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WHAT WORKS FOR US! And other questions... |
Disclaimer: I am not a veterinarian nor do I play one on television. What you will read below is what we do. Everyone's experience is different! These are just idea's and guidelines and they are not to be interpreted as hard and fast rules. I am always happy, ready and willing to help, but please don't wait until it is too late. A well stocked cupboard is the best prevention!
What do I need to have on hand before my goats get here?
What does it look like when my doe is in heat?
What do I need to have on hand for kidding time?
Do I need to do anything before the goats begin to kid?
What non disposable items of equipment will I need?
Should I let my buck run with my does?
Raising goats is an always changing experience. What works for us in this very northern climate won't necessary work for you in your climate. The information I am providing is how we handle very hot humid summers and very cold dry winters with lots of snow and sometimes cold that is unbelievable! Spring tends to be cold, damp and muddy. Fall is rainy with winter hot on it's heels.
WORMING: Living in cold snowy Maine makes a big difference in what works for us and what works for others. We keep to a very rigid worming schedule. Every six weeks our goats are getting a hands on with one type or the other of worming. This type of alternating worming works great for us. We use Ivomec drench at one time, and six weeks later they get Safe-Guard (fenbendazol). Because we raise both Angoras and Boers at shearing time we also use a small amount of Ivomec Pour-On on the Angoras. When our kids are a few weeks old, we do put a dot of Ivomec Pour-On in each armpit. This has kept our herd worm and lice free.
FEEDING: We change things around according to the seasons. We get miserable cold here which can last for weeks on end. Sometimes 30 below with daytime temps not reading 0 makes for some chilly goats. In the winter I start their morning feeding with beet pulp. We use shredded beet pulp and add the hottest water that I can to it. When the grain is dished out, I put this hot beet pulp on top. I believe this warms up their tummies and their rumen and helps them digest their feed better. Winter evenings finds us sprinkling a handful or so of whole corn on top of their grain. This little bit of sugar helps get them through very long cold nights. In the summer, after the kids are eating grain, we start cutting back on the grain. In fall just before breeding, we pump the grain back into them. This form of flushing helps with multiple births.
SHEARING THE ANGORAS: Twice a year, yields us some massive amounts of mohair! We usually shear prior to breeding in the fall, and prior to kidding in the spring. Because of our worming schedule, we can guarantee to our customers that our fleece is lice free.
WASHING FLEECE: For small amounts, use your kitchen sink and proceed this way; pour a sinkful of warm to hot water and mix in some Dawn dishwashing liquid. Take about 1/4 to 1/2 pound of fleece and place it in the warm water. Push the fleece in the water until it is really good and covered. Leave it alone for a couple of hours or overnight. Next, squeeze the water from the fleece and remove from the sink. Fill the sink with water the same temperature as what you just drained out. Put the fleece back in to rinse the soap out. Squeeze the water out and put the fleece out to dry. DO NOT try to pick the fleece until it is completely dry. If you do, you can break and damage the fleece. For large amounts; fill your washing machine tub with warm water put in some liquid detergent (I use Wisk). Put your fleece in and let it soak. Overnight is best. Next, put your machine on spin and spin the water out. Take the fleece out, and refill the tub with same temperature water as you just drained out and let soak a few minutes then spin it out once again. Let it dry and then it can be picked out.
Here are a few of the don'ts! Do not use different temperatures of water. In other words when you get rid of the wash water, check it's temperature. If it's warm, use warm rinse. If it's cool or cold, use that temperature water. A rapid change in temperature will cause felting! Another don't: Do not let water pour on to the fleece, this will also cause felting. Some people double rinse their fleeces and add just a touch of liquid fabric softener to the final soak. This will help with fly away hairs, it really helps a lot in the winter with static electricity. Spray on hair conditioner works pretty good too!
Some people add washing soda (Arm & Hammer makes some, please note, this is NOT baking soda) to the wash. It helps out cutting the grease. The best detergents to use either in the sink or machine are ones that cut grease.
A great drying rack is an old window screen.
KIDDING TIME: It's March and April, cold and usually rainy when those cute little critters start arriving. We use a baby monitor in the barn so that we know exactly what's going on. I often wondered if I would actually wake up when I was needed out there. Found out this past April how fast both my husband I could get dressed and out the door at 1:30 in the morning! It works.
Boer doe's seem to moan and groan a lot more than the Angora's do. It's actually quite funny. They all seem so big and female macho, then when it's time for them to kid, they want you there. Not only do they want you there, most of the time they want to climb in your lap!! Having a 150 pound doe in your lap while she has two kids is quite the experience, especially when she weighs more than you do! We do use heat lamps after the birth to keep the little ones warm and cozy. I also use little coats on the goats. (I have the pattern available for you to make your own out of fleece or soft wool.)
When a baby is born, the first step is disconnecting them if mom hasn't already done it. This is done by taking your finger nail and shredding the umbilical cord about three inches down or so. After the baby is disconnected start cleaning. Let mom help, but in a cold climate you need to help things along. I have a whole set of old towels that we keep in the barn during kidding. I like them better than paper towels. After a good shaking out I throw them in the wash with good strong detergent and hot water. Even the iodine washes out of them. Next step is dipping the cord end in iodine (7% Iodine is available in most feed stores or animal supply stores). We use the little plastic cups that "Crystal Lite" comes in. I save the containers all summer long and usually have some to share by the time kidding rolls around. I weigh our kids right after they are born. Just to keep track. After a couple of hours, if you haven't seen baby actually nursing off mom, insert your smallest finger into the kids mouth. If it is nice and warm chances are the baby has a tummy full. If the mouth is cool, you might have to milk some colostrum from the doe and feed the kid with a bottle. Sometimes just putting the baby on the teat will encourage it to begin to suck. We try to weigh the kids every couple of days to track the gain. Boer kids usually gain between 1/2 and 3/4 pounds per day. Angora kids are much slower in their weight gain.
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QUESTIONS
How do I know when my doe is in heat? This is a very good questions asked many times by new goat owners. My answer to this is watch their butts! Look at them now and see what they look like then continue to watch until their vaginal area looks like this photo. Besides the red irritated look there is sometimes a little discharge and there is usually a lot of tail wagging!
So, now you know!
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What in the world is CL? This is a good question and one to keep in mind before you purchase your first goat!
Caseous Lymphadenitis more commonly referred to as CL can be bad news to any goat breeder.
An external abscess can be located around the neck, flank, and head and contains a thick cottage cheese like pus with a yellow-green color and little or no odor. These abscesses can be as small as a walnut or grow as large as an egg. They are caused by a bacterium called Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis (C.ovis) and set up housekeeping in lymph nodes and lymphoid tissues. Less obvious locations of these abscesses may be found in the lungs, spinal cord, liver, kidneys, abdominal cavity, kidney, spleen, brain and reproductive organs. Keep in mind that they are highly contagious.
The risk of transmission to other animals is determined by the location of the boil. External abscesses pose the greatest risk to other livestock. Internal abscesses in the brain, spleen, spinal cord or liver pose no risk to other animals besides the host. Abscesses in the lungs can burst and the bacteria spread through a sneeze or runny nose. An abscess in the kidneys can spread CL thru the urine, and the bacteria can be spread during breeding from an animal with internal boils in its reproductive organs.
Once these boils begin to grow, the goats natural defense system surrounds the boil with a thick wall, which causes the abscess to be resistant to treatment with antibiotics.
This bacterium can be picked up in a multitude of different ways such as small cuts, eating off the ground, rubbing along wooden surfaces and picking up splinters.
There is much debate as to how long the organism can persist in the environment. Will it be a few days if exposed to the weather such as a smear on an outside surface? Or can it be weeks, months or even years if incorporated into organic material.
If you believe a surface has been contaminated, remove all the animals from that location as soon as possible. There are no hard and fast rules, but at a minimum all surfaces should be scrubbed and disinfected with bleach or other strong commercially available disinfectant. If the surfaces are wood, and can be easily replaced, it may be a cheap insurance against a reoccurrence.
Contaminated ground presents a different problem. If possible remove all of your bedding pack, plus 2 to 3 inches of underlying soils. Replace with clean soil and bedding and hopefully you have dodged a bullet. Remember our goats' fecal matter, along with urine, wasted hay, and spilled food make for the perfect breeding ground.
Can CL be avoided? Yes it can, by healthy husbandry practices and good common sense.
Thinking of buying an animal? Be careful. Be very careful. Examine the seller's farm thoroughly, look at all of the other animals, not just the ones you are interested in buying. Ask questions! Was the animal born there, or did it come from another farm? If so, which farm? Ask for references! Ask other goat farmers if they know this breeder! If there is a possibility of CL in another herd, rest assured they will let you know. No one wants to see the needless destruction of animals because of CL.
Consider this, not all abscesses are visible. Internal abscesses won't be apparent on a carcass until the animal is brought in for slaughter.
An animal with internal abscesses may not reach its' maximum growth potential, they may have trouble breathing, trouble breeding, slow growth and many other problems.
CL is a disease that can infect humans. An open cut or sore is an easy method of transmission for this highly infectious organism.
As the old saying goes "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". Read all you can about this subject. Practice good animal husbandry and person hygiene, ask plenty of questions and if you don't get the answers you want, don't be afraid to walk away.
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Coccidiosis is a devastating disease in many types of livestock. It can wreak havoc in a goat herd. Coccidiosis is contagious and is spread by feces. Any one who has observed their kids have seen them pick up and mouth goat "berries".
Coccidiosis is caused by coccidia which is a group of single cell parasites or "oocysts". These oocysts can be ingested by goats from the environment around them. In order to understand the damage coccidiosis can do, it will help to know what the life cycle of an oocyst is and why they can be so difficult to control.
Oocysts are passed in the feces of infected goats; these feces can be either in healthy form or can find their way into everything by diarrhea spread by little hoofs. These organisms must undergo a developmental change before being able to infect other goats. This change requites oxygen, moisture and warm temperatures. After two or three days these spores are very resistant to disinfectants. Moist areas such as under feeding areas and around water troughs can harbor oocysts for a year or longer! As all of us are aware, Maine in the spring automatically provides moisture and summer brings both moisture and warmth! Young kids can catch coccidiosis as early as two weeks of age.
Symptoms of coccidiosis can range from loss of appetite and a mild case of diarrhea, to massive bloody diarrhea and can end in death. The most susceptible goats are very young kids and goats under stress. This stress can come in many forms, such as, being underfed, carrying a load of worms, shipping, and other unhealthy conditions. Good, strong, healthy goats have a natural immunity to coccidia.
Keeping the sick goat isolated and hydrated are the most important part of treatment. Re-Sorb or equivalent electrolytes such as Pedialyte or Gatorade can be used. Broad spectrum anti-biotics like tetracycline or amprolium are quite helpful. Always remember though, that these treatments will destroy helpful bacteria also and must be followed by a dose of a probiotic such as Probios.
The best preventative is a coccidiastat in the feed such as Rumensin, Monensin, decoquinate (Decox) and lasalosid (Bovatec). Feeds specially formulated for young kids and lambs will often have the proper coccidiastat in it. Normal feeds for adult goats do not. I have recently read about a fairly new product put out by Sweet Lix. This loose mineral supplement with Rumensin can be supplied to your herd if coccidiosis is a concern. Just remember that coccidiastats can be dangerous to other livestock and can cause death in some, such as horses.
Careful management, cleanliness, common sense and sound preventative measures can reduce losses associated with this disease, so as usual, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!"
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I'm getting my goats soon, what do I need? Do I have everything I need? What should I have right away and what can wait? What do I do about feeding?, and a thousand questions just like this are racing through your brain making you crazy. Here is a list that might just help a first time goat owner be prepared and make the delivery of goats a great experience!
Here is a bare bones list of items you need prior to receiving your animals:
Fenced in area to keep your goats safe and happy
An enclosed are that is cleaned up with fresh hay bedding to keep your new friends comfortable and dry
Water buckets
Feed pans or troughs
Feed! Check with the seller to see what they are feeding your new goats. If you can purchase the same locally, go for it. If not, ask for a bag of their feed and mix this with what ever brand you have chosen. Start the first two days with just the grain they are used to, then start mixing 3/4 to 1/4, 1/2 to 1/2 and so on until they are just eating the grain you have purchased. No sick tummies this way!
Hay Need I say more? Lots and lots of hay, and this is probably what most people forget! While you're at it, don't forget something to put the hay in! If the hay is left in a corner or just a pile somewhere, the goats will walk in it, soiling it and then they will refuse to eat it! Hay is expensive. Make sure your hard earned money is going into their bellies not wasted on making your spring clean up more of a chore!
I would also recommend having a tube of "Probios" on hand. When receiving a new goat, I always give them some Probios. Probiotics such as this contain some of the natural bacteria that are found in a goat's rumen. Being transported can sometimes give a goat scours, or cause some stomach upset which in tern can challenge their rumen. A probiotic can definitely help alleviate shipping fever, and clam the goat's gut down.
These next items are a necessity, but can be purchased a few days after arrival.
Hoof trimmers
All purpose wormer such as Ivomec. Please be careful here because some wormers which contain valbason can kill the fetus if your goat is bred! In some cases it can also make it hard for a few months afterwards for the goats to achieve a successful estrus. Stick with the known and you will be much safer. NONE of the wormers are recommended for goats so using something that someone has already tried is much safer!
White wormer such as Safe-Guard or one of the other white wormers that has fenbendazol in it. These white wormers are quite different from the all purpose wormers in the fact that they deal with tape worms. Goats with tape worm can go downhill faster than anything you can imagine. Don't take a chance!
Penicillin and syringes to administer it with (I recommend 22 gauge 3/4 inch syringes) Penicillin is one of those things that you might not think you'll ever need, however, there is absolutely no place that you can get it at 3:00 a.m.! Penicillin is especially important to have on hand at kidding time, more on that later.
Blood stop powder This stuff will be as valuable to you as powdered gold if you need to use it! Goat's skin is thin and can tear easily. You can nick a hoof while trimming; a goat's horn can get injured. These are just a few of the reasons you might need this quick way to stop bleeding!
Blu-Kote We keep this around as most people keep Bactine around for their children. Blu-Kote can be used on scrapes, bug bites, splinters, shearing nicks (on our Angora's) when a quick first aid remedy is necessary.
Pepto Bismol A great item for a quick fix! A slight case of bloat (gas), a light case of scours (diarrhea) and even when a goat has eaten something that is less than agreeing with her and she vomits her rumen (really yucky!).
12 cc syringes without needles. I use these for drenching.
Broad spectrum antibiotic along with some electrolytes These items have an indefinite shelf life and will be most valuable if you have a case of coccidiosis to deal with.
This list is based on what we keep on hand and what works for us. Everybody's management is different and many keep other items on hand. Of course there is another list of items you will need for kidding. There are also items that you purchase once but will use over and over again.
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What should I have on hand for kidding? You can go way overboard on this category! The first thing and this is highly recommended is an baby monitor. Fisher Price makes a great one and I'm sure there are other companies also. We put the baby part of it on a little shelf in the barn. The monitor part moves from the living room into the bedroom at night. Make sure you test it for loudness and also that you don't have any interference.
The second thing you need to do is sort your towels. Ratty towels are great for cleaning up a squirmy, wet kid. (January is a great time to buy new ones anyways!) I keep about 8 to 10 towels in a large trash bag ready to grab. You can use paper towels but this is an expensive way to go. The towels get shaken out afterwards and go straight into the washer with regular detergent and some bleach. Don't worry about stains, they come right out if washed within a few hours.
Another item of importance is 7% Iodine, sometimes called agricultural iodine. Human iodine is not strong enough. The iodine is for dipping the umbilical cord. Make sure you get the shredded end in. Iodine will help it close right up and eliminate fever and sickness in the kids. The perfect container for this task are the little plastic cups that Crystal-Lite comes in, or that they distribute medicine in at hospitals and nursing homes. Please, please, once you use the iodine once, dispose of the remainder. Do not use it for another goat, or worse yet put it back in the bottle!
DO NOT use scissors to cut the umbilical cord. Shred it with your finger nail or let the mom shred it. If you experience some bleeding from the cord you can tie it off with dental floss, but I have never done this nor needed to!
Penicillin or more commonly Agri-cillin. If there is any problem at all, even if you only have to put a finger in the vagina, your doe needs a shot of penicillin! Please don't overlook this step! Always, always use surgical gloves (you can buy these at Wal-Mart!) and always use a little bit of KY Jelly. Don't hurt your goat!
Heat lamps are a necessity depending on when you will be kidding. With the 30 below zero weather we had in March of 2003 even the best kidding schedules can be upset with the cold. Those little ones will need that extra heat for a day or two.
Little goat coats are not a necessity but once again they can sure come in handy when it is cold. They only wear them for 3 or 4 days, so don't go overboard. (just a plug, we have some in the farm store)
A very necessary item is a scale. Always weigh those little kids as soon as you possibly can and start keeping track right away. The only way you can be absolutely sure that they are nursing and gaining is to keep track!!!!!
We also keep molasses on hand at kidding time. After the doe has kidded she will be extremely thirsty. We offer her a small pan (about 2 quarts) of warm water with about 1/4 cup of molasses mixed in. They will drink this right down! This will give the doe a little boost of energy also! If you have a weak kid and it is still weak after 4 or 5 hours give the little one 2 cc's of molasses. This will give the kid a jump start!!
You will need to gently milk the teat until milk comes out. Doe's very often will have a little crusty plug in the teat that will come out when you do this. This will help a kid with a weak suck. After a few hours even the weakest sucker will be latched on with gusto!
We also have empty clean small water bottles with Pritchard Teats ready for use "just in case". If a mom won't let her baby nurse you will have to milk out some of the colostrum into the bottle and feed the kid that way. Not an easy task with a Boer goat, quite easy with an Angora.
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Is there anything I should do before my goats begin to kid? Yes, absolutely! About 30 days prior to your first goat's due date vaccinate your whole herd. Everyone, bucks and all. We use Bar-Vac CD/T Perfringes. The CD/T shot you give the doe will also produce immunity in the kid until he/she is about 30 days old. At 30 days old the kids need their first shot. A booster should be given 30 days later, then the kids are all set until next year.
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What are some of the non disposable items of equipment that I should have? There are some items that you will need and there are other items that you can certainly do without. If any of your goats are registerable you will need tattoo equipment. Right ear gets your herd prefix. This prefix was determined by you when you joined the American Boer Goat Association. For example, Stony Knolls Farm prefix is SKF and all of the goats born on our farm have that prefix in their right ear. The left ear should have the number that you have assigned plus the letter indicating the year that kid was born. For example the letter for 2003 is R, 2004 will be S.
Another item you will need if you are planning on ear tagging is an ear tagger and the tags to go with it. Be aware that the tags and tagger are not interchangeable! Buy the same brand tags and tagger. You do not need to do tags but you will need to tattoo. Tags are great to see at a glance which goat is which!
If you are raising Angora goats or are raising market wethers you will need equipment to do castration. We have had great success with an elastrator. Clean, neat and quite easy. Just be advised that when using an elastrator on an Angora buckling, try very hard not to get any mohair locks under the elastic. The hair will keep the dried up testicles attached and then the hair will have to be clipped.
For those who decide to disbud you will need the necessary equipment. I can not advise you in any way on how, when or where for this procedure. I feel that disbudding is cruel, and I can find no reason whatsoever to do this. Goats butt with their foreheads, NOT their horns.
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Should I let my buck stay with my does?
NO! This is Maine! Do you want kids in the kind of weather that we have been having lately?? Absolutely not! I can't stress this enough. If the kid doesn't die of exposure, you can run into all kinds of other problems. Frostbit ears, having to run more than one heatlamp just to keep the temperature above 0 in the kidding pen. The fear of fire from the heat lamps.
Coming up with a logical breeding schedule is important not only to the future of your herd but also your sanity! If you are set up logically with the does having a way to see and smell the bucks there will be no doubt when the doe goes into heat. You can then put her in with the buck, mark your calendar and know exactly when she is going to kid. If you want April to be your kidding time start letting your does in heat go in with the buck in November. It's all pretty easy. For example, we can look at our calendar for April and know when we can schedule a short trip or a visit to friends and when we have to be here for a doe ready to kid.
Also, do you really want your buck around new born kids or very pregnant does? They can play rough some times! Do you really want your doelings bred? They will still go into heat even though they aren't large enough to successful kid and mother. How about at feeding time? Is that big strong buck eating the lions share of the feed and some of your more timid does getting next to nothing? This is not good management.
Your buck should be in a pen with a buddy. A wether of some sort, or another buck. Don't keep him by himself, it makes for the beginnings of a bad disposition and you certainly don't want a bad tempered 300 pound buck!
And, please remember, a four month old buckling can breed! If he can reach, he can do the job!
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