The views and information in the following answers are the practices we have decided to implement on our farm and have been gathered from our tireless searches and experiences in raising goats. I ask that you not only take my word for it. Do plenty of research of your own and come up with the best solutions that work for your farm and needs.
How long do goats live?
Goats live any where from 10 to 15 years. On average they live to about 12 years. This depends on how well their raised. How often they have kids and the general overall heath of the animal. Breeding bucks have a shorter life span than Doe's and wethers. The average for a Buck is 8 to 12 years.
What goats make the best pets?
Any breed of goat can make a great pet depending on the amount of time and energy your willing to put into them. Many prefer having Pygmy and Nigerian Dwarf goats as pets because of their smaller size. They require less feed and space than some of the larger goat breeds. As for which sex male/female make the best pet. I would go with a wether. A wether is a neutered male. They are usually more personable, loving and they don't develop any of the nasty habits of an intact buck. Doe's can also make great loving pets but they can sometimes develop dominate personality's or attitudes during their heat cycles. I would never buy an intact buck for a pet unless your planning to use him for breeding.
How many goats should I buy?
I recommend purchasing at least two to three goats if your just starting out. Goats are herd animals and do better when they have a friend. Some examples of recommended goat pair purchases are either two doe's, one doe and one wether, two wethers, two bucks or one buck and one wether. Although I would advise if you are not planning to breed, I would not get an intact buck.
How many acres of land do goats need?
You can keep 4 goats per acre give or take on the quality of the land and browsing options. You can also keep more goats if you have two or more fields you can rotate them between. Of course the more land you can give them the better.
What kind of fencing do you use with pygmy goats?
We recommend using sheep and goat fence. It has 4x4 spacing. Newborn to week old kids can still walk through this size fencing. Another good fence is Non-Climb Horse Fence with 2x4 spacing.
What kind of shelter do goats need?
Goats need at least a three sided shelter to get out of the rain and winter weather. It is good to give them a bed of hay within their house. This gives them something to snuggle in when it's cold and a snack on those really bad weather days when they don't want to get out. It is important that the inside of their house remains dry and soiled hay is cleaned out regularly.
Click here to see our goat sheds
Click here to see our goat sheds
What do you feed your goats?
Adults:
Amount of grain we feed per day:
One cup of our grain mixture per goat once a day. During winter months and kidding season we sometime increase this to two cups per goat.
These are just suggestions. Always base the amount of grain you are feeding your goat off of how healthy your goat looks (if they have shiny coats and full not fat belly's), the weather conditions, time of year, if they are young, pregnant or in milk, and the quality of their grazing options or the quality of their hay. Increase or decrease your feed accordingly. Any changes in their food should always be made gradually.
We mix our own feed rations:
We mix a 1:1 ratio of all of the listed below grains:
Whole oats, non-medicated goat ration, wheat, black oil sunflower seeds, sericea lespedeza pellets
We do not recommend giving Alfalfa pellets to breeding bucks or wethers and to monitor their corn intake. Too much corn or alfalfa can increase a male goats chances of getting urinary calculi (kidney and bladder stones). There are some feeds for goats that have ammonium chloride added to them to help prevent the formation of these. The goat ration feed we use has this added to it. It is also said that you can add Apple cider vinegar to their water as a preventive.(We do not practice this on our farm) The recommended doses I have seen is one to two cups of apple cider vinegar per 30 gallons of water.
Kids:
We feed our kids the same ration mixture as their mothers. About 1/4 cup per kid. Increase or decrease depending on the variables mentioned above.
Medicated feeds:
Young kids are at a higher risk of getting Coccidia overloads so some prefer to feed their kids a feed that has a Coccidiostats added to them. Some of the different Coccidiostats medications are Decoquinate, Lasalocid, and Monensin. I am not a huge fan of medicated feeds. My reasons are:
One: you never truly know if each animal is getting the right amount of medication.
Two: I wonder how affective the medicine is and the effect it has on the animals long term health. Goats build some of there own resistance to Coccidia as they age and I wonder about how the medicated feed interacts with that natural transition.
Third: Coccidia can become a problem in kids that are not yet eating grain based feeds. We instead individually treat kids with Albon. See below under worming for our treatment schedule.
Amount of grain we feed per day:
One cup of our grain mixture per goat once a day. During winter months and kidding season we sometime increase this to two cups per goat.
These are just suggestions. Always base the amount of grain you are feeding your goat off of how healthy your goat looks (if they have shiny coats and full not fat belly's), the weather conditions, time of year, if they are young, pregnant or in milk, and the quality of their grazing options or the quality of their hay. Increase or decrease your feed accordingly. Any changes in their food should always be made gradually.
We mix our own feed rations:
We mix a 1:1 ratio of all of the listed below grains:
Whole oats, non-medicated goat ration, wheat, black oil sunflower seeds, sericea lespedeza pellets
We do not recommend giving Alfalfa pellets to breeding bucks or wethers and to monitor their corn intake. Too much corn or alfalfa can increase a male goats chances of getting urinary calculi (kidney and bladder stones). There are some feeds for goats that have ammonium chloride added to them to help prevent the formation of these. The goat ration feed we use has this added to it. It is also said that you can add Apple cider vinegar to their water as a preventive.(We do not practice this on our farm) The recommended doses I have seen is one to two cups of apple cider vinegar per 30 gallons of water.
Kids:
We feed our kids the same ration mixture as their mothers. About 1/4 cup per kid. Increase or decrease depending on the variables mentioned above.
Medicated feeds:
Young kids are at a higher risk of getting Coccidia overloads so some prefer to feed their kids a feed that has a Coccidiostats added to them. Some of the different Coccidiostats medications are Decoquinate, Lasalocid, and Monensin. I am not a huge fan of medicated feeds. My reasons are:
One: you never truly know if each animal is getting the right amount of medication.
Two: I wonder how affective the medicine is and the effect it has on the animals long term health. Goats build some of there own resistance to Coccidia as they age and I wonder about how the medicated feed interacts with that natural transition.
Third: Coccidia can become a problem in kids that are not yet eating grain based feeds. We instead individually treat kids with Albon. See below under worming for our treatment schedule.
Hay and Grazing?
During the summer months and peak growing season our goats free range a large field for fresh greens. In the winter, they are provided hay. We prefer to feed our goats Timothy or Brome hay. They can also have orchard grass, a variety of mixed grasses, and Alfalfa. We try to stay away from fescue hay or any hay that has a lot of weeds. Fescue can turn toxic to goats in hot dry summers. Though goats will choose to eat fresh weeds over grass in the field, hay with lots of weeds is not as nutritious for goats. Goats do better on an all grass hay. We will sometimes provide hay in the summer months if the fields are not producing enough to sustain them. Always make sure you are not feeding goats moldy hay.
Do my goats need extra minerals and salt?
Yes, we provide our goats with a mineral block and a salt block. We leave both in their fields for free choice licking.
*update*(We have switched to a loose mineral that we feed out daily).
If buying a mineral block make sure to buy a block designed for goats only. These blocks contain a copper additive, which the goats need. If you buy a sheep and goat block this block will not have copper added to it because sheep are copper sensitive. If you have sheep and goats sharing the same field you can give your goats a copper bolus to satisfy their copper needs. We sometimes give our goats a 2 gram copper bolus.
*update*(We have switched to a loose mineral that we feed out daily).
If buying a mineral block make sure to buy a block designed for goats only. These blocks contain a copper additive, which the goats need. If you buy a sheep and goat block this block will not have copper added to it because sheep are copper sensitive. If you have sheep and goats sharing the same field you can give your goats a copper bolus to satisfy their copper needs. We sometimes give our goats a 2 gram copper bolus.
At what age can goats breed?
An intact buck can start breeding by 3 months of age. I have heard a story of a two month old buck impregnating his mother. So it is good to keep bucks separate from your does as soon as they are old enough to be away from their moms. Doe's can bred at a much younger age but we don't let our girls breed until they are 18-19 months old. That way they are having their first kids when they're about 2 years old. This lets the doe concentrate her entire first year of life and then some on growing up herself. Goats don't fully mature until they are three years old though most of their growing is done by two years of age. Goats also do not go through menopause. They can have kids up to the day they die but it is good to retire your older does and let them live out the last of their golden years stress free. We retire our doe's at 10 years of age.
How long are goats pregnant?
Most goats will start coming into heat when the days grow shorter. Most of our girls start coming into heat in September and will cycle until about February. Goats Cycle every 17 to 24 days. They are pregnant for 5 months or roughly 145 days give or take depending on the doe and breed of goat. Larger breeds of goats are pregnant for a bit longer.
Can you milk a pygmy goat?
Yes, you can milk a pygmy goat. They only produce milk after kidding. But can be milked for a couple months after the kid has been weaned. It is a good idea to let the doe dry up a couple months before she breeds again. Pygmies won't produce as much milk as a Nigerian Dwarf goat will but pygmy goats milk is said to have a higher butterfat content then other goats milk. I don't do much on the milking side of things at this time. I have read though that people who are lactose intolerant can sometimes drink goats milk and not have issues with it. You can also make soaps or lotions out of goats milk. It is said to be very healthy for your skin.
What kind of routine maintenance do goats need?
Goats need their hoofs trimmed regularly. We check our goats twice a year when we do our routine worming’s. To help your goats naturally wear down their hooves you can place rocks or bits of concrete in their fields/pens so that they can climb on them. We use regular house scissors to trim their hooves. You only trim off the outside hard edge making sure not to cut into the soft pad in the center.
We have a regular worming schedule though you can also have your vet inspect fecal samples if an infestation is suspected. We describe this more thoroughly below.
We have a regular worming schedule though you can also have your vet inspect fecal samples if an infestation is suspected. We describe this more thoroughly below.
What kind of Vaccines should I give my goat?
The vaccine that some goat owners administer to their herds is the CDT vaccine. This covers Enterotoxemia overeating disease and Tetanus. We do not give our goats this shot. We have decided to go this way after consulting our vet on the matter. Goats can get both diseases whether they've had the shot or not and goats as they age will develop their own anti bodies naturally. This will be a personal decision for you to make. If you want to give your goats this shot every year or not. Do some research on your own and consult with a vet to help you make your decision. I have been raising goats since 2009 and have not had one goat become ill or die from these diseases. Again do your research and make an informed decision. Kids that come from us can receive this vaccine but it will be at the discretion of the new owner. The only shot we give is a tetanus antitoxin shot. We give this to the buckling's we will be neutering. It provides instant protection when we place the castration band.
How often do I need to worm my goats? And what kind of wormer do I use?
For adults: We worm our adult goats twice a year. Once in the spring after all the doe's have kidded and once in the fall before the doe's and bucks are put together to breed. It is a good idea to take a fecal sample to your vet so that you know what kind of parasites your dealing with and the level of infestation. If its a bad year for parasites we sometimes do extra worming's. We at this time use Cydectin sheep drench with Valbazen.
We also feed our goats sericea lespedeza pellets. Sericea lespedeza is a high-tannin forage that has been scientifically proven to reduce parasite loads in sheep and goats. Sericea lespedeza is in the legume family. Our vet read a study that said sericea lespedeza can create a chemical imbalance in the goats rumen that makes the stomach inhospitable for worms.
You can order certain wormers online this is a website I sometimes use: http://www.valleyvet.com/c/livestock-supplies/goat-sheep/goat-sheep-wormers.html
Worming can be somewhat tricky. Its a delicate balance of giving them the right amount of wormer to how much the goat weighs. If you under do it your not wiping out the problem if you over do it you'll compromise the health of the animal. If your unsure its always a good idea to consult your vet on dosage.
You can also feed your goats pumpkin seeds and/or the whole pumpkins, Coconuts (fresh, unsweetened shredded, or coconut oil.) They are both said to be a natural wormer. The coconut is also said to make the goats milk taste sweeter and helps with dry skin. Any new foods should always be introduced slowly into the goats diet.
For Kids:
Starting spring 2016 we are implementing a new prevention plan against Coccidia. We treat each kid with Albon at three weeks old and again at six weeks old if needed.
When the kids are ready to leave for their new homes we will worm them with the same chemical wormer we use on our adults. After that the kids are wormed twice a year like the adults.
We also feed our goats sericea lespedeza pellets. Sericea lespedeza is a high-tannin forage that has been scientifically proven to reduce parasite loads in sheep and goats. Sericea lespedeza is in the legume family. Our vet read a study that said sericea lespedeza can create a chemical imbalance in the goats rumen that makes the stomach inhospitable for worms.
You can order certain wormers online this is a website I sometimes use: http://www.valleyvet.com/c/livestock-supplies/goat-sheep/goat-sheep-wormers.html
Worming can be somewhat tricky. Its a delicate balance of giving them the right amount of wormer to how much the goat weighs. If you under do it your not wiping out the problem if you over do it you'll compromise the health of the animal. If your unsure its always a good idea to consult your vet on dosage.
You can also feed your goats pumpkin seeds and/or the whole pumpkins, Coconuts (fresh, unsweetened shredded, or coconut oil.) They are both said to be a natural wormer. The coconut is also said to make the goats milk taste sweeter and helps with dry skin. Any new foods should always be introduced slowly into the goats diet.
For Kids:
Starting spring 2016 we are implementing a new prevention plan against Coccidia. We treat each kid with Albon at three weeks old and again at six weeks old if needed.
When the kids are ready to leave for their new homes we will worm them with the same chemical wormer we use on our adults. After that the kids are wormed twice a year like the adults.
External parasites?
I get asked a lot if we treat our goats for ticks and fleas. The answer is no. I believe goats can not get fleas. Some say they can, some say they can't. In my personal experience I have never found fleas on any of my goats and we have been raising them since 2009. As far as ticks, I rarely ever find them on my goats. When we do find one (maybe two, three times a year if that) they are always on the goats ears. I think it has something to do with the goats hair that makes it hard for ticks to latch on.
We do have to watch out for lice. Goats can pick up lice from deer and other ruminant animals. We use Clean-up 2 pour-on for treatment of lice when we discover an infestation. All kids will be treated with this before leaving our farm as a precaution.
We do have to watch out for lice. Goats can pick up lice from deer and other ruminant animals. We use Clean-up 2 pour-on for treatment of lice when we discover an infestation. All kids will be treated with this before leaving our farm as a precaution.
What kind of illnesses can goats get?
Goats can catch a variety of things just like any other animal. The illnesses that I've had personal experience with are pneumonia, one case of listeriosis, one case of bloat, a couple of cases of sore mouth, an abscess from a thorn, one case of CL and one of our bucks developed a urinary calculi. We also had one of our oldest goats develop a non-cancerous tumor on her privets that had to be surgically removed. For the most part goats stay pretty healthy but when they become ill they can go down fast and you have to be very vigilant in keeping them eating and drinking. As well as get them any medicine they require as soon as possible. Your biggest issues will be with parasite control and birthing complications.