fence
We use Red Brand Goat Fence with 4x4 squares or Welded Wire Utility Panels also with 4x4 squares. Goats can't jump over or get their heads caught!
Medicine / Vaccines
Our goats are de-wormed with Ivermectin injectable for cattle and swine. It is given orally at the cattle dose (1ml per 110lbs) every 4 months. Kids get their first deworming at 3 months.
All goats are given 2ml of GoatVac CD-T annually. Kids are given 2ml at 4 weeks then 2ml again at 8 weeks.
Disease Management
We test all newly aquired goats and keepers born here over 6 months of age for CL (Caseous Lymphadenitis) and CAE (Caprine Arthritis-Encephalitis Virus). All foundation goats are clean and we guarantee all goats sold from here to be clean also when tested at 6 months of age or a 100% refund of the purchase price will be given, should you decide to keep the goat or not. We will need to see the veterinary results of the positive tests for the refund.
General Management
We do not breed any doe under 1 year of age. We also do not allow any outside does to be bred to our bucks if they are under 1 year of age.
Bucklings are sold from 3 months and doelings from 4 months. We like to give each weanling kid about 2 weeks of weaning time before they leave the ranch.
All kids are handled at least twice per day every day, making them well socialized to human contact. Once in a while you will get one that is just plain born wild and stays wild, but here it is rare. Most of our foundation does and bucks are lead-broke also.
We are hands-on kidders. We check does about every 3 hours and are ready to phone a vet should we anticipate a problem. We spray umbilical cords with Iodine and stay with the does and their newborns to witness nursing. They are again checked every 3 hours after birthing to ensure kids are getting up to feed. Does and newborns are kept by themselves for about 3 days before letting them out with the others. To date, we have had no OB problems and all goats have kidded on their own and displayed excellent mothering ability.
We do not and will never disbud any goats born here. Sorry 4-H'ers, but we believe this practice to be CRUEL AND UNNECESSARY!
We use Llamas for guard animals.
We keep detailed records using Ranch Management software from Lion Edge Technologies. When you purchase a goat from us you will get detailed printouts on that goat's health and vaccines, tattoos, tags, pedigree, birth weight, weaning weight, gestation history, etc just to name a few.
If you have never purchased goats from us before, please don't be put off by the fact that we tend to ask questions. This is to ensure we are giving you a goat that is a right fit for you. For example, a beginning goat owner may want tamer, gentler goats starting out. Experienced goat owners are prepared for the wilder ones. What are your long-term goals? Do you want show goats right off the bat or are you looking for good genetics in seed stock to start your own herd? Are virgin does OK or do you want proven mothers only? Do pedigrees matter to you? Fullblood or Percentage? Price range? Pets? We feel all these questions are necessary to prevent the "uh-oh, what have I gotten myself into" situation after you get home with your new goats. Please feel free to ask questions of us as well.
We are members of the American Boer Goat Association and the Mountain States Meat Goat Association.
Stacy is an Artifical Insemination technician and is working on a Master Meat Goat Producer certificate from Langston University, a goat research facility. She is also planning on attending a Judge Certification program provided by the ABGA in San Angelo, TX as soon as one is offered.